Re: [asa] Nailing sacred things to the wall... and idols

It probably wouldn't bother me as viscerally. OTOH, I can't see why anyone
would bother to do that. The point of doing it is to make some kind of
cultural / religious / artistic statement. The Bible printed as a book is a
religious / cultural symbol going back millennia; the Bible on CD doesn't
carry that accumulated cultural significance.

I would be upset by *any *public act done for the purpose of denigrating *
anyone's* religion. My reaction is probably emotionally strongest as it
relates to my own faith, but I'd feel just as disgusted by public
desecration of the Qur'an, swastikas on synagogues, etc. All of this sort
of thing is a rather disgusting and insidious sort of bigotry.

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 5:03 PM, Dehler, Bernie <bernie.dehler@intel.com>wrote:

> Hi David- you are saying that nailing the "Bible on CD" would upset you?
> I gave three cases- not sure if your answer applied to all three, or just
> the Bible book.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] *On
> Behalf Of *David Opderbeck
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:56 PM
> *To:* Freeman, Louise Margaret
> *Cc:* asa@calvin.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [asa] Nailing sacred things to the wall... and idols
>
>
>
> It would upset me, not because I venerate the Bible as physically holy, nor
> because I think of the Bible as a physical embodiment / representation of
> God in the way that Catholics think of the host, but because I take the
> Bible to be God's word written, and the act of desecrating it would
> obviously be intended to spit in the face of everyone who understands it as
> such, and of God Himself. I don't think this implies worship of the Bible,
> or even a particular view of what it means that the Bible is God's word
> written.
>
> On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Freeman, Louise Margaret <
> lfreeman@mbc.edu> wrote:
>
>
> I'd think it a mean-spirited and juvenile way of expressing an opinion,
> like burning a flag or
> tearing up a picture of the Pope, but it wouldn't upset me.
>
> As for people being more emotionally attached to the Bible in book form, as
> opposed to
> cassette or computer disc, I think that's just a conditioned emotional to
> the more traditional
> format. That's why people lay their hands on a book when testifying in
> court or taking an oath
> of office, not a CD-rom. A black letter-bound volume that looks like the
> one you remember
> your grandmother reading is probably going to evoke a bigger response than
> a mass paperback
> with a green cover. A Jew would probably have a stronger response to a
> scroll Torah than to a
> bound book, simply because he's more used to the former being treated with
> special reverence
>
>
> __
> Louise M. Freeman, PhD
> Psychology Dept
> Mary Baldwin College
> Staunton, VA 24401
> 540-887-7326
> FAX 540-887-7121
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Dehler, Bernie" <bernie.dehler@intel.com>
> To: "asa@calvin.edu" <asa@calvin.edu>
> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:58:00 -0700
> Subject: [asa] Nailing sacred things to the wall... and idols
>
> > From: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=33156
> >
> > "The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and the Christian
> > Anti-Defamation Commission are calling for disciplinary action against
> > biologist Paul Z. Myers. On July 24, he placed a video on his blog in
> > which the Eucharist - the communion wafer that Catholics believe is the
> > body and blood of Christ after it has been consecrated by a priest
> > during Mass - was pierced with a rusty nail."
> >
> > This made me think. Would people on this ASA list be upset if Myers
> > took a Bible and nailed it to the wall? How about a "Bible on CD?"
> > What about a "Bible on cassette?" Just wondering as to some opinions.
> > I suspect that nailing a Bible would upset many, but nailing a cassette
> > would mean nothing ... why is that? Both the book and cassette are
> > only vehicles for transmitting the message. Can this reveal if the
> > Bible (in book form) has become an idol in the minds of some?
> >
> >
>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
> --
> David W. Opderbeck
> Associate Professor of Law
> Seton Hall University Law School
> Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology
>

-- 
David W. Opderbeck
Associate Professor of Law
Seton Hall University Law School
Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology
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