Self-Care

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence; it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” ― Audre Lorde

I admit I don’t like being idle. I’m always writing, reading, watching educational videos, doing sorcery, or something else. However, there comes a time when one has to step back and take care of oneself. One just has to slow down and smell the roses, as the saying goes. 

I’m also rather private, so I'm selective about how much personal information I share. I will say I’m only uploading this brief post this week rather than something longer because I recently wasn’t physically well. I hope, dear readers, that my brief hiatus serves as an example of the importance of self-care.

Gratitude

In the United States, November 23rd is recognized as Thanksgiving Day. The proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln that created this national holiday was wrapped in religious trappings. For now, let’s leave aside the religiosity of his language and the inaccuracy of the ‘history’ surrounding the holiday. In doing so, we find that the spirit of the holiday is sound and still worthy of recognition. 

The spirit of Thanksgiving is one of gratitude.

John Donne wrote, in the misogynistic language of his time, that “No man is an island.” The truth of this cannot be overstated. The Self, the center and total of who we are, does not arise independently. No one is ‘self-made.’

The source of our dependence as children goes beyond our parents. I know many stood behind her mother and I in raising our daughter. We were not alone. 

This fact doesn’t end upon reaching adulthood. The Self still depends on others for its stability, health, and continued growth for the rest of its physical existence. Our dependence continues until the day we die.

We are all raised and sustained by a village.

It’s this interconnectedness with each other that makes Thanksgiving Day worthy of celebrating.

Being Ethical

I’ve written numerous posts critical of monotheism, especially of the Abrahamic variety. I’ve pointed out how monotheism fails to account for the existence of evil. I’ve also pointed out that the polytheistic approach to ethics is superior to monotheism. In addition, I’ve shown that Abrahamic monotheists edited ancient Israelite polytheistic mythology to try to make it fit their monotheist worldview.

Despite all of the flaws of monotheism, it’s important to remember that many ethical monotheists exist in the world. 

 

The reader might be surprised by my statement. If monotheism is so flawed, how can there be so many ethical monotheists? Ironically, such confusion itself is a product of another flaw of monotheism. Let me explain.

Monotheism has long claimed that it, and only it, is the source of ethics. However, a review of Abrahamic religious texts reveals a serious lack of ethics in its mythology and commandments. Yahweh drowns untold innocents in the Great Flood. Then He sends the Angel of Death to murder Egyptian innocent firstborn. These are such a few examples.

With all this said, I still maintain that there are large numbers of ethical followers of Abrahamic monotheism.

My proof for this is self-evident. It’s a simple fact that ethical monotheists are all around us. We all know them. And anyone who studies history will find them throughout the ages. Ethical monotheists are present everywhere you turn.

Their large numbers are because ethics is not a product of religion, monotheistic or otherwise. Ethics arises from the human condition. 

The origin of the human condition is complicated and has been debated among philosophers, psychologists, and other scholars for ages. Buckets of ink have been spilled on this subject. My opinion is that it’s likely an emergent property resulting from a complex interplay between genetics, environment, and cognitive reasoning.

The key takeaway is that there is no connection between ethics and religion. Anyone, monotheist, polytheist, or atheist, can be ethical. Religion can help reinforce certain ethical behaviors, but it’s unnecessary.

Monotheism isn’t the source of ethics. Ethics is the product of our humanity.

Violence

“Peace is the only battle worth waging.” - Albert Camus

You can’t turn on the news without seeing reports of violence. Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine. Hamas kidnapping and murdering civilians. Thousands of Palestinian non-combatants killed. School shootings. Road rage. Mass killings. Sexual assault.

Violence isn’t new. Humans have been killing each other as long as we’ve been human and before. Our interconnected world with access to news 24/ 7 can make it seem like violence is new, but it’s not.

Because violence has always been with us, some say that nothing can be done about it. Violence is in our genes, they say. We’re Killer Apes. Homo necans.

I disagree.

The animal we call human is more than its genes. Unlike other animals, our behavior is driven by more than instinct and environmental conditioning. We have the capacity to overcome these influences. We have autonomy. 

This isn’t just theory. We’ve been shown alternatives to violence by visionaries such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Through their examples, we’ve seen that there are successful non-violent solutions. Violence isn’t our only option.

I’m not a pacifist, and I’m not saying that violence is never the answer. History has shown that, at times, violence is necessary. Slavery in the U.S. would never be eliminated through parliamentary measures as it was in the British Empire. The Axis powers would never have been defeated by non-violent protests. And an individual has the right to use violence to defend themselves, if necessary.

However, if we don’t start applying non-violent alternatives to more of our conflicts, our species’ future is bleak. Today, one person with a modern firearm can slaughter dozens of people in just minutes. Modern armies can kill thousands in a day. One nuclear device can kill millions. And all of the nuclear devices of the world’s nations combined can wipe human civilization off the face of the planet.

Conflict is an inevitable part of life. Violence doesn’t have to be.