What Gods and Why?

Um, this might be a bit of a tangent, but what do you all think of your "dark" sides? (Don't deny it, you have one.)

I've ended up just embracing mine, and it's made me happier, healthier, and just a bit mean. Which is the source of much lulz, in the snark department. *grin*

I once told my little brother, "You have legs. They work. Get it yourself!" There followed a moment of silence and much blinking. Then my baby sister's friend says -- now, I get a "good girl" vibe off of her, so I wasn't expecting this -- "Damn. Told him!" Which led to a stunned "um... thank you?" from me.

I fully expect to be told off for being "rude" when I open my mouth, but I can't help being flat-out brutally honest in my assessments, and I find "prettying it up" to be a waste of time when I'm aiming to communicate something. I just am snarky and a bit rude. Oh, sure, I can smile and play along at being "polite", but it feels like a fucking lie the whole time. I will smile when I'm genuinely in a mood to smile... mind, it's usually when I'm in "Chaotic Evil" mode. >.<

Oh, whoa, sorry, rambling, bad kitty.

So, yeah....

What do you all think of your Dark side?

I like balance. I think we need both impulses, the input, knowledge of the choices. But for me, it is all about balance.

I don't spend a lot of time thinking in dualities. Power when needed comes from whatever source fits the purpose.

As for cats being gods, no human owns a cat; we are their pawns.

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Freedom of speech allows us to say pretty much whatever we want within certain legal limits. Unfortunately, it does not mandate what we say to be intelligent.

Light side, dark side; somebody has been shaped by the Christian dualism more than they like to think!

Human beings have desires, this is necessary to live. We have aggression and compassion, we have greed and generosity, we have ambition and pride. Each of these is a tool, each is required to make a balanced and effective human being.

There is no moral high ground in your tool choice, there is however a degree of wisdom. If your brother is treating you like a retarded servant, than compassion and submission are poor tools to choose; rather pride should ring out in response (and it did). Should a person lash out at you while grieving the loss of a loved one, compassion rather than pride is the source of the more productive response. In that latter case, I would have fetched and carried, where in the former, I agree; his legs aren't broke, he can get it himself.

Submission and humility are not default good tools. They often empower bullies and fools, enabling suffering that is both needless and endless to exist. Aggression and pride are not default good tools either, just because I like hammers, doesn't mean I remove slivers with them.

I think I was beaten to the reply by a long shot. That is what I get for taking a day off.

Anywho....

Sometimes there are stupid questions, or comments. I think these deserve a direct and blunt answer.

And really, don't ask me to do something that you could easily do for yourself, but are just to lazy to do.

I think it was here that someone posted the image with the caption that read "Asatru Kitteh, I could do it for you, but then how would you learn?" That has always stuck with me.

all

Eh, I refer to it as a "dark side" because that's the easiest way to categorize those particular impulses -- the part of me that revels in others' misery, the part of me that desires to harm others, that part that is, well.... not all happy-flowers-and-sunshine-all-you-need-is-love.

I've found in embracing that "darker" part of myself, I've made myself whole, or at least I'm moving towards combining the two "parts" into a cohesive "whole". It's kind of a healing process, I guess?

I'm moving away from the binary world-view, but it is a difficult transition, reminding myself that there are an infinite number of shades of gray. I kinda feel like I'm blindly cutting my way through a forest, here, going forward, but not knowing where to.

Which means it'll be one hell of an adventure. *grins*

DotNotInOz wrote:I don't spend a lot of time thinking in dualities. Power when needed comes from whatever source fits the purpose.

As for cats being gods, no human owns a cat; we are their pawns.

_________________
Freedom of speech allows us to say pretty much whatever we want within certain legal limits. Unfortunately, it does not mandate what we say to be intelligent.

I feel much the same way, I've never been one for a light dark dichotomy, or at lest internalizing it.

WMDKitty wrote:Eh, I refer to it as a "dark side" because that's the easiest way to categorize those particular impulses -- the part of me that revels in others' misery, the part of me that desires to harm others, that part that is, well.... not all happy-flowers-and-sunshine-all-you-need-is-love.

I've found in embracing that "darker" part of myself, I've made myself whole, or at least I'm moving towards combining the two "parts" into a cohesive "whole". It's kind of a healing process, I guess?

I'm moving away from the binary world-view, but it is a difficult transition, reminding myself that there are an infinite number of shades of gray. I kinda feel like I'm blindly cutting my way through a forest, here, going forward, but not knowing where to.

Which means it'll be one hell of an adventure. *grins*

Whole and healthy. Balanced and strong, without the pain that comes from trying to bend to be less than you ought to be. Once you stop being conflicted by your natural desire to use your strength, you will find less sources of conflict in the outer world.

It is so very hard to say what is light and dark, good and bad because I feel it is situational. In my tradition, we have an exercise where we name 10 things we would never do and then situations in which we we do each one of them.

John T Mainer wrote:

WMDKitty wrote:Eh, I refer to it as a "dark side" because that's the easiest way to categorize those particular impulses -- the part of me that revels in others' misery, the part of me that desires to harm others, that part that is, well.... not all happy-flowers-and-sunshine-all-you-need-is-love.

