Here’s a possible litmus test: how would you feel about another former Orthodox Jew desecrating a Torah scroll as a symbol of eir change in belief.
That’s an interesting test. My background (never belief, exactly) is Conservative (that is, intermediate between Orthodox and Reform), and that scenario makes me queasy. My first thought was that it represents a level of rage which I’m not comfortable with (and this isn’t totally nonsense), but I do find it more distressing than imagining an ex-Christian doing the same to a Christian bible, even a hand-lettered bible.
Wow, really? From an atheist background, to me I’m much more horrified by the thought of any unique hand-created book being burned than any printed thing for which there are endless copies.
Wow, really? From an atheist background, to me I’m much more horrified by the thought of any unique hand-created book being burned than any printed thing for which there are endless copies.
Er, Torah scrolls are hand-written. The scroll form is always made by a scribe, not printed.
I think you missed what ciphergoth was reacting to—I said that I’d be more upset at a Torah scroll being destroyed than a hand-written Christian bible. This doesn’t mean that I’d have no reaction to the Christian destroying a hand-written Christian bible.
What I was imagining for the hand-written bible was one without illustrations, but that probably wouldn’t make any emotional difference for ciphergoth.
If it’s detailed enough that sufficiently advanced technology could rebuild it indistinguishably, I’m happy. I’m curious how other people feel about this!
It’s interesting that you find a hypothetical Torah scroll desecration to be indicative of rage. Before I lost my Jewish faith I, too, would have associated Torah-desecration with villainy and hate — partially because there were stories and legends about villainous Torah-desecrators, and partially because the Torah evoked such feelings of sanctity and purity that the idea of desecrating a Torah only made sense if there was rage or depravity involved. But of course, I can now easily imagine other emotions that would motivate hypothetical Torah desecrators, like trollishness.
I think it’s more that I’m generally apt to underestimate the impulse to trollishness, though I do think it overlaps hate. Pissing people off for the lulz has something to do with malice towards those people, though I grant that rage has a lot of emotional intensity while trolling has some distance.
That’s an interesting test. My background (never belief, exactly) is Conservative (that is, intermediate between Orthodox and Reform), and that scenario makes me queasy. My first thought was that it represents a level of rage which I’m not comfortable with (and this isn’t totally nonsense), but I do find it more distressing than imagining an ex-Christian doing the same to a Christian bible, even a hand-lettered bible.
Wow, really? From an atheist background, to me I’m much more horrified by the thought of any unique hand-created book being burned than any printed thing for which there are endless copies.
Er, Torah scrolls are hand-written. The scroll form is always made by a scribe, not printed.
is enlightened thanks!
I think you missed what ciphergoth was reacting to—I said that I’d be more upset at a Torah scroll being destroyed than a hand-written Christian bible. This doesn’t mean that I’d have no reaction to the Christian destroying a hand-written Christian bible.
What I was imagining for the hand-written bible was one without illustrations, but that probably wouldn’t make any emotional difference for ciphergoth.
Is the emotion the same if someone made a sufficiently detailed scan of it before they burnt it?
If it’s detailed enough that sufficiently advanced technology could rebuild it indistinguishably, I’m happy. I’m curious how other people feel about this!
It’s interesting that you find a hypothetical Torah scroll desecration to be indicative of rage. Before I lost my Jewish faith I, too, would have associated Torah-desecration with villainy and hate — partially because there were stories and legends about villainous Torah-desecrators, and partially because the Torah evoked such feelings of sanctity and purity that the idea of desecrating a Torah only made sense if there was rage or depravity involved. But of course, I can now easily imagine other emotions that would motivate hypothetical Torah desecrators, like trollishness.
I think it’s more that I’m generally apt to underestimate the impulse to trollishness, though I do think it overlaps hate. Pissing people off for the lulz has something to do with malice towards those people, though I grant that rage has a lot of emotional intensity while trolling has some distance.