Short answer? I agree with her, and here’s why…
I was Wiccan for a long period of my spiritual journey and actually just recently decided that the term Wicca - and all the tenants and structure that come with it - wasn’t for me. I am a logic-driven person most of the time, and when you analyze the idea of doing whatever you want as long as you aren’t harming someone, that idea becomes an issue.
Every single action you take has ramifications that could negatively impact other people without your knowledge. And I mean every single action! If you were to try and never harm anything ever again you would have to stop participating in life in any way. All actions in the world have both positive and negative results and how you perceive these results is entirely based on perspective.
I’ve even talked about it before on my own podcast.
And what about morally grey spaces? Say somebody tries to mug you and the encounter become violent. Is it morally reprehensible for you to hurt this person in self-defense? I mean, you are still harming them so under “harm none” this is not ok. I think most people would agree that defending your life from an attacker is not a bad thing though. And if you wouldn’t defend yourself, what if it was someone else being hurt? If you saw someone being attacked and did nothing, your inaction would be contributing to the harm they’re experiencing. If you intervene and harm the attacker, however, your action is causing harm.
The Traveling Witch sums up my thoughts on the Wiccan Rede much better than I could have ever done on my own. It is an obvious reminder that not all witches are Wiccan and they should not be expected to uphold a tenant of a religion that they do not practice.