I'm conflicted.

[theweaselking]

One one hand, I think mindless reverence for nonreal, nonfactual, nonrelevant things is bad, and should be pointed out, confronted, and questioned at every opportunity.

On the other, I can see the appeal of respecting tradition, to more properly understand what the people who came up to it were thinking. I think this can lead to a *mindful* reverence of the nonreal, nonfactual, and nonrelevant.

So this simultaneously makes me say "So?" and also "Dude. Tasteless."

Comments

[nubule.livejournal.com]

Yeah, quite the dilemma for atheists.

Since it was published, I wish it had been more juicy! haha

[kafziel.livejournal.com]

"Allahu akbar! God damn America! Ha ha, just kidding."

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

(Psst! He's a Canadian.)

[mhoye.livejournal.com]

Admiral Ackbar is a canadian?

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

It's a TRAP!

[dreamshade.livejournal.com]

If he's a Canadian, it's a TRAP, EH?!

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It's fundamentally that I don't give a shit about the idea that the Jewish sky fairy is going to punish him, and I *do* give a shit that he's broken a two-millennia-old taboo for something stupid.

That's the Wailing Wall Of Jerusalem, man! That's like putting your initials into Flanders Fields with bleach, ten stories tall.

(I suspect that regardless of the sancticity of the site, Obama is too smart and FAR too familiar with his political opposition to ever put anything salacious in writing. My main surprise was that it was an Israeli student and Israeli paper that took it, not a Republican and Faux Noose.)

[mhoye.livejournal.com]

Sorry, that who has broken a taboo? Written prayers have been put into the crevices of the Wailing Wall for hundreds of years.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

The guy who took the prayer out.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The guy who took the prayer *out*, read it, and sold it to a newspaper.

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

What's worse is that he's a /Yeshiva/ student. I mean. Hello?

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

It's fundamentally that I don't give a shit about the idea that the Jewish sky fairy is going to punish him, and I *do* give a shit that he's broken a two-millennia-old taboo for something stupid.

Yeah, pretty much. Speaking as a Jew, I'd use more respectful terms...but adjusting for respect level, it's this exactly. God, if He exists, has better things to do than worry about whether things were taken out of the wall...but you don't do that, it's disrespectful.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

"Supposed to" implies an authority deciding stuff like that, which Judaism isn't exactly centralized with. (Even the Bible was subject to centuries of interpretation, and probably still is.) Many do, not wanting to write the name of God. I...see above, re "God has better things to do."

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Whenever I see anybody of any faith doing stuff like that, it makes me think they're also the kind of person to say "f***" or "sh*t" instead of "fuck" or "shit". Dude(tte), we know what you really mean, bleeping yourself doesn't really change anything.

[sivi-volk.livejournal.com]

I'll ignore the religious implications and say that's it's hugely disrespectful to Obama. It's like someone taking a note you left on a grave.

Wholly different situation that that eucharist deal.

[jagash.livejournal.com]

Regardless of religious implications, that action did violate both cultural and legal rules of behavior. I honestly don't see much of the religious in the act, compared to the other aspects. I mean, the Wall is real, factual and relevant as are the laws governing it.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think there's anything *illegal* about what they did.

But it's a violation of expectations and a violation of a *strong* cultural taboo, and it's a cultural taboo *for religious reasons*.

[jagash.livejournal.com]

I missed the legal details, my bad. I tend to see the line between jewish culture and jewish religion as being particularly fuzzy, compared to some of the others.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

You're right about that. But as much as Israel is a Jewish State, the laws tend to not be directly founded on Jewish culture or religion as much as general Western law.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Theism aside (and I'm not an atheist but I care sooooo little about someone else's relationship with deity) this is a straight up matter of privacy. It was grossly inappropriate to steal what was such a private missive (even if we consider prayer to be pointless, it's still an utterly private element of his life) and then publish it in a newspaper. It would be disgusting if it were his own post to his own house. It isn't in any way shape or form related to his job or the role he is aiming to take - it is just a violation pure and simple - as crass and tasteless and installing hidden mics in confession booths - or sending call girls with hidden cameras to Mr. Mosley's orgy


It's also gross disrespect for a national monument, but I care less about that (since it wasn't actually damaged) as I do about the violation of his private life

[wherever.livejournal.com]

I'm agnostic, and I find it to be tasteless, too. There's no inconsistency in decrying the mindless invasion of public people's private lives by modern media. It's not about religion, it's about basic decency.

[chizzer.livejournal.com]

I'm not claiming to be overtly religious, but I do consider myself more of a traditionalist.

Having placed a note in the wall, I understand how infuriating and violating it would be for someone to do such a thing. The atmosphere surrounding the Wall is that of trust, tradition, and a common privacy. An act such as removing and publishing a note violates the entire notion of the tradition and the history of the wall.

Anyways, I'm not sure I can say anything that hasn't already been said here. Except "wtf".