Which brings me back to my question. Yes, I suppose I would be arrested if I lived in Bahrain, performing all my rituals, meditations and such. Ridiculous! Set aside the concept of religious freedom for a moment. Sure, we should all respect each other, but that isn't what bothers me most.
What bothers me most is that all religions and spiritual beliefs can be considered "sorcery" depending on your perspective. And none of it can be proven--not praying to Allah or Jesus or holding ceremonies for Mother Earth or Isis. Personally, I don't think any of it is "real" in the way most people conceive it. Let me explain. Say I decide to "curse" my neighbor because his cat pooped in my flower bed, and so I mix some herbs and potions together and light a candle and say a spell. Honestly, I don't think it has any effect on my neighbor--or his cat--unless that neighbor is aware of my intention. If he is aware, then he might begin to associate my "curse" with some bad luck that comes his way--but did my "curse" really work or was it simply the power of suggestion?
I think prayer is the same way. I think if you know people are praying for you or sending good thoughts or whatever, that makes you feel better. But me sitting in my house praying for people in Africa does no good whatsoever, except maybe to make me more aware of Africa, which might lead me to take real action.
Years ago, I examined my Christian faith and decided it didn't work as advertised. So why bother? But I do like ritual, and I can't shake my spiritual bent, so if I'm going to be all crazy religious, then I should at least get something out of it--and so shamanism and nature-based philosophy works for me. But just because I burn sage and ring chimes doesn't make me Harry Potter. Even if I really believe deep down in my heart that I'm tapping into something mystical or paranormal, that still doesn't make it real. For me, I have to walk that fine line and keep that balance. It keeps me grounded, helps me retain my sense of humor and prevents me from falling right back into some crazy fundie literalism like before.
I know this is just me ranting, but I can't help it. It's just so sad when cultures or nations like Bahrain are so entrenched in their worldview that they cannot see their own folly. European cultures have already been through this, and maybe every culture has to do it in order to evolve. There are true crimes in this world that need to be punished--murder, rape, theft and so on--but "sorcery?"
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8 comments:
Good rant. I think you'd be arrested in Bahrain for being a 'mo, which according to my fundie neighbor is being "possessed by an evil spirit", so I guess just another form of sorcery! Keep doing that voodoo that you do...
Michael
As you know, us "evil spirits" always have more fun. And wherever there is fun, there's also someone around who's jealous and not happy with the rest of us. And so it goes...
this is crazy.
the first thing that comes to my mind when i think "paranormal" are some rituals that are associated with Catholicism, like casting out demons, exorcisms and whatnot. and that's a pretty mainstream religion.
and pentacoltal - healing people and stuff... like, they even do it on tv.
do you get where i'm going with this? cuz if i start going on about it i may not stop. it will be your longest comment in history lol.
Diane, I know exactly what you mean. "Paranormal" is relative.
They obviously haven't paid much attention then to the mystical, and thus paranormal Sufi Muslims.
River - Having lived in the Middle East, I think Bahrain passing the law is more against the dubious characters who claim to be using magic (often black magic) to solve problems of others, meanwhile they're just con-artists. They've become pests in the society. From what I know of Bahrain, they're quite tolerant of other faiths and i don't think they mean sorcery in the same way you understand it - my guess is that they are trying to curb the growth of these fake sorcerers who claim to use the islamic faith for magic. Bahrain is one of the few countries in the middle east that seems to tolerate other faiths and I think they're the only country in the Gulf with jewish citizens and in fact, the bahraini ambassador to the USA is a jewish woman. I don't even think they would understand your spirituality and if you lived there, provided you didn't do anything publically that would upset them, I doubt they'd even have an opinion on your rituals.
Desert: Ah yes, you make a very important point. Thanks for setting me straight! I'm a little naive, I suppose, because I try to be all gosh-darn honest, and I forget that there are charlatans out there looking to dupe people who are desperate. Makes sense because everything else that I have read about Bahrain does indicate that it's a much more open society. I guess that's why this news threw me. Anyway, thanks for the perspective.
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