Abstract
In Part IV, I want to look at a few of the current contentious issues that occupy much of global attention and argue for a possible pagan and/or heptatheonic approach to them. In other words, using the seven virtue-values already outlined, I wish to examine how the various moral issues of our day may be understood and evaluated in terms of freedom, honor, generosity and so forth. For myself, the counterculture of the 1960s was an unforgettable time of innovative experimentation and the expectation of radical social change, and two concerns that can be argued to have developed directly out of the freedoms cherished at the time are those of same-sex union and recreational drug use. I will begin with these. Here and elsewhere, we might understand that what is appropriate for the pagan and what ought to be legal are strictly speaking different issues. They are nonetheless interrelated in my conception since the freedom of behavior challenges both the state and the disagreeing opponent for the feasible rectification and expansion of laws that augment personal liberties. In other words, on the basis of freedom alone, what is permitted is both an ethical and political matter.
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Notes
- 1.
37 US states have at some point enacted DOMAs (“Defense of Marriage Acts”) that ban same-sex marriage; 4 states (Maryland, Oregon, Wisconsin and Wyoming) have had marriage laws that specifically prohibit same-sex marriage, and 3 states (Arkansas, Nebraska and Nevada) have banned same-sex marriage through amendments to their state constitutions. http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_marr.htm (accessed 2 April 2014). In 2014, the states of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin allowed civil unions between same gendered partners allowing limited rights and responsibilities when compared to those guaranteed by the institution of marriage. On 25/10/14, the federal government recognized same-sex marriage in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, West Virginia & Wyoming making the total 32 states + DC.
- 2.
Civil unions as distinct from marriage of same-gendered partners are allowed by law in the European countries of Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and parts of Italy; the Oceanic nation of Australia; and in the American states of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin. In these political jurisdictions, gay and lesbian couples receive some but not all the rights and benefits that are acquired automatically by opposite-gender couples when they marry. The issue remains under legislative consideration in Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and the remainder of Italy. In Asia, similar moves or expressions of support have occurred in both the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China, as well as by the Communist Party in the Philippines and, in 2004, by Prince Norodom Sihanouk in Cambodia. http://www.lgbtqnation.com/tag/gay-marriage/ (accessed 14 December 2005); http://newworldsummit.eu/cppnpa/ and http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/13076618/cambodian-king-gay-marriage-ok (accessed 22 July 2014).
- 3.
See http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/queercreatures/default.htm (accessed 29 March 2006). In contrast to the conclusion of http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPSM%2FPSM24_04%2FS0033291700028919a.pdf&code=06c3ca1cb6abea1e968140bc4db80943 (accessed 2 April 2014), see further http://www.pnas.org/content/105/30/10273.extract and www.livescience.com/3905-identical-twins-identical.html (accessed 16 October 2013).
- 4.
Marlowe Rosin, “Same-sex marriage: Let’s think about this,” Opinion section of The Desert Sun (17 October 2005: B7).
- 5.
Referring to the decline in marriage in America and the rise in divorce rates, John D’Emilio claims that “Since the early 1960’s, the lives of many, many heterosexuals have become much more like the imagined lives of homosexuals” (“The Marriage Fight Is Setting Us Back,” The Gay and Lesbian Review 13.6, November-December 2006: 11 – author’s italics). He attributes these non-reversible social changes in American lifestyles, along with the decline in reproductive rates and the de-centering of marriage, to the revolutionary advance in economic growth and technological innovation. D’Emilio calls for the pursuit of intelligent strategies toward obtainable goals. Gay marriage, he contends, is currently not one of these.
- 6.
Among the Romans, the most sacrosanct form of marriage is known as confarreatio – undoubtedly the human equivalent of the hieros gamos among the gods. Like the Western wedding ceremony, this is the most ritualized – taking the form of the bride and groom, seated on chairs covered with the skin of a sheep sacrificed for the occasion, mutually holding a panis farreus, a wheaten cake made from far that was offered to Jupiter Farreus who presides over the matrimonial ceremony. The confarreatio is an august patrician institution conducted in the presence of the highest priests of the city (York 1986: 355). Less formal than the confarreatio is coemptio – a symbolic form of purchasing the bride with her consent (Gai. Inst. 1.113-5b). As Claude Lévi-Strauss (1949) has argued, the exchange of women has been the critical element in kinship formation. Coemptio is a more open marital arrangement in that it is not restricted to a special minority or class. Nevertheless, Romans also enjoyed a third form of matrimonial procedure known as usus – the essential equivalent of common-law marriage (ibid. 1.111. See also York 1986: 354). If a woman lived with a man for a full year without absenting herself from him for more than three nights, marriage could be effected purely through the consent of the parties (sponsalia per verba de praesenti). Consequently, marriage for pagan Rome ranged from the non-formal to institutionalized exchange to the human parallel of hieros gamos.
