Anthroposophy and Ecofascism 37

Continuing my commentary on the 10th paragraph of Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and Ecofascism

Next Peter Staudenmaier claims: "For anthroposophists every illness, physical or mental, is karmically determined and plays a role in the soul's development." He almost got this right, but as usual his misunderstanding serves to create a claim inimical to actual Anthroposophy. It is true that all experience, including illness, plays a role in the soul's development. And many (but not all) illnesses have karmic origins. This is an important point, and is the one thing that keeps the anthroposophical understanding of Karma from iron determinism. For there to be free will in the universe, it is important that not everything in the present is determined by the past. If this were not true then there would be no free will. The individual human being has to be free to do both good and evil in order to to truly be truly free. If he or she chooses evil, they may very well harm another person who did not "deserve" to be harmed. Karma only states that they must make it right in a future life. If something bad happens to you, there are two possibilities: One: you deserved it - you did bad things, and this misfortune is the past coming back to you. Two: you are the victim of someone else's bad choices (bear you fate as best you can, and rest assured that every bad deed must be made good again). Three: It may be a chance occurrence. [Steiner’s view of karma also allows for chance, or a random influence in the universe. See Rudolf Steiner. Chance, Providence And Necessity. Spring Valley: Anthroposophical Press, 1988.] Unless you are a clairvoyant you will never know what caused a particular misfortune – the past (karma) or the free will of the present, or simple chance. Further, forgiveness is the highest spiritual good; if someone owes you for a past misdeed and you forgive them - either by forgoing your inclination for revenge or by renouncing the recompense that is due to you (so that it may be used for those who could use even more help) - then you are performing one of the most powerful deeds a free human being can accomplish. In Anthroposophy there is simply no excuse for harming others (weakness is an explanation, but not an excuse - and yes, we are all weak to some degree or other). So no true anthroposophist can ever look at another person and say, "You deserve your misfortune" without also claiming full clairvoyance (something few do). For such a thing can never be known without clairvoyant consciousness.