Innocence vs. Ignorance

I have struggled for some time when using the words "ignorance" and "innocence", because to me they have a different meaning than they do for most people. I know I should be the one to adapt my understanding and usage of these words; it is after all the "English" language, not "my" language. But the words themselves scream out to me that they are being violated in mass, and used erroneously in support of a great deception that the English language itself seems to intentionally perpetuate. So, in the interest of clearer communication, and in my ongoing efforts to use words to deconstruct the deception perpetrated by words, let me say here once and for all what the words, "innocence" and "ignorance" communicate for me.

Ignorance, in my book, has no negative or detracting connotations, while innocence may. Innocence, to me, means what ignorance means to most people. It is simply not knowing something by virtue of inexperience. Ignorance on the other hand, is not knowing something by choice, i.e. ignoring our experience. On a very deep philosophical level, I believe that we only exist at all as individuals (apparently separate from other individuals, and from our surroundings in general) because on some fundamental (a.k.a. "spiritual") level we have chosen to ignore the direct and immediate experience of being One with everything, and of everything being One with us. I have sometimes attempted to express this distinction of ignorance by intentionally (mis-) spelling the word, "ignorence", (with an "e"). I like to think that this is a new word, "ignorence", more correctly express the nuance of "ignorance" that most people seem innocent of (though I suspect they are simply being ignorent).

Innocence, as I have said, means a lack of experience, which is, according to my "deep philosophy", simply not possible. So, to say one is innocent is not just a misnomer, it's really an outright misconception. It is only possible to be innocent in this sense if we are in fact somehow separate from the all-knowing Universe (i.e. our experiences, which is, BTW a.k.a. God). To believe we are separate (and that innocence is possible) is to believe also that death (or "eternal damnation") is possible, and unfortunately, we, as an infinite being capable of creating what we experience by ignoring what we don't want to experience, only end up creating "death" for ourselves with such fearful beliefs.

This should not be shocking to anyone who reads the words of our sages (including but not limited to the Christian Bible) since they have been saying the same thing (or at least trying to) for thousands of years. It doesn't take science, religion, or even brains to understand. It just takes the courage to not ignore the Truth of who we are, and the fortitude to accept that nobody is innocent - ever.

(J.D. 11-1-13)

P.S. I sometimes use the word innocence to refer to the state of forgiveness in which we are completely void of judgement, which is not the same thing as innocence as inexperience. I would call this instead, "divine innocence".