Judaism and Super Powers
Yes, I know the premise is a bit odd, but please bear with me. I have an MC who gets certain questions posed to him because he was raised in a religious community, but Google doesn't have too much to offer in the way of answers I can use. Background (and a bit of possible amusement) under the cut:
Background: MC was raised in a MO Jewish community but is now living a secular life (of which I've already covered most of the odds and ends to before). His research assistant, who is a gigantic comic nerd, asks him the following questions:
1. How would a MO community react if it turned out someone was born with/acquired superpowers they'd been previously unaware of (think Peter Parker and Superman)? Would they be asked not to use them unless it was a life or death situation, or would there be other acceptable situations where they might be able to? and:
2. How would that differ if they willingly took the powers on, even if the source giving them to them could possibly be construed as pagan? Would it be possible for them to do teshuva later even if they couldn't get rid of the powers, and would they also be asked not to use them unless it was a life or death situation for themselves or someone else?
He tells her a lot would depend on the person (are they good or ill intentioned?), the people they're interacting with, their rabbi, and their community, as well as their intentions and what the powers could do and how potentially harmful they were if control was lost or decided to do something nasty with them, and that he's far from being a religious authority of any kind, but the answers he gives her will be intended as general guidelines only.
Research done on Google:
Judaism and super powers
Judaism and paganism
Jewish super heroes
And as a side note somewhat related, for those search results I got this interesting comic link.
I may not have time to say it to everyone individually, but thank you for any and all help and polite responses.
Edit: I think I've got enough to go on for the moment, especially since MC's not a religious authority and would probably get somewhat aggravated after his assistant kept pressing for more specifics. Thanks to all who responded! If I have more specific questions, I'll be sure to come back. :)
Background: MC was raised in a MO Jewish community but is now living a secular life (of which I've already covered most of the odds and ends to before). His research assistant, who is a gigantic comic nerd, asks him the following questions:
1. How would a MO community react if it turned out someone was born with/acquired superpowers they'd been previously unaware of (think Peter Parker and Superman)? Would they be asked not to use them unless it was a life or death situation, or would there be other acceptable situations where they might be able to? and:
2. How would that differ if they willingly took the powers on, even if the source giving them to them could possibly be construed as pagan? Would it be possible for them to do teshuva later even if they couldn't get rid of the powers, and would they also be asked not to use them unless it was a life or death situation for themselves or someone else?
He tells her a lot would depend on the person (are they good or ill intentioned?), the people they're interacting with, their rabbi, and their community, as well as their intentions and what the powers could do and how potentially harmful they were if control was lost or decided to do something nasty with them, and that he's far from being a religious authority of any kind, but the answers he gives her will be intended as general guidelines only.
Research done on Google:
Judaism and super powers
Judaism and paganism
Jewish super heroes
And as a side note somewhat related, for those search results I got this interesting comic link.
I may not have time to say it to everyone individually, but thank you for any and all help and polite responses.
Edit: I think I've got enough to go on for the moment, especially since MC's not a religious authority and would probably get somewhat aggravated after his assistant kept pressing for more specifics. Thanks to all who responded! If I have more specific questions, I'll be sure to come back. :)