♭♮♯
Sleeping wonder lies to me, and the lies are sweet.
So the other day in my religion class, we read an article about how the Native American Sun Dance was outlawed for a period of time in the late 1800's until the 1930's. It discussed the fact that the Sun Dance involved self mutilation of some of the participants, but that they felt their bodies were the only things they could truly sacrifice to the gods. The US Government claimed to outlaw the practice based on this "protection" but really, they were motivated politically, believing that such practices would cause rebellion.
We had a discussion that went from did we think the outlaw was wrong, to what the line should be with self mutilation and legality. It was an interesting discussion (especially as the only person who raised their hand when the teacher asked if the government should regulate self mutilation). I thought it might be interesting to see what some of you ladies think.
Some things to consider:
1. In the Muslim faith, traditionally, if a woman's husband died, she was to throw herself onto his burning funeral pyre and die with his body. When the US occupied I think India (feel free to correct me on any of this) they outlawed this tradition, finding it horrifying. I remember that when this came up with the same classmates, they all agreed that it was good to outlaw this practice, but not the self mutilation of the Sun Dance.
2. If you believe that the government shouldn't interfere when religious practices involve things like self mutilation, what if someone with a genuine issue (Depression, anxiety, etc.) tries to cut themselves or something along those lines, but when stopped claims religious purposes?
3. Separation of Church and State: If the government isn't supposed to interfere with religion, does that mean that they either have to judge all acts of self mutilation equally, or none at all?
4. Should it be up to the person, say they are suicidal or religious? Does it only affect them? Does it matter if it emotionally affects others, but not physically cause others harm?
5. What is the definition of self mutilation? Anything unnatural done to the body, or anything that hurts you enough to possibly kill you?
In my class, I stated that because I believe in the full separation of church and state, any act of self mutilation that puts you at risk for death or heavy wounds, whether done as a result of a psychological condition or for a religious purpose, should be illegal. I was the only person who said so, and needless to say I got yelled at by a couple of other people. Not to say that I don't sympathize with situations such as the Sun Dance. I know that if part of my religion was outlawed, I'd be pretty upset. But I just don't believe we should let people hurt themselves, regardless.
What do you think?
We had a discussion that went from did we think the outlaw was wrong, to what the line should be with self mutilation and legality. It was an interesting discussion (especially as the only person who raised their hand when the teacher asked if the government should regulate self mutilation). I thought it might be interesting to see what some of you ladies think.
Some things to consider:
1. In the Muslim faith, traditionally, if a woman's husband died, she was to throw herself onto his burning funeral pyre and die with his body. When the US occupied I think India (feel free to correct me on any of this) they outlawed this tradition, finding it horrifying. I remember that when this came up with the same classmates, they all agreed that it was good to outlaw this practice, but not the self mutilation of the Sun Dance.
2. If you believe that the government shouldn't interfere when religious practices involve things like self mutilation, what if someone with a genuine issue (Depression, anxiety, etc.) tries to cut themselves or something along those lines, but when stopped claims religious purposes?
3. Separation of Church and State: If the government isn't supposed to interfere with religion, does that mean that they either have to judge all acts of self mutilation equally, or none at all?
4. Should it be up to the person, say they are suicidal or religious? Does it only affect them? Does it matter if it emotionally affects others, but not physically cause others harm?
5. What is the definition of self mutilation? Anything unnatural done to the body, or anything that hurts you enough to possibly kill you?
In my class, I stated that because I believe in the full separation of church and state, any act of self mutilation that puts you at risk for death or heavy wounds, whether done as a result of a psychological condition or for a religious purpose, should be illegal. I was the only person who said so, and needless to say I got yelled at by a couple of other people. Not to say that I don't sympathize with situations such as the Sun Dance. I know that if part of my religion was outlawed, I'd be pretty upset. But I just don't believe we should let people hurt themselves, regardless.
What do you think?
♩♪♫♬
Music is sung with simple words, and simple words can save the world.
Music is sung with simple words, and simple words can save the world.
♯♮♭
