All the Right Spiritual Values

My son turned 18 in the middle June.

At his My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic-themed birthday party a friend of his had said that, he didn't understand.






He tried to watch My Little Pony on Nextflix but just couldn't get into it. He didn't understand why my son liked it. He couldn't understand the draw.

My son answered simply, watch the documentary on Netflix called Bronies.




It had given me quite a bit to think about.
My son's autistic and although I know he fully understands why he likes My Little Pony (generation 4) and its values, he might not be able to explain it... and because I also consider myself a Brony that burden falls onto me.

But to begin, I think we need to take a step away from Bronies and the TV show.

...

I wholeheartedly believe each and every one of us (knowingly or not) follows a Belief-System.

Sure, many are institutional religions for many people. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, etc.
I'm positive for many it's a selection of a bit of this and a bit of that.

There are other Belief-Systems  that are less acknowledged or readily identified as such.
Atheism can be a Belief-System (much to the chagrin of many Atheists I know, because they want their Belief-System to be simply Fact, and beyond reproach or question - a sure sign of fundamentalism).

But the point in all this is that we all adhere or follow some sort of Belief-System, whether we can identify, label or name it; whether it's an official religion or not. We all follow some sort of Belief-System (good or bad) that regulates and guides our moral compasses.

My Little Pony, Friendship if Magic, and the entire concept of Bronies (and yes, you Pegasisters too) embraces the core values of the Elements of Harmony.

Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, and Friendship.

Yes, yes, I know superficially it sounds like a little girl's tacky show, but when you give it a bit more thought... you'll realize it's anything but.

These are core spiritual values, and not to be taken lightly.
These are the foundation pieces of nearly every religion and form of spirituality out there.
The difference is that with "Bronydom" we don't see the horrible atrocities committed in the name of religion as we see in official institutional religions. We don't see the conditions we see in many world religions ("you can only be saved if you're one of us" or the veiled hatred, "you'll burn in hell for eternity if you don't..."). We don't see evangelizing or proselyting (either aggressively or passively). These dreams of Empire simply do not exist within the concept of "Bronydom".

What I found revealing is that in an interview with Lauren Faust (the show's creator), she was asked

 "Are the Elements finite, or is there room for expansion?"
To which she answered,

"I considered them finite... though I had toyed with the idea of opposing Elements of Discord..." The Elements of Harmony, pg. 80

This is interesting, especially if you consider what these opposing Elements of Discord might be.
What are the opposites of Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, and Friendship?

Cruelty, Envy & Jealousy, Deceit & Delusion, Betrayal, Fear, and Hatred?

We might debate exactly what each may or may not be, but they ultimately would encompass these extremely harmful traits.

We seen these traits throughout history.
We have seen the damage, corruption, and evil they inspire. They are the enemy to be battled - usually internally.

~ ~ ~

So, if my son has chosen to embrace and follow this Belief-System, not only am I glad for him, I'll embrace it too!

This is what the world needs.

I realized I was seeing something wonderful in my son.
In a word, Bravery.
Google the word bravery and you get a lot of images. Most are 'manly' images, war, soldiers; what we might call macho.

But it isn't what bravery is, is it?
Bravery isn't about being tough or fearless. Bravery necessitates fear. The difference is that those who are brave overcome their fear, their insecurities and push forward anyway.

My son's friend at his My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic-themed birthday party didn't ask his question out of curiosity. It was a pointed question. It was meant to embarrass, belittle and mock. I know. I was there. It wasn't the words he spoke but how he spoke these words. This coming from a church-going, religious, God-fearing Catholic.

That my son returned a caring and non-confrontational answer isn't what made him brave. It's that he chose to have a theme at his birthday party that he loved regardless of what some might say.

That's bravery.
And I'm proud of him.
And I try to take my lessons from him too.


^-^/)(\^-^

My Little Brony

(Originally posted on Jan. 9/14 on The Woven):

My Little Pony, Bronies, & Possible New Worlds

I wonder if this 'movement', phenomena - call it what you will - of Bronies is a small piece of a much large phenomena.

Ultimately, once you remove the culture of My Little Pony (not that you need to), a Brony is about two things:

1. Overcoming fears (of judgment, of others, of oneself), and
2. Permission. Not permission in the sense of attaining permission from some external authority (although there is an aspect of this present in overcoming our fears), but permission in the sense of realizing and identifying certain truths for what they are and allowing ourselves to accept them.

We could be seeing the insurgence of deep spiritual values of Humanity having freed itself of its religious shackles and dependency. Over the past year I have toyed with the idea of a potential change coming into our world. (You can read further on posts like Human Resources and the Pursuit of Empire, A New Axial Age for an Uncharted World, Qi: Evolution & Entropy, The Paths We Walk, A Map of Humanity, The Spiritual Sojourn of the Lay-monks.)


The Dalai Lama spoke of this very same thing when he identified the need today of "an approach to ethics which makes no recourse to religion and can be equally acceptable to those with faith and those without: a secular ethics. [T]hat it is possible and worthwhile to attempt a new secular approach to universal ethics". From "Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World", 2011

As I mentioned earlier, there is no need to remove the culture of My Little Pony (4th generation) from the equation, but in this case, at least temporarily, I think there might be. Ultimately, and originally, the My Little Pony tv show was aimed at young girls and that can and usually is a difficult sigma to cross.



Many men  fear being viewed as effeminine, mistaking certain values (such as compassion) as feminine and signs of weakness. (It only further compiles the problem that 'haters' going to hate').



If we take a close look at the values promoted in My Little Pony (the 6 Elements of Harmony) we can see that they are not to be scoffed at. Generosity and Kindness (Compassion?), Loyalty and Honesty (Army core values) Laughter (happiness) and Magic.

Some might consider these values of a more feminine aspect of spirituality, but I'm not sure I would even want to use the term "feminine aspect". I don't believe these values belong exclusively to women. These are rock-solid values I think our modern day world is desperately in need of today.

The people and attitudes that conflict with these value are the blight of our times. Selfishness, Envy, Delusion, Cruelty, and Fear. Attach the cute, feminine child-like My Little Pony and it makes for an easy target for the weak and fearful. Haters' going to hate.



Too often Bronies are stereo-typically portrayed as single, creepy 35 year old, fat, bearded, unemployed (or uneducated) males living in their parent's basement. The fact of the matter is very different. (It's worth checking out the documentary Bronies, the Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. It is currently available on Netflix).

My son is a Brony and I am a proud as can be - not only of the values he embraces - but that he held no fear or anxiety to share this with me. And now, having watched the first 3 seasons of My Little Pony (65 episodes - nearly 24 hours worth of it!) I can honestly say that I too am a Brony. I can't wait for the first Brony-con to come to Ottawa.