In a very important paper 1996 in "Religion" titled "Truth in Flux" Melissa
Raphael rightly critiqued the ethics of Goddess spirituality for being too
impersonal, lacking a sense of justice that most participants in feminist
spirituality would want to see validated.
This broadly restates the dilemma of post-modern diversity/ difference
theories deflating the field of inequality so that difference loses its
bitter experience of injustice and becomes no more than alternative
descriptions. As feminists we commit to creating a better package for women,
and many of us by extension, for men. We therefore want to engage intimately
not only with alternatives but with the inequalities that weight
alternatives differently. And not least, if we learn to say "I matter
because I am a woman, not in spite of being a woman" then we often want a
sense of divine compassion.
Melissa felt that deep ecology, the divine view of all beings as radically
equal, was not sufficient as an ethic.
I met Melissa shortly after she wrote this paper, at the "Ambivalent
Goddesses" colloquium 1997. My paper answered hers, suggesting that her
portrait of Goddess was of one aspect only, the Crone, who is indeed remote,
the Tao, the inclusive view. But there is also the compassionate intimately
ferociously loving Mother, and the self sufficient wisdom-seeking playful
will-ful Maiden (womenspirit).
One comment I made though was that if I did have to choose between an
indifferent Goddess and a whimsical, punishing God whose strikes depended on
unpredictable doses of wrath and mercy, well I'd rather have the indifferent
Goddess. I understand karma (in the West we call it the Wyrd, or the Web of
Wyrd) to be just this methodical cause and effect infrastructure underlying
and beyond all divinities.
I can see how someone accustomed to the idea that special pleading is
possible, might find this scary. It is awesome indeed. But I feel that the
crux of taking responsibility for what we do ie being ethical, is just that,
taking responsibility for it and not dodging.
I hear so many people wail "I didn't mean it!" "I didn't know ..." "I'm
sorry ...." as if they expect some divine judge to take their burden away
and make it all better. All that matters is where we create hurt, where we
create justice and delight. Never mind how imperfectly we understood or
whatever excuses about intention we whimper, or how we try to placate our
inner judge with abject apologies. None of that heals or feeds children, or
a damaged ecology.
For this reason I like the philosophy of karma very much. It demands we look
at the results of what we do, learn from them, and put things right as much
as we can in one lifetime.
Shan Jayran
ONLINE EVENTS NOTICEBOARD RELIGION & GENDER
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Associate Lecturer, University College Chichester
Ovular - online education
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