Comments on: Tapu

by: Daniel Richards

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:21:04 +0000

“Nothing must be held sacred. Question everything. God is not great, Jesus is not your lord, you are not disciples of any charismatic prophet. You are all human beings who must make your way through your life by thinking and learning, and you have the job of advancing humanity’s knowledge by winnowing out the errors of past generations and finding deeper understanding of reality. You will not find wisdom in rituals and sacraments and dogma, which build only self-satisfied ignorance, but you can find truth by looking at your world with fresh eyes and a questioning mind.”
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/07/the_great_desecration.php#more

by: Stephen

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:06:13 +0000

I eat beef, but not in a Hindu person’s house.

Believe it or not, the Bible does talk about that sort of thing. Sure, I don’t see eating beef as a problem for me, but why should I flaunt my “freedom” to eat beef in the face of other people. I believe the proof text is in Romans :p

by: Stephen

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:03:13 +0000

Communion is sacred because we choose to make it sacred. For some of us it is an outward symbolic reminder of our faith. As I said before, holding something sacred is not a sign of weak-mindedness, it’s a choice. Setting ourselves limits allows us to define a little about who we are, what we choose to do and not to do.

When you interfere with someone else’s Tapu things (like communion), it shows not only a lack of respect for the thing, but a lack of respect for the person as well.

Of course, that doesn’t deserve death threats. We could all do with a little sense of humour (and humility).

by: Daniel Richards

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:49:11 +0000

Oh, on the subject of not doing things because they’re sacred.
Do you eat beef? (Or american hotdogs)

Cows are sacred to Hindus and yet you eat them. Didn’t you just say you shouldn’t do something because it’s sacred to someone else?
That should be enough to stop you from eating beef, right?

by: Daniel Richards

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:45:23 +0000

That’s the problem with symbols. They tend to become the end all of everything.

People forget the “message” and worship the symbol *coughExodus 32*cough*.
So why have symbols in the first place?

by: Daniel Richards

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:41:25 +0000

Five ton of flax…

Don’t forget the professor who got death threats and calls for him to be fired about BLOGGING ABOUT IT.

Everyone views the Truth through their version of the truth.

Unfortunately the way these people look at reality is far to serious. They hold the most bizarre things as “sacred”. (This story as a case in point)

I challenge you to find something that I hold sacred. (Besides the one thing, which would be life* itself)
Go ahead and desecrate a copy of the Principia Discordia, meh. Try and argue that there’s some greater “order” to the universe, as if you know the Truth. Whatever.

You can apply symbolism to whatever you want. But there will always be someone out there to whom your symbolism is meaningless. They’ll violate it without knowing it. (Or they’ll do it on purpose, just to fuck with you. Those are the people you really should be listening to)

WHY is the act of communion sacred?

by: Mom

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:50:47 +0000

As usual a jolly good read.
It’s always good to see Andrew’s comments. What a good friend you have. Love you.

by: kelley

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:26:35 +0000

Brilliant post Stephen on the intrinsic value (or not) of sacred objects. Kelley.

by: AndrewE

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:19:20 +0000

It is funny how sometimes we can venerate the symbols so much that we forget the underlying message.

Fancy making a death threat over a bit of bread. I would suggest that certain members of the congregation need to reflect on their actions.