- 7.
See, for example, “Britain’s gay, lesbian couples soon can walk down the aisle,” USA Today (Friday 25 November 2005: 9A). A year’s delay had been imposed on the Act before it could go into effect.
- 8.
Same-sex unions have been recognized since ancient times in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. In the Chinese province of Fujian, elaborate marriage ceremonies were performed between a man and a youth. These marital partnerships were temporary – lasting only a number of years until the elder partner secured a wife for the younger. We know of similar temporary same-sex marriage unions among the Azande of the Congo in Africa, and, among the Afro-Latin diasporic traditions, Santeria is a religious orientation that frequently promotes ‘gay rights’ – including sanctified unions for same-sex couples. In Egypt, we find the Old Kingdom tomb of Niankhnum and Knumhotep at Sakara –manicurist and hairdresser to the pharaoh and presumably two male lovers. Greece also is known to have evidenced pederastic marriages between men (esastes) and youths (eromenes). These relationships were social, religious and sexual arrangements. In Rome, it is clear that at least several of the emperors participated in ceremonies in which they were wedded to men (e.g., Nero, Diocletian). We might assume that such unions were not necessarily restricted only to the emperors. Likewise, formal marriage between men has also been known to have existed among various Native American societies. The person taking on the responsibilities of the female gender would usually be socially recognized as a shaman (a two-spirit person) and encouraged to become the wife of a male member of the tribe. And that same-sex unions were not only male-male affairs, in the nineteenth century United States, the ‘Boston marriage’ was a recognition of the long-term commitment between two cohabitating woman, though it is doubtful if the general public was aware of the possible sexual nature of such relationships.
- 9.
This is, however, not to deny such more progressive religious advocates of same-sex union or marriage rights as we find among the Unitarian Universalist Association, the United Church of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, Reform Judaism, the United Church of Christ, some Quaker congregations and the Jodo Shinshu sect of Japanese Buddhism. See http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/07/religious-groups-official-positions-on-same-sex-marriage/, http://www.marriageequality.org/religious-vs-civil, http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/moderator/050117, http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_ang.htm and http://www.globalbuddhism.org/13/wilson12.pdf (all accessed 22 July 2014).
- 10.
For instance, former New York governor, Mario Cuomo (2004), asks, “With respect to gay marriages, is there a reason to condemn them other than the fact that they cannot produce children? And, if there is not, why are heterosexuals who do not choose to have children – or aren’t physically able to – entitled to civil benefits that are denied gays? Why not authorize two categories: traditional marriage between heterosexuals, and civil unions that give same-sex partners the same civil benefits?” http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-12-05-values-cuomo_x.htm (accessed 22 July 2014).
- 11.
Mixed race marriages in the United States were allowed for the first time by a 1967 Supreme Court decision concerning marriage anywhere in the nation.
- 12.
“The case for gay marriage,” February 26th, 2004 – from The Economist print edition: http://www.bearpit.net/index.php?showtopic=1121&st=105 (accessed 15 December 2005).
- 13.
Note Hackworth (2005) who, in addressing the opium problem of Afghanistan, suggests that one radical solution would be “the abandonment of the War on Drugs by western governments and institutions, including the UN. It is a war that is lost and which was, in any case, always ideologically incoherent when executed by countries that fetishise individualistic consumption.” He mentions a report issued by Transform, a British pressure group, that argues that legalization would allow control of the global narcotics industry, better allocation of state resources internationally, increased taxes as a source of revenue, reduction of black markets, even the reduction of user risk as well as “acknowledging the human right of control over one’s own body.”
- 14.
York (1995b: 101, 307).
- 15.
