Curses?

And remember, lest we all forget, that karma is a tenet of Eastern religious dogma - a religious teaching from Hinduism (that has *little* bearing on Western religions) which takes into account complex social caste systems and the lessons and work of *many* lifetimes. It is not a 1 to 1 ratio, such as i do something bad and then shortly thereafter something bad happens to be. Karma is the stuff to be worked out over lifetimes of reincarnation, through your personal caste system, and is tied to the actions of your entire family group.

Westerners have a horrid history of picking and chosing what spiritual rituals, beliefs, and customs they like from a variety of world cultures, perverting them to their own desires, and thus losing the context and history from which they originate - much to the chagrin of the native pracitioners or adherents (don't beleive me? just ask any American Indian how much they love seeing non-Indian White folks holding themselves out as shamans, offering "traditional" vision quests/ sweats/ spiritual cleansings for money...but i digress). This is called cultural reappropriation and it does real damage.

The same thing is happening with karma. What used to be a complex Eastern religious tenent has now been watered down as a Western New Age morality "warning" to keep little wannabe "black" magicians in check.

True, true, it may be my own belief, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, I still believe that people shouldn't be casting curses on others.

LdyGry, I couldn't agree more, people look at me like I'm crazy when I say that ;D
Wonderful words :)