Karma Cleanser - May 02 2007
Will it come back to bite you?
Dear Karma Cleanser:
??
My dog suffers from separation anxiety. We recently moved into a new apartment and she barks all day while I’m at work. She also chewed up the corner of the entertainment center. This is new for what was previously a very well-behaved animal.
??
The vet gave her a prescription for a drug to fight anxiety. I’d taken the same drug myself previously, though it’s been a few years. I’m going through a bad breakup right now and I’m having a hard time sleeping. Anyway, I’ve started taking the dog’s medication sometimes. Not enough so that she’s deprived, but just a pill here and there to help me get to sleep. I feel like stealing my beloved pet’s drugs is causing bad karma in my life. Am I wrong?
??
– – Mrs. Paws
??
Stop! Don’t take another one of the pet pills until you’ve consulted a physician – one who specializes in humans. The dosage is almost certainly wrong, not to mention another dozen unknowns of consuming a canine medication. Make it up to your pup by putting her in doggy day care. Her nerves will thank you for it later.
??
Dear Karma Cleanser:
??
I was born in Pittsburgh and relocated to the South in the late 1970s. I’ve lived my adult life here in the Bible Belt, and have even maintained close friendships with a few Christians over the years. (I consider myself an agnostic.)
??
If my Christian friends ever nudged me to come break bread at their houses of worship, I always said a friendly “no thanks” and respected them for asking. They never pressed.
??
I recently read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and it has caused a completely unanticipated spiritual tailspin. I can no longer view my former friends as just innocent purveyors of the faith, but as carriers of something closer to a damaging virus. Conversely, the book has made me question my own (lack of) faith and begin a new assessment of what I believe. I don’t know much about karma (yet) but I’m starting to count the instances in my life when it’s been at work. My friends find it funny that a book on atheism has had such an effect on me. My question is, how do I reconcile my new views (which, admittedly, are still forming) with my former friendships?
??
– – Old Enough to Know Better
??
The search for meaning knows no age, and for you to ask such questions at this point in life is not only natural, it’s fundamental. Let the book be a conversation-starter with those friends whose faith you now question. At best, the inquiry can help you to understand their motivations better; at worst, it might help you to realize that you’ve simply outgrown the friendships. The fact alone that you’re asking the Karma Cleanser for advice shows us you have to believe in something.
??
Been bad? karmacleanser@gmail.com.