I've found in embracing that "darker" part of myself, I've made myself whole, or at least I'm moving towards combining the two "parts" into a cohesive "whole". It's kind of a healing process, I guess?

I'm moving away from the binary world-view, but it is a difficult transition, reminding myself that there are an infinite number of shades of gray. I kinda feel like I'm blindly cutting my way through a forest, here, going forward, but not knowing where to.

Which means it'll be one hell of an adventure. *grins*

Whole and healthy. Balanced and strong, without the pain that comes from trying to bend to be less than you ought to be. Once you stop being conflicted by your natural desire to use your strength, you will find less sources of conflict in the outer world.

Funny how so much outer conflict is caused by us projecting our own issues on to others.

Though, uh, a little paranoia is a healthy thing, keeps you aware of your surroundings.

LOL WMD...I read your post and thought "what dark side?" I'm like that all the time and don't look at it as dark....just honest. I try to be direct without being unnecessarily mean. I guess, like the others said, balance is what's important.

Aah, isn't schadenfreude a beautiful thing?

And funerals. Funerals are, for some reason, freakin' hilarious.

There are after all, only two kinds of people; those that died laughing, and those that still didn't get it.

WMDKitty wrote:Aah, isn't schadenfreude a beautiful thing?

And funerals. Funerals are, for some reason, freakin' hilarious.

There are some cultures who use humour as a method of dealing with loss and grief. Though not all. Grief and mourning are as old as death itself and perfectly reasonable responses.

Personally I'm probably more akin to yourself and John when it comes to death, and as I'm getting into the funeral biz, having a nuanced view of death is certainly an asset.

Personally I plan on being buried with grave goods, I hope to give some future archeologist a wtf moment.

Gorm_Sionnach wrote:

WMDKitty wrote:Aah, isn't schadenfreude a beautiful thing?

And funerals. Funerals are, for some reason, freakin' hilarious.

There are some cultures who use humour as a method of dealing with loss and grief. Though not all. Grief and mourning are as old as death itself and perfectly reasonable responses.

What I want people to do when I go, is get together, break out the bong, toke up, and share memories of me -- none of this weepy downer shit. Please!

Personally I plan on being buried with grave goods, I hope to give some future archeologist a wtf moment.

Ooh, I approve of the mindfuckery!

LOL it would be so expensive, but a full-blown mummification according to ancient Egyptian specs -- fabulous tomb and funerary goods, professional mourners, the whole nine cubits.... -- would be a fun way to make future archaeologists go WTF

Oh, almost forgot:

Monty Python: World's Deadliest Joke

gillyflower wrote:It is so very hard to say what is light and dark, good and bad because I feel it is situational. In my tradition, we have an exercise where we name 10 things we would never do and then situations in which we we do each one of them.

That is a fantastic exercise DOT; what a great way to build empathy. I'd like to borrow it to use with my kids one day.

DotNotInOz wrote:

allthegoodnamesweretaken wrote:

Beribee wrote:Where are you guys seeing the "fishy"??? I've only seen it on the backs of cars!!!

I swear that they use it for advertising around here. I've seen it on car dealerships, lawyers, I even got a letter the other day from another doctor that had it. I never will understand how they can talk about raising income under a heading like that.

all

Oh, I know that people do in this area.

Some of the ads you'd see in the yellow pages when we lived in Kansas would also proclaim "We welcome Christian business" or similar encouragements. Also, there'd be newspaper ads with the fish prominently displayed.

There are some such ads here but not as many.

I know from having talked to some fundie Xtians that these businesses do that to attract people who don't want to do business or obtain services from non-Christians.

I've honestly had people tell me that if they knew a non-Christian doctor was better than a Christian one--for instance, the Christian had settled out of court on malpractice claims--they'd still go to the Christian doctor.

When I see a business using a fishy, I don't worry that I'll be proselytized to... I'm worried I'll be ripped off. The worst mechanic I've ever experienced worked the fish (and was a member of my church at the time.) Taught me a few lessons that set me back a couple of grand.

Based upon my sad experiences, working the fishy is a crass marketing tool; manipulating the trusting. If one wants to run an honest business, time and customer satisfaction will speak loud enough.



What an enjoyable thread. Gilly, just to get my 2 cents in re the OP (then I'm going to check out that python link)...

gillyflower wrote:We have some fierce debate around here about why a
person chooses not to follow a particular god, and I've no problems
with that. My question, however, is (if you are willing to share) what
god(s) do you follow and why, what attributes do they have that you
admire? You don't have to name the god, if you don't want to do that.
You can just name the category, as in god of wisdom or some such thing,
if you like. Or what kind of god or goddess would you find admirable to
follow or would like to find? What gods do you admire? What gods touch
you?

To be honest... I don't really know.

I try to adhere to a tradition to provide some framework.... but no deity has ever given me a name. I suppose it is like worshiping om (the primordial buzz) or worshiping the wind. My mind uses religious framework to try and make sense of something I will never be able to fully understand.

As for what gods I find admirable; like people, I can learn something from each if I open my mind.

Peace.