I'm with you there, X. In fact, I would go further, and say that incantations distort reality in a downright dangerous fashion. Furthermore, they distort the meaning of the words they use so that all too frequently they are not usable any more (sort of guilt by association).
Let's take the word "fear," which we spent a lot of time trying to discuss on this thread. It is perfectly obvious that one should not be possessed by irrational fears of consequences (oh, I might lose my job if I complain! oh, I might get hit by a car if I go outside!), or be guided by fears about what other people think of one, etc.
But there are rational fears as well, as my example of the machete-wielding Hutu mob was meant to illustrate.
In short, we have to draw a distinction between fear of "psychic" harm/evil (e.g., nasty gossip, one's own negative feelings, hostility, etc.), which one should do one's best to banish, and fear of real physical danger, when it presents itself. This is what I call "healthy fear", and if you do not heed it, you will probably get yourself (and possibly others) killed. IF you don't get out of the way of the lava flow after the volcano erupts, you won't live to regret it. I am reminded of those unfortunate children who are born without an adequate pain mechanism; they have to be constantly watched so that they do not hurt themselves grievously. Pain and "healthy" fear, you might say, are given to us for a specific purpose -- to keep us alive.
But these Happy New Age folks often seem not to perceive the difference between irrational and healthy fears. In fact, they tend to reduce every negative emotion in the world to fear; they are all "fear-based," to use the cant term.
Is it that they have never experienced any real physical danger (as in war), and so have no understanding of it?
Or do they think they can charm their way out of physical danger (e.g., by wading into the machete-wielding mob chanting "Peace!" and "Love!")?
This would not be an unprecedented attitude. Throughout history, there have been warrior groups that have managed to convince themselves that their special incantation would keep arrows/bullets/whatever from harming them. They learned, too late, that they were not invulnerable after all. |
