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The way Numenism is structured, ethics, morals, and values are strongly emphasized. As a community-oriented religion, these are extremely important. One of the reasons we stress ethics, morals, and values is because these attributes contribute to the smooth functioning of society as well as personal interactions. These may seem obvious, but sometimes, in stating the obvious, new connections are made and a deeper understanding is achieved.
If you've been reading about Numenism, you know supporting community is an important Numenous value. Humans are social animals. We tend to congregate together, forming our cliques and clubs and clans and families. This defines a lot of our values which aren't specific to any religion - honesty, integrity, dependability, cooperation, and conflict resolution. These are not limited to just Numenists; they are important to us because community is important to us. We foster these values through positive communal reinforcement and expectations. People who grew up Numenous had these values instilled in them from birth.
People who came to Numenism as adults are often aware of these values (because we don't have a monopoly on them!), but may rebel against them because these values are often conflated with their birth religion. We work hard with these people to help them see that these values are not limited to any one religion and it's OK to keep them.
One of the ways we do this is through Patterning - learning to see trends and consequences and gaining the ability to plan for and rely on those consequences. Being able to predict the consequences of our actions is a value that is highly prized in Numenism.
The combination of these values leads to another value - that of nurturing life. It's not just humans who benefit from this, we extend it to animals, plants, minerals, and all known matter. It's all divine, all Dea Nutrix, all valuable and worthy of care and nurturing. We take care of one another. We have each other's back and we're there to help out when needed. We do things for one another, for the creatures in our vicinity, for the plants and ecology. It becomes as natural and effortless to be kind to one another as it is to breathe.
This means knowledge is an important value for us, for we need to be well-informed in order to correctly nurture all about us. All knowledge is worth having, even knowledge that is hard to bear or difficult to accept. We need to remain flexible because new information can supersede old information or modify it. Stagnating or maintaining a status quo is not a Numenous value.
This also means moderation coupled with generosity are Numenous values - we fulfill our needs and share the surplus. Our Bounty Ministry embodies this value. We gift those who do things for us in kind or in cash and we accept the gifts given to us with the same ease with which we give. We don't hoard things beyond what we need for our own care and survival (the principles of the cornucopia, which I posted about earlier).
Nurturing life is a complicated value. Life on an individual basis is finite. Death is the price we all pay to live. Some of us pay that price earlier than others so we spend time nurturing those who continue to live.
These are our basic values: honesty, integrity, dependability, cooperation, conflict resolution, Patterning, nurturing life, moderation, generosity, and knowledge.
If you've been reading about Numenism, you know supporting community is an important Numenous value. Humans are social animals. We tend to congregate together, forming our cliques and clubs and clans and families. This defines a lot of our values which aren't specific to any religion - honesty, integrity, dependability, cooperation, and conflict resolution. These are not limited to just Numenists; they are important to us because community is important to us. We foster these values through positive communal reinforcement and expectations. People who grew up Numenous had these values instilled in them from birth.
People who came to Numenism as adults are often aware of these values (because we don't have a monopoly on them!), but may rebel against them because these values are often conflated with their birth religion. We work hard with these people to help them see that these values are not limited to any one religion and it's OK to keep them.
One of the ways we do this is through Patterning - learning to see trends and consequences and gaining the ability to plan for and rely on those consequences. Being able to predict the consequences of our actions is a value that is highly prized in Numenism.
The combination of these values leads to another value - that of nurturing life. It's not just humans who benefit from this, we extend it to animals, plants, minerals, and all known matter. It's all divine, all Dea Nutrix, all valuable and worthy of care and nurturing. We take care of one another. We have each other's back and we're there to help out when needed. We do things for one another, for the creatures in our vicinity, for the plants and ecology. It becomes as natural and effortless to be kind to one another as it is to breathe.
This means knowledge is an important value for us, for we need to be well-informed in order to correctly nurture all about us. All knowledge is worth having, even knowledge that is hard to bear or difficult to accept. We need to remain flexible because new information can supersede old information or modify it. Stagnating or maintaining a status quo is not a Numenous value.
This also means moderation coupled with generosity are Numenous values - we fulfill our needs and share the surplus. Our Bounty Ministry embodies this value. We gift those who do things for us in kind or in cash and we accept the gifts given to us with the same ease with which we give. We don't hoard things beyond what we need for our own care and survival (the principles of the cornucopia, which I posted about earlier).
Nurturing life is a complicated value. Life on an individual basis is finite. Death is the price we all pay to live. Some of us pay that price earlier than others so we spend time nurturing those who continue to live.
These are our basic values: honesty, integrity, dependability, cooperation, conflict resolution, Patterning, nurturing life, moderation, generosity, and knowledge.