Last month, in a restaurant in Athens, an elderly gypsy woman persistently tried to sell me some tissues. Finally, she asked for a handout, but I refused even that. So she cursed me with inaudible mutterings and a left hand motion over my head. In the best Ozarks tradition, I immediately cursed her back with similar hand motions.
I don't think curses work ? at least I was sure mine would not. And I was relatively sure hers would not, since I had been cursed, magnificently so, by a beggar some years earlier in a German restaurant with no ill effects. But since gypsy crones may be more effective than German beggars, I admit to being a bit concerned
In Ozarks culture cursing is commonplace, but we don't seriously think our curses actually invoke the powers of darkness or righteousness on someone's head. On the other hand, when we formally ask God to "bless" people or projects the more pious among us presume that an official blessing by minister or priest confers something substantial on those who are blessed, as if God must honor the "blessing" given in his name ? that God must "put his money where our mouth is," so to speak. We seem to regard "blessing" as performance language, rather than petition language. We say "God bless America," and think God actually does it ? similar to what happens in Catholic Mass when bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Jesus when consecrated by the priest.
Do curses actually work? Do some among us have the ability to invoke spiritual powers to perform positive or negative acts? Perhaps; Jesus cursed the rich (Luke 6:24) and blessed the poor (6:20), for example, and Paul twice cursed those who disagreed with him (Gal 5:12). And if Satan is a viable force in the modern world, as Christians believe, why couldn't the old gypsy's curse actually have worked?
It seems more likely, however, that cursing, blessing and the evil eye are vestiges of humanity's primitive superstitious past. If you believe such things, they can affect you, not because of a curse's inherent power, but because of the power you give the curse. But you never know.
So in Athens, I poured a libation to the ancient gods in hopes of mitigating the curse. It seemed appropriate. Since blessing and cursing seem to have been more effective in antiquity than today, perhaps the ancient gods could better deal with such things. Curses, and the deflection of curses, are not part of modern faith ? or are they? Does any Christian group practice cursing as a religious rite?
My experience raises the following issue: How much of our modern religious faith is ancient superstition? Superstition is defined as "the irrational belief that future events are influenced by specific behaviors lacking a casual relationship." In other words, the connection between cause and effect in superstition exists only in the minds of those who believe such things.
Many people practice religion without knowing the reasons for their religious practices and beliefs, and ? most important ? whether the reasons for their behavior and belief make good sense.
Shouldn't we be as critically discriminating in our religion as we are in the purchase of a new car?
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 90321/1006
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