The basic pagan argument is that marijuana and psychotropics are sacraments regardless of any alleged medical benefits they might also provide. The standard assertion is, in fact, that there is no medical evidence that marijuana helps patients (http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr042605.html – accessed 25.12.5). But contrary to this position, I had a friend in Los Angeles who, when undergoing chemo-therapy for breast cancer, was told by her doctor that marijuana had helped a number of his patients to get through the chemo treatment. This friend’s brother had muscular dystrophy, and to ease his 24-h a day pain, to aid in sleep and in feeling better in general he would smoke cannabis. See further, http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2672/Wetenschap-Gezondheid/article/detail/3441616/2013/05/15/Wietgebruik-goed-voor-bloedsuikers.dhtml?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign= (accessed 16 May 2013) and http://www.menshealth.com/medical-marijuana/ (accessed 31 May 2013).
- 16.
Apuleius 11.23 (Graves 1954: 252).
- 17.
I received twenty replies to the question: Do you feel recreational drugs should be legal or not and how would you argue your position? Ten respondents said unequivocally that recreational drugs should be made legal. One of these cited the American Declaration of Independence and the right to pursue happiness behind her reasoning. Four people feel that some substances should be legalized – with one of these qualifying this as ‘decriminalization’ rather than legalization. The same person was unsupportive to the extent that drugs could become objects of rebellion and compliance (as subsets of fear) rather than free choices. Another person said no if they were to become the everyday norm. There was only one unclear negative reply that I interpreted as a ‘no’, while cocaine, heroin and crack were signaled by some as substances that definitely should not be legalized. A few people mentioned the medical benefits of marijuana. The major reason given for the affirmative response was to prevent the profit motive and stop the trade being driven underground. The other reasons given were fewer prisons, saving taxpayers’ money by reducing the criminal justice system’s workload, and for reasons of regulation in which the quality and dose could be assured. Two respondents see the possibility of cash crops – especially for poor indigenous farmers. Several felt that if alcohol, coffee and similar ingredients are permitted, cannabis, peyote and mushrooms should be as well. One person mentioned the pharmaceutical companies as simply ‘legalized drug pushers’. A few people were tolerant but were not interested in such substances – preferring instead their body’s own natural chemistry.
- 18.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/pdf/harm_reduction_e/switzerland.html provides a balanced overview of the Needle Park experiment and subsequent drug policy in Switzerland. For another discussion of the Swiss plan and social integration, see also http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/initiatives/alcohol/Swiss/Page05.htm. Tandy (2005) presents the negative view on marijuana fostered by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (the IACP) Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Committee. Another view on Needle Park is found at http://opioids.com/switzerland/needle-park.html (Huber 1994). The pot festival in Piedmont Park is compared by http://www.nationalfamilies.org/publications/by_nfia/needle%20_park.html (Rusche 1995). For the harm-reduction approach, however, that tolerates and allows drug use see http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/issues/druglaws/e-iduback/Paper3/druguse-3.htm. Overall, this program aims to reduce the negative consequences to the individual, community and society as a whole. All these websites have been accessed on 25 December 2005 and some are no longer available. See further http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/needle-park-remembered/32052568 (accessed 23 July 2014).
- 19.
York (1995a: 312, 528 et passim).
- 20.
The Bwiti tribes of central Africa employ the hallucinogenic iboga bark in sacred ritual, the Native American Church of the Indians of North America use peyote as its sacrament, from Latin America the Santo Daime and Uniao de Vegetale sects turn to ayahuasca as a vision-and-healing agent, and in India the use of bhang and ganja are staples in the worship of Shiva. Marijuana is also part of Rastafarian religion.
- 21.
In all, I received three replies that advocated legalization of coca leaves. Two further respondents signaled out cocaine as something that should not be legalized.
- 22.
Personal communication (25 December 2005).
- 23.
Roney-Dougal is someone who has done much work on such neuron-hormones as melatonin, neuron-transmitters as serotonin and tryptamine, and the pineal beta-carboline neuron-modulators (e.g., pinoline): e.g., “Where Science and Magic Meet” (accessed 26 December 2005; re-accessed revised version 23 July 2014 – http://www.psi-researchcentre.co.uk/article_2.html). Vide Roney-Dougal (2012).
- 24.
Doug Yurchey, “The Marijuana Conspiracy: The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal”: http://www.world-mysteries.com/marijuana1.htm and http://www.illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm (accessed 8 November 2005).
- 25.
As one responding friend puts it, “Legal restrictions promote a sense of non-responsibility and powerlessness.” The role of government is, along with consumer organizations, to monitor claims and efficacy. “Free will and choice are essential elements to the human condition.” (Personal communication 26 December 2005).
- 26.
Diehm (2013).
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York, M. (2016). Same-Sex Unions and Recreational Drugs. In: Pagan Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18923-9_11
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