Happy? New Year
Published: Sat, 12/31/16
So, another calendar year ends and tomorrow we start a new one. Personally I had a pretty good 2016 but I know there are a lot of mixed feelings around at the moment.
Some years ago I heard a talk by Emma Restall-Orr (AKA Bobcat) on the subject of pagan ethics. Her basic message was that the two key problems when we are intent on living an ethical life are ignorance and complicity. I believe that she was fundamentally right in the sense that we are often ignorant of what is really going on and because we are ignorant we become complicit in all kinds of destructive activities. Once we know what is happening we can choose not to participate or support a given activity any more.
However, with all due respect to Bobcat, simple answers always open up further questions. If there is an ethical responsibility to overcome ignorance and avoid complicity in destructive activities then what are the positive counterparts to ignorance and complicity? Are they knowledge and rejection? On a very localised level perhaps. If, for example, you were helping a friend to deliver packages and you discovered you were actually transporting hard drugs because your friend turned out to be a drug dealer then the ethical thing to do would be to stop participating.
As far as the world as a whole is concerned we are always going to be ignorant of most of what happens, certainly as far as first hand experience goes. The same applies to complicity. The government keeps telling us that everyone should pay their taxes so that schools and hospitals are properly funded. Fair enough, but what about, for example, nuclear weapons and the Trident programme? As a tax payer you are complicit in maintaining a stock of weapons of mass destruction. At least we know about Trident, there are many things governments do with tax payers money that we simply don’t know about but we probably would not approve if we did.
So, rather than knowledge being the opposite of ignorance I would prefer to use the word ‘aware’. This includes being aware that you do not know most of what happens in the world and that most of what you think you do know, especially from the media, may or may not be true either. The most important awareness is of yourself, of your own values and deepest feelings. A cultivated self-awareness actually enables you to know your world and make your own judgements about what is right and appropriate for you.
I would also suggest that the opposite of complicity is not outright rejection but ‘faith’. I know that faith is a word that is usually associated with religion. Because faith is often associated with the word ‘blind’ there is a widespread assumption that having faith in something is naive if not irrational. However, faith simply means an attitude of trust and confidence. It should be clear that there is a great deal to be confident about in this world, gravity seems to work pretty consistently, the sun rises and sets regularly, air is breathable and clean water drinkable etc. We should have faith in other people and assume the best until we are aware that the relationship is no longer appropriate for us. Then we can have faith that we will cope, even flourish, without that relationship and something better will take its place.
In 2017 don’t worry about what you hear on the news or read online. Take regular time to focus on your own awareness and trust your own insights. Have faith in the universe as it has been created, it seems to work pretty well. Have faith in the people and structures around you as far as that faith is justified. When it is clear that something or someone you have depended upon is breaking down have faith that you will find the right path for you at the right time, all you have to do is let go of the old and be ready to accept the new.
Happy new year anyway.
regards
Graham