Ohh chalk. . . where are you????

I have had several different groups representing several different faiths show up on my door to preach to me the goodness and stuff. I am certain that in the minds of these people they are doing the will of their God and savior so I tend to smile and nod as they go about their schpeels if I have the time to be polite. However, there always seems to be this one point when I engage these people in a logical conversation about the Universe, deity, and the power of prayer: the harm that is done while praying for someone to convert or subverting their will. They don't seem to see the harm in praying against someone or even own up to engaging in spiritual warfare.  They don't even recognize it. It doesn't surprise me when I read articles like this :

Former Westboro Baptist member: We prayed for people to die

Westboro no longer shocks most of us any longer, they have become a rabid sect in my opinion. Radicalized even. These thought patterns, these things that we look at as abominations, are enclosure thoughts. Apparently, there are so many of us and only so many slots in Heaven. Which means that fight among the righteous has begun and all us will burn in their wake. I don't think people actually think like that on a conscious level. I think it is something very deep rooted in the being and fibers of all that live. A survival mechanism. When resources of any ilk becomes limited and there is enormous pressure to hoard and conserve in the name of preserving you and yours. It's not even a real thought, more like an instinctual imperative that words cannot properly evoke.

Victor Anderson relates one of his experiences with someone praying for him to convert in some writings. He speaks in detail about the subject, but I will be brief: he told the offending spiritual war monger that if he continues to pray for him to convert, Victor would pray right back for the offender until the offender howls for mercy and stops praying for his conversion. I'm going to leave to the idle imagination as to what happened. Who knows you could be right. ;)

Really, the point I am so clumsily coming to is that when these people come to my door and deny engaging in spiritual warfare, I really don't need to waste anymore breath with explanation too complicated. The proof always surfaces. In fact, I'm not entirely sure why I allow them ANY of my time. I am sure I have other things to do, like make poppets and perform ritual magic, or something. In fact, maybe I should just cast to not be bothered with religious solicitors on my door step. Sounds like a job for magic chalk. Ohh chalk. . . where are you????

While there is indeed proof that the effects of enclosure are upon us, all is not hopeless and bleak. Calhoun's rats were not just one experiment. They were several including a community structure that required cooperation in order to survive in an enclosed environment. It was of mixed result, but what I got out of the end results was that buying time is very possible. It too has a price and if left at stale mate things will inevitably stagnate and die. 

I know we don't like being compared to rats, but we are animals just the same. So, my human proof that negative enclosure thoughts can be over come is that picture at the beginning of this piece. This is Lizzy Phelps Alverez. I am sure her story has just begun and for all the courage she has shown and all the loss and pain I am sure she has experienced, I hope all those things are eclipsed by the love she found within herself to recognize that divinity is not about hate. I also hope that she recognizes that self defense is also about love.