Ok, so I have gotten some questions recently about my personal beliefs, what religion I subscribe to, etc... First while I had a wonderful time at Kendra's church, it was great, for those of you who don't know me, no I am not Pentecostal. For those of you who have seen the posts of us at our reformed Jewish temple, no, I don't view myself as a reformed Jew. It's a long and ever evolving search, but what I do most relate to is Humanistic Judaism. I called our local Humanistic temple but it took them forever to get back to me so I didn't join. While this link may be confusing to some, let me just say, yes, I definitely believe in God, absolutely. I just don't believe that he often shapes our lives. I'm more from the " ...We possess the power and responsibility to shape our own lives independent of supernatural authority." I think sometimes God may step in and preform miracles, sure, but mostly, in the everyday, we make our own path. I think the other most difficult aspect of Humanism is that it takes the "supernatural" out of the torah, the bible... That's kind of sad for me because I do want something to believe in, to follow, but I take the torah/bible figuratively, not literally. They are great texts that teach us about being good people. That's what's most important.
That said, I am always open to learning more, so please feel free to teach me about your beliefs. In fact, on Wife Swap this week there was this really cool Wiccan Goddess. She had her husband worshipping her because she was all feminine and mother earth-like. She had a magic broom and some pretty sparkly crystals and it looked like fun. Her covenant even came in and did the dishes and cleaning for her because she was the Goddess! That's a nice set up.
I have always been interested in the transcendentalists and the concept of loving and respecting the earth as nature is an amazing thing too you know!
I think Ilya would make an awesome humanistic Jew wiccan goddess who drives around on an alternative fuel broomstick.
12 comments:
I am definitly NOT into witchcraft of any kind! It looks cool...yes...but it is dangerous.
Okay...enough about that. LOL
I love you..just the way you are.
Hee hee. I just thought it looked cool because other people do your dishes and you got to play with pink sparkly crystals.
"Yes, could I please take that broomstick with the extra third row of seats and the DVD player?" "Zero down, $149 a month!? SOLD!"
came thru judy's brag blog! i like your writing style. i echo kendra on the witchcraft thing- too dangerous from personal experience
Guys, I have a hard time believing that the devil, evil spirits and such,are real. I know people will disagree with me, it's just my oppinion. To me, the devil is as real as the tooth fairy.
One thing I want to point out (although I am not wiccan myself)
Wiccans are not witches like you think. They worship nature and mother earth. Most are not dark and evil. Those are santanists, not wiccans. I believe in nature as being beutiful and spiritual. Seriously, most wiccans are peace loving and find spirituality in the earth around them.
Hmm...well..since I believe that GOD created the earth...I can't worship the earth. The earth does nothing without God. God is the ONE to worship. The earth is just that...dirt, rock, etc.
God is spiritual...holy and powerful.
There...I've said my piece. :)
Good piece kendra! I'm glad you shared, thank you! :)
What you say does make sense since you believed that God created the earth.
It's funny because although, I personally believe in the theory of evolution, I think...hmmm..who then created the first...let's say.. ameoba. God? Who created the first particle of this planet? It's a fun thing to think about, at least for me. I go back and forth, back and forth...science, God, science, God. Maybe it's both?
Hello I ran across this thread when I was looking for postings on the Wife Swap episode mentioned above and I thought I would take a second and respond to a couple of things as an FYI from a practicing Wiccan.
From what I have seen the show did not give a very accurate depiction of how most Wiccans live and believe. They picked an extreme case, so please don’t think that they are a typical Wiccan family. One could say the same for assuming that David Koresh was a typical Christian.
You hear the phrase a lot that we worship mother earth or we worship nature. This on its’ face is accurate. It is a beginning in the way you build up explanations to a child. A better explanation is that we see the Universe in it’s entirety as sacred. All things you me the computer you are looking at every bit of matter is sacred. The earth gets a lot more attention because we live here. We are also concerned for the earth because of how little some people seem to care about how we keep our home. You wouldn’t pile up your garbage and bodily wastes in your living room, which is what we are doing to the earth. It is our home as a species and future generations might like to have one that is nice to live on.
Brightest Blessings
Thorgo
Thorgo, well said! Thank you for adding your voice. Please come back any time!
Lauren :)
Wow, Lauren, you have really generated a discussion! And I see my good bud k8 found her way here! :-) You should visit her site - she has cute twin girls!
Anyway, you certainly bring up a LOT of interesting points, but what I love is, it is okay for us all to have different opinions. And, anyway, who cares? <--see? I finally found what you were talking about in that post above this one!
Ha! Judy, that was funny. "And, anyway, who cares?" should be our catch phrase. My kid just ate the cat, and anyways, who cares? I just ate through a box of thin mints and anyway, who cares? I fogot to pay the mortgage and anyway, who cares?
I figure the rabbi should weigh in here. First I'll tell you what I think, and then, through the magic of Jewish tradition, I'll show you that our skepticisim is, in fact, in line with main line Judaism.
Dig. I believe in God. One God. All powerful, all knowing, etc. Here's some dan theology, though, and you can take it for what it is worth. Every religion believes that God is all good, all knowing, merciful and just. Also, every religion believes that God is beyond human understading. So a good, perfectly just God would not punish people for not understanding the best way to worship Him (metaphorical him; God doesn't have a penis). I am pretty sure that God understands that people worship and approach him to the best of their abilities. I cannot believe that God would condemn a person to hell for not believing, for instance, that he gave his only son so that they should not die but have life everlasting.
So, why be a Jew? Well, you should be a Jew if you believe that it is the best way for you to express your relationship with God. If you find beauty in religious observance, and joy in being part of a great historical tradition. Not being sure of God in the world is a perfectly valid Jewish feeling. In fact, Judaism generally expresses the feeling that we cannot recognize God in the world, we can only see him through his actions. Check out this quote from Levy Yizhak of Berditchev, one of the most important Chasidic masters of the 19th century:
"We are not able to understand the Creator of the World except though his actions and great deeds which he performs for us; he is continually performing miracles on our behalf; we see the actions, but we are only able to see the actor to the extent that He is constantly watching over us. It is only in the rarest of exceptions that he makes his presence known."
That, to me, Lauren, sounds a lot like, "I think sometimes God may step in and preform miracles, sure, but mostly, in the everyday, we make our own path."
In fact, the fundamental belief of Judaism is that we have to pull God into our midst--this is some of that Kabbalah stuff, but if it is good enough for Madonna. So check it out. A core mystical belief of Judaism is that God was fractured through the creative act, and is in need of human help to restore Himself. That is to say that through performing acts of loving kindness on Earth, we both metaphorically and realistically cause God's presance to be felt on our level. We do, indeed, make our own path, and we bare the responsibility for bringing God into our lives. I'll talk a little more about this on saturday, though, so I don't want to ruin it for you...
Damn......
Ok, you've got me. Pretty good rabbi Dan. Yes, so sure, I have that constently questioning Jewish mind. But since I take the torah at face value and don't believe it was really God's word, or that it is "mystical", than how can I bring myself to say the prayers,observe yom kippur?
When I'm in temple and we say a prayer, everyone repeating it out loud, I'm like....I don't think this..I don't feel this...why should I say this.
Here would be my prayer.."Thank you God for what you have done for me and my family and friends and for helping me to be a free and thinking girl. I'm not sure about Israel and I love you God. Amen."
So what do I do? Not believing in the torah, nor wanting to do what it says, really puts a damper on worship. If some one can prove why it should be my guide in life, then maybe I will be open to it.
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