by Frater Bec Pluribus Impar
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Our beloved brother Lon DuQuette wrote an article entitled “Can a Thelemite be a Liberal?” and treated the subject with his usual sense of humor. I and my colleagues have felt a different question is more pressing in these times: Can a Thelemite be a Conservative?
The question comes on the heels of a lot of public hysteria over the presidency of Donald J. Trump. Conservatives are being lumped into categories with people like Nazis without much thought. It seems there is an equation of Trump = conservatism, and a seething hatred of Trump, that combine together to create a general animosity toward conservatives. I feel like this is especially true within Thelemic circles, although it is nothing new. “Ye are against the people, o my chosen”. But, there can even be a feeling like being a conservative in Thelemic circles means you’re not welcome. We need to speak out against this — the law is for ALL.
Obviously a Thelemite can be a conservative! The Beast spoke: “Man has the right to think what he will: to speak what he will: to write what he will…” Each Thelemite has the right to do their Will, and to believe what they feel is most right for them. We need to stand for our principles and what we see is right, and that means some of us will be liberals and some conservatives. Liberals need to accept that conservative Thelemites will exist, and vice versa, because this is the basis of “Do what thou wilt”. We need to do this without falling prey to the same cruelty that we get from others, otherwise they are right to criticize us. We have to remember the loud idiots don’t represent us, on either side. Just because some loud person on the internet is calling everyone in red clothing a Nazi doesn’t mean all liberals think or act this way. If we start believing this, we are being pulled into another level of society’s endless and pointless Yankees versus Red Sox false dichotomies and rivalries. Do we really want to play into the hands of the Black Brothers of society?
Being a conservative does NOT mean being a racist or being a bigot. It means we believe in conservatism. We believe in continuing the ancient traditions into modern times. We respect the ancient code of the Knights Templar, and the Adepts of the past. We understand the importance and the power of a man and a woman coming together to create the wonder of Life. We don’t believe in false help for the weak, and that people should be rewarded based on merit. We want the OTO to be strong and constitutional, and create a holy hierarchy based in the New Aeon. We want the sanctity of the Gnostic Mass to be preserved. We condemn acts of bigotry like everyone else — of course these are not welcome in Thelemic society, because the Law of Do what thou wilt is for ALL. We want to fight this just like the other forms like Islamic Radicalism and other slave religions that still seek to enslave us. Theocrats do not tend to like occultists much, regardless!
But we have a right to exist. Thelemic conservatives always will exist, as long as Thelema exists. We are here to stay and we may as well work together.
Love is the law, love under will.
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