And here is why I will never be a Thelemite. “Man has the right to kill those who thwart these rights.” “The slaves shall serve.”
How can you not see the blatant hypocrisy? You have the right to do as you will, but others do not? You have the right to take away the will of others?
I agree with the vast majority of what Thelema says. But when someone defies your will, you don’t take away their right to do as they will. You endure, Perderabo, you endure. And if you truly are the strong, the strength of your will shall overcome any force trying to take it from you.
Take a look from a wider prospective. It doesn’t tell you should kill. Every Thelemite knows that *every right he takes from other is the same right he takes from his self*. It’s the law, it effects you the same way the gravity, EM or like any other natural force do. And I think the hypocrisy is when people don’t have guts to admit that they are able to kill but the truth is that love and conflict goes hand in hand in this duality of malkuth. This is the equilibrium. If any of us find ourselves in life threatening situation I’m sure every healthy individual, the one with a will to live, will fight for his life, for his rights.
Thelema is very provocative and that’s why I love it! It makes me think, it doesn’t serve you the truth. You are the one who is “translating” the message in according to your reality channel and than transmitting it. That’s the beauty of it! Noone tells you what to do, what is your Will, and honestly – noone cares. Everyone’s duty and responsibility is to take care of doing his own Will, be s/he Thelemite or not. You are the one who is embodying the Law in accordance with your true Will. And really, if we were all free individuals, radiating in our orbits this world will be a beautiful place. Imagine that! The problem is that humanity is *slaved* at this moment. Think of your own limitations, fears, screw ups…we are all *slaves* to our own shadows but we can free ourselves by radiating our own light upon them. 😉
Thelema!
I don’t want to drag this out, but this is the same apologist nonsense that has caused so much evil in the world. Those who will take religious texts as an excuse to do horrible things. You may interpret those words one way, but you can see how it would be very easy to use them as an excuse for horrible crimes. This is why I hate holy books. Once you have a holy book, it can always be twisted. No Bible, no Koran, no Book of the Law.
That’s why such “holy teachings” require a system of initiations. So through each degree the meaning of such words become apparent and a “proper” understanding can be developed. Basically whoever is not a part of the Crowley Club will never have an “appropriate” appreciation for their paradoxical ramblings and often off color inside jokes. That goes for a good number of Occult organizations, for that matter. Besides, Old mr. Crowley was said to have thoroughly enjoyed the notoriety spurred by his misinterpreted words. Quite an odd and interesting fellow.
You have the right to kill people who violate and restrict your freedoms a.k.a Tyrants, old Aeon theocratic states, Slavers (more on this), murderers, rapists etc. That does not mean you always CAN do these things. “This is the law of the strong” and it requires one to be strong, crafty or capable. It is not the law of the weak (implying the old Aeon belief systems) which conditioned people to be lead around with a leash, told what to eat, what to believe, what to do and what to say.
Those people are the slaves spoken of. It no way endorses slavery but says that such people who would like to live in bondage; holding a limited and restrictive life exist and they will serve the strong (the rulers, heroes, and other powerful people of vision OR in a darker sense the “old Aeonic” powers).
In a proper Thelemic state no one would be forced to serve anyone or anything but would do it out of free will or desire. Even if a man spent his days on his hands and knees wearing a dog collar sucking the toes of everyone who came near him, he would STILL BE FREE because he had the right and more importantly the -opportunity- to go “I’m done being a toe sucker. Maybe I’ll go make cabinets or some shit.”
If the powerful become enslavers (using the exaple of our heroic toe sucker, he being forced to maintain his position and to live under the floor boards or some shit) then it is in the moral right -to kill them-. Whether you escape jail, execution or similar is up you. It’s the antithetical of “Thou shalt not kill” which made of man a slave to cruel government to “Thou shall live as a slave only if you let yourself do so.” That’s my opinion on it. For people that struggled under the yoke, so heavy it made them live on their knees and who resisted rising up because “Well Jesus said it’s wrong to hurt people..” this is your call of “I deserve better.”
I think Thelema-696 has the right idea. I think killing someone for attempting to violate your will is a little extreme, although it depends on the context, but I do agree with the general idea being brought forward with the line. Man has the right to take whatever measures necessary to free ourselves from our oppressors. Anyone who takes another human being’s freedom away and makes of them a slave for their own personal gain deserves every ounce of suffering they receive when the slaves inevitably break free.
The old Aeon religions did perpetuate the system of both physical and spiritual oppression that human kind suffers under (not that they’re all bad, just that it has been an obstacle toward our liberation). A big part of Thelema is destroying this system, so that line really comes at no surprise. When everyone else is telling you to be content with your suffering and to sit under the boots of your oppressors, Thelema tells you to kill your oppressors. It might be a little extreme (Crowley had a habit of taking things to the extreme), but somehow we have to throw off these shackles, not just for us, but for every generation after us.
All of this suffers under the falsehood that in order to resist one must use violence.