http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/ News of the Northern Tradition Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:42:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-63364 hroda Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:54:03 +0000 http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-63364 I wouldn't want to be identified with some of the so-called pagans running around nowadays. Heathenry is, to me, rooted in an ageless and unspoken tradition that can't be examined, poked, or prodded. Ethics don't involve socio-political stances which have nothing to do with folk and Gods- yet I've got a feeling that many pagans (and not a few Heathens, too) view modern political opinions and political positions as authentic divine writ. Yes, respect for nature and our animal kin is in nowise wrong, but not to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from a specific political platform. Who's pagan opinions on ethics hold more water, anyway? A modern commentator or, say, a commentator from ancient times who lived immersed in polytheism? Which belief system does one draw one's ethics from? I see great potential for a misapplication of ethical living if one isn't clear as to where one's inspiration is coming from. I wouldn’t want to be identified with some of the so-called pagans running around nowadays. Heathenry is, to me, rooted in an ageless and unspoken tradition that can’t be examined, poked, or prodded. Ethics don’t involve socio-political stances which have nothing to do with folk and Gods- yet I’ve got a feeling that many pagans (and not a few Heathens, too) view modern political opinions and political positions as authentic divine writ. Yes, respect for nature and our animal kin is in nowise wrong, but not to the point where it becomes indistinguishable from a specific political platform. Who’s pagan opinions on ethics hold more water, anyway? A modern commentator or, say, a commentator from ancient times who lived immersed in polytheism? Which belief system does one draw one’s ethics from? I see great potential for a misapplication of ethical living if one isn’t clear as to where one’s inspiration is coming from.

]]> http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-66992 Siegfried Goodfellow Sat, 31 Jan 2009 09:01:43 +0000 http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-66992 I don't think that honor was about being guided by "what the neighbors would think", or at least, it was being guided by neighbors who valued boldness, who weren't prying, who gave leeway for being an independent human being, and so forth. It was the integrity and not the conformity of one's actions that mattered. It's easy to confuse that in a culture where reputation has become melded to timidity. I don’t think that honor was about being guided by “what the neighbors would think”, or at least, it was being guided by neighbors who valued boldness, who weren’t prying, who gave leeway for being an independent human being, and so forth. It was the integrity and not the conformity of one’s actions that mattered. It’s easy to confuse that in a culture where reputation has become melded to timidity.

]]> http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-70854 Sine Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:17:05 +0000 http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-70854 Just wondering if you have had a chance to read of have heard about "The Other Side of Virtue" A philosophy book tracing the idea of virtue through time and includes quotes from the Havamal and many other not specifically Christian sources. It is written by Brendan Myers and came out around the same time as Orr's book. Just wondering if you have had a chance to read of have heard about “The Other Side of Virtue” A philosophy book tracing the idea of virtue through time and includes quotes from the Havamal and many other not specifically Christian sources. It is written by Brendan Myers and came out around the same time as Orr’s book.

]]> http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-70860 admin Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:51:44 +0000 http://northernpath.org/blog/2009/01/15/about-ethics/#comment-70860 No, I hadn't. Thanks for the tip! No, I hadn’t. Thanks for the tip!

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