Are you familiar with the two word Wiccan creed, “Harm None”?
Lokabrenna cited
wicca.com/celtic/wicca/rede.htm as being the full version of the Wiccan Rede. The version in my tradition is several thousand words long. The explanation is tens of thousands of words long.
The short version of the Wiccan Rede is “
An it harm none, Do what ye Will.”
The crucial word here is “Will”, which is from θέλημα. The idea being that what one does is in harmony with both the Universe, and one’s inner self.
Very few people are in harmony with themselves, much less with the world around them. To expect those who are not in harmony with themselves, to be aware of, and in harmony with the outside world, is absurd.
It is all to easy to conflate “Do what ye will” with “Do what you like”. The two are not the same. The former requires a responsibility that the latter denies exist.
Why is it that the majority of Pagan women won’t extend that protection to unborn human beings?
Not all Pagans are Wiccan. As such, the Wiccan Rede is not binding upon them.
Bracket that.
I can not speak for all pagans. I do not speak for all Wiccans. Arguably, I do not even speak for myself.
Bracket that.
My guess, and this is only a guess, is that most pagan women would not have an abortion, but would not deny those who want an abortion, the ability to undergo that operation.
Under the Wiccan Rede, an abortion is ethically acceptable if, and only if, the woman is willing to assume
all of the responsibility involved in having the abortion. This means accepting both the negative effects, and the positive effects.
This also means determining why one is having an abortion. “Inconvenience” is not an acceptable reason. To save the life of the woman is acceptable.
There is a spectrum. Judaism has explored the various scenarios, and come up with answers that, whilst not definitive, are pointers based on fairly solid grounds of logic and reason. Interestingly, despite starting from different axioms and premises, Catholicism has come up with a similar, albeit more restricted set of conditions under which abortion is acceptable.
I haven’t read any similar exploration of the Rede and abortion. OTOH, I tend to ignore that which is not in the direct lineage of the tradition I’m in. On the gripping hand, because the rules, definitions, limitations, and releases, that the Rede provides, unfold only as one grows in awareness, material on the Rede and ethics can easily appear to be in the “how many angles can dance on pinhead” category, to those who haven’t achieved a degree self-harmonization.
Thinking out load:
- Abortion is acceptable when medically required. Not “medically convenient”, as was standard practice of the wealthy in the United States, prior to Roe v Wade. Required as in, if the foetus is not aborted, both the foetus and the mother will die.
I’ve too much else to do, to write an essay on abortion and the Rede. Especially if the correlation with Anglican, Jewish and Catholic sentiment is included. Something that almost have to be included, due to its history.
Abortion is a push button issue. Press it, and an emotional debate will follow. Few other issues are flashpoints that debate as much emotional fire as abortion.
Amber
