In this post I wanted to examine the ethics of magic in relation to the Karma (3 fold law)/ Christianity (an eye for an eye/ god's judgement) and (Sufi) intention.
Christianity states we live but one life. Jesus lived one life, he didn't reincarnate into another body. He came back as the Holy Ghost to die for our sins (if you believe that) and not to atone for them through Karma.
The law of Karma doesn't allow for our sins to be forgiven (unlike Christianity). With Karma our sins are inescapable and inevitable. They must be paid for in this life or in subsequent ones that follow. Thus Christianity and Karma are incomparable concepts.
In Christianity sin will create distance between you and god (you can go to hell from which there's no redemption) in the Hindu faith sin doesn't distance you from Brahman, instead you atone for your sins (through Karma) and move on.
It has been suggested that the concept of Karma was created to control the masses through fear. Therefor If I'm naughty I will be punished. Christianity works on the same premiss. If you are judged to be bad you will go to hell. So it could be argued that if you don't believe in either of these concepts they become invalid. This would mean that Karma's a 'self' fulfilling prophecy so if I refuse to accept the 3 fold law it cannot effect me because It has no power over me.
So to recap in Christianity god will judge you, with Karma the individual or "self" must decide if actions are good or bad, everything becomes about individual intention. If I do a binding love spell that goes against the law of free will (so against Karma) I could justify my intentions to "myself" by saying I'm in love, so my intentions are good thus the 3 fold law shouldn't apply to my actions.
In the Old Testament we have ''an eye for an eye'' this for me is perhaps more logical than the Karma 3 fold law as It allows for balance. Revenge isnt a particularly enlightened approach (even when justified) however I believe if it creates balance in the universe (and doesn't harm 3rd parties) it's acceptable. I just don't see how you could put something out into the universe that's either good or bad and get it back to the power of 3,it's just illogical.
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Most practitioners of magic will at some point do at least one spell that deep down they know they probably shouldn't but they will try to justify the decision to "themselves" by saying its for the greater good in an attempt to avoid bad Karma
So then we get to intention,Intention is inescapable. Whether you do or don't believe in Karma everything comes down to This. The one person you can't lie to is yourself right? Therefor at the end of the day it's perhaps more important to be able to live with yourself than to worry about whether your actions will incur bad Karma.
I believe that everything in the universe must balance. Good cannot exist without evil. There are angels and there are demons.
Finally if Karma is a method of manufactured control it must be possible to override it. For example practicioners chaos magic have suggest meditating to 'hack' into the brain and reset the law of karma to zero for darker magic.
Sometimes we do good, sometimes we're bad. I don't believe we get anything back to the power of three but I do believe in a cosmic balance sheet where everything's equal and all debts are paid in full.
I also believe that perhaps we can cheat Karma and get away with it if we so desire and if we can live with the consequences.