Lonelygirl15

It is greatly speculated that Bree and her parents are, what is called, Thelemites. For those who know the teachings of the Thelema realize that it is more of a philosphy than an organized religion. One of the major philosophical concepts in Thelema is Free Will.

Thelema has existed long before Aleister Crowley formed a new versian of this ideal in his The Book of the Law, which states that:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"
"Love is the law, love under will"
"There is no Law beyond Do what thou wilt"

Here is a wikipedia section describing the goal od every Thelemite as well as some ethics and duty: True Will.

"According to Crowley, the discovery and manifestation of one's unique True Will is the central task of every Thelemite. True Will is an idea that could be described in its dynamic aspect as the singular path of possible action that encounters no resistance in going because it is supported by the inertia of the whole Universe; theoretically, no two True Wills can contradict each other because each one has its own absolutely unique career in its passage through Infinite Space. Hence, to follow one's True Will means to respect all True Wills, described as "Love is the law, love under will". The apparent pacifism of this doctrine is complicated, however, by the possibility that the majority of beings do not know their True Will."

"Thelema stresses individual liberty balanced by responsibility and discipline, the inherent divinity of every person, regardless of gender, and the battle against superstition and tyranny."

"Duty to Self: essentially describes the self as the center of the universe, with a call to learn about one's inner nature. Further, every Thelemite is to develop every faculty in a balanced way, establish one's autonomy, and to learn and do one's True Will.
Duty to Others: A Thelemite is called to eliminate the illusion of separateness between oneself and all others, to fight when necessary, to avoid interfering with the Wills of others, to enlighten others when needed, and to recognize the divine nature of all other beings. Further, it is noble to relieve the suffering of others, but pity (seen as condescending) should be avoided.
Duty to Mankind: Thelemites should try to establish the Law of Thelema as the sole basis of conduct. Further, the laws of the land should have the aim of securing the greatest liberty for all individuals. Crime is viewed from the point of view of violating one's True Will ("Thus, murder restricts his right to live; robbery, his right to enjoy the fruits of his labour; coining, his right to the guarantee of the state that he shall barter in security; etc.").
Duty to All Other Beings and Things: Quite simply: "It is a violation of the Law of Thelema to abuse the natural qualities of any animal or object by diverting it from its proper function" and "The Law of Thelema is to be applied unflinchingly to decide every question of conduct.""

Here is a wikipedia section of Free Will:

"The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions. Addressing this question requires understanding the relation between freedom and causation, and determining whether or not the laws of nature are causally deterministic."

"In ethics, it may imply that individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. In the scientific realm, it may imply that the actions of the body, including the brain and the mind, are not wholly determined by physical causality."

Here is another article about Free Will.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/freewill/

Do you accept that the ideals of Free Will is realistic, or is there other philosophies that you believe are the cause for people behaviors and evnts?

Determinism is the idea that all actions are predetermined by a prior cause. If you can imagine a world in which time is irrelevant, you can conceive of determinism.

Compatibalism simply states that Free Will and Determinism are compatable. They are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to have one True Will, and to truly have a choice in your actions, and yet at the same time, there is only one future path which is possible.

It sounds sort of conterdictory, but the idea is just that despite the fact (?) that our future is destined to be one way, our choices and actions are still significant.

It makes the most sense if your remove all sense of time. My actions now are significant in determining what has already been decided. Kind of like a Back-to-the-Future type of thing (but unconscious of itself).

I hope this makes some sense.

Uhmmm...folks?

This area is for discussion of HER religion...

It appears that this thread might break out into a general discussion of religions...in general. (if it hasn't already <chuckle>)

Not to mention the fact that The Creators have long stressed that Bree's religion is not Thelema, although some of the tenets of the supposed religion of "Hymn of One" sound a great deal like Thelema, since they do honor Crowley.

That said...do bear this in mind as the discussion progresses, please?

Thanks, all!

chershaytoute wrote:Uhmmm...folks?

This area is for discussion of HER religion...

It appears that this thread might break out into a general discussion of religions...in general. (if it hasn't already <chuckle>)

Not to mention the fact that The Creators have long stressed that Bree's religion is not Thelema, although some of the tenets of the supposed religion of "Hymn of One" sound a great deal like Thelema, since they do honor Crowley.

That said...do bear this in mind as the discussion progresses, please?

Thanks, all!

I apologize if this seems to go off topic and I realize that many of the creators have given hints that Bree's religion is not exactly Thelema, eventhough Crowley is greatly focused upon in Bree's supposed religion and he was a Thelema.

Though her religion is not Thelema, it seems that it is greatly related to it in terms of philosophy, most specifically Free Will. This is very persistent and can be hinted in a number of occations, such as some of her parents teachings, as well in the doctrine of the Hyme of One. I should have been more descriptive with the topic's over all purpose. I just thought that this consistant occurance may be very vital to the theme of both Bree's religion and well as the story line.

Again I apologize.

being the snooty perfectionist I am, I'd like to just say that Thelema is about "True Will", not "Free Will". It's actually quite different, not free at all. We are free to follow our true Will, of course, but there is no law beyond doing one's True Will, with Love of course.



Agape.