The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Waste of trees to burn them, waste of knowledge of the religion to burn them, but this isn't the worst thing ever so meh.
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Book Burning: Bible, koran, torah, wicca, scientology, buddhism etc.
- Thread starter jojowedge
- Start date
The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Storm: They're not burning a Wiccan Holy Book in this video but a book about Wicca.
It looked like a few books were from the occult section.
There was a time not that many years ago when book burning would have been a very serious form of censorship, and it still is in some parts of the world. But most of us here live in a world where with just a few clicks just about any book you can think of can be in your hands within 3 business days (or downloaded instantly to your e-reader). Burn a hundred thousand copies of a book and that book will become a best seller, they will just print more. So yes this is largely a symbolic act. But it is symbolic of ignorance and stupidity.
But when you put this act into historical context and think about what book burning use to mean this is like children dressing up like Nazis, or KKK without having any idea of what it really means. I find it sickening.
(p.s I wonder why they didnt just burn a kindle. That would have been interesting.)
But when you put this act into historical context and think about what book burning use to mean this is like children dressing up like Nazis, or KKK without having any idea of what it really means. I find it sickening.
(p.s I wonder why they didnt just burn a kindle. That would have been interesting.)
Levite
Higher and Higher
I don't care what's in the books or why the people are burning them. Burning books, whatever they contain, is the antithesis of civilization. It is utterly and entirely without redemptive merit or excuse. It is hatred and ignorance embodied in a single act.
If a civilized person has a problem with what is written in a book there are civilized ways to deal with that fact: either don't read the book, and tolerate the fact that others read it, or, if the content of the book seems to create problems in the world, meet those problems with reason, education, and polite discourse.
But burning a book solves nothing, and proves only that the book-burner is ignorant and afraid.
I happen to not believe in the arguments of atheism. That doesn't mean that atheists have no right to their books, or that their books deserve destruction. It means that I should not waste my time reading atheist literature. What others wish to do is their business: if they enjoy atheist philosophy, it's none of my affair. As much as I am disinclined to atheism, it would never even cross my mind to burn an atheist book. I would, in fact, fight tooth and nail to prevent such a thing from occurring.
I would not even condone burning utterly irredeemable works of truly evil people, such as Mein Kampf or The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Those books are testament to what happens when hatred, ignorance, and fear get out of control. And it's no surprise that the some of the first things on the agenda of people who admire and emulate such books is to go book-burning.
I don't care that the people in the video profess atheism. I don't care what their perceived problems are with the various religions whose sacred texts they are burning. I care that whatever their ideas are, whatever their philosophies profess, they have just caused me to close my ears to them forever, and to associate them with nothing but contempt, because they come from book-burners.
The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I kind of find it strange they would have all of those religious texts, but not even the Satanic Bible... It's so easy to tell... 'Satanic' and 'Bible' it's not religious but neither is the Buddhist book, whatever the hell that was called.
I'm not saying they should burn the Satanic Bible, I'm just surprised they didn't out of all those... Also the Tao Te Ching, I have one but I can't seem to burn it, even though the philosophy in it angers me so much...
I'm not saying they should burn the Satanic Bible, I'm just surprised they didn't out of all those... Also the Tao Te Ching, I have one but I can't seem to burn it, even though the philosophy in it angers me so much...
blackout
Violet.
I find it humorously ironic.
What these athiests engaged in was Ritual Magic.
The symbolic act being the burning (anniahlation) of belief systems
through the ritual act of the burning of their related books.
Symbolic actualization.
(or "acting out"
)
The irony being, of course,
that they were participating in
(or actualizing)
the very thing
they were acting out the anniahlation of.
(ie. magic... more specifically, haphazard magic)
They might at least have read the books on chaos magic
before throwing them into their raging inferno.
NOTE:
If they first read the Principia Discordia
under hooded robe and umbrella,
while roasting hot dogs and buns over the flaming altar/alter
before tossing it all in
I will rescind my earlier statements.
What these athiests engaged in was Ritual Magic.
The symbolic act being the burning (anniahlation) of belief systems
through the ritual act of the burning of their related books.
Symbolic actualization.
(or "acting out"
)The irony being, of course,
that they were participating in
(or actualizing)
the very thing
they were acting out the anniahlation of.
(ie. magic... more specifically, haphazard magic)
They might at least have read the books on chaos magic
before throwing them into their raging inferno.
NOTE:
If they first read the Principia Discordia
under hooded robe and umbrella,
while roasting hot dogs and buns over the flaming altar/alter
before tossing it all in
I will rescind my earlier statements.
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The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I find it humorously ironic.
What these athiests engaged in was Ritual Magic.
The symbolic act being the burning (anniahlation) of belief systems
through the ritual act of the burning of their related books.
Symbolic actualization.
(or "acting out"
The irony being, of course,
that they were participating in
(or actualizing)
the very thing
they were acting out the anniahlation of.
They might at least have read the books on chaos magic
before throwing them into their raging inferno.
If they first read the Principia Discordia
under hooded robe and umbrella,
while roasting hot dogs an buns over the blaze
I will rescind my earlier statements.
Thanks for the info, makes me think of their act as interesting now
Photonic
Ad astra!
Meh, theamazingatheist on youtube beat them to it, and in the interest of fairness he also burnt The God Delusion.
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I can definitely understand the liberating element of their symbolic ritual here. It could only be more liberating if they had read all of the books that they burned and comprehended the meaning behind each one fully. I suppose there are a million or so other copies they could still read however. As long as they're not seeking total censorship of any particular religious or philosophical train of thought, then I guess it should be alright for them to perform their own religious rituals.
I can't say that I necessarily would idealize any single book as "holy" or "divine" or "inerrant absolute truth". However, I would probably identify a few historical books as exemplary in terms of natural practicality such as the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi in my own experience at least so far. Many modern books and works of fiction contain the same essential elements of teaching, but apparently not the same street cred. I would be down with burning a Tao Te Ching in ritualistic fashion. It's disappointing they didn't read them, learn to understand them properly, and then finally burn them as well. The reality isn't perfectly contained within any single book, but out here in our direct experience of the moment as it is.
I can't say that I necessarily would idealize any single book as "holy" or "divine" or "inerrant absolute truth". However, I would probably identify a few historical books as exemplary in terms of natural practicality such as the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi in my own experience at least so far. Many modern books and works of fiction contain the same essential elements of teaching, but apparently not the same street cred. I would be down with burning a Tao Te Ching in ritualistic fashion. It's disappointing they didn't read them, learn to understand them properly, and then finally burn them as well. The reality isn't perfectly contained within any single book, but out here in our direct experience of the moment as it is.
blackout
Violet.
Many people seem to think that books in general
are somehow 'holy'.
Not any specific books,
just books in general.
All books.
As such, any bookburning
is then seen as an 'unholy' act.
A disdainful affront to the senses
disproportionate with the actual damages done.
This is because,
'books' symbolize (actual) knowledge
to those offended.
Otherwise, symbolic bookburnings
(as opposed to the 'censorship' kind)
would not be held in disdain with such 'religious' zeal.
The thing is,
symbolism exists out in real life as well,
not just in books.
are somehow 'holy'.
Not any specific books,
just books in general.
All books.
As such, any bookburning
is then seen as an 'unholy' act.
A disdainful affront to the senses
disproportionate with the actual damages done.
This is because,
'books' symbolize (actual) knowledge
to those offended.
Otherwise, symbolic bookburnings
(as opposed to the 'censorship' kind)
would not be held in disdain with such 'religious' zeal.
The thing is,
symbolism exists out in real life as well,
not just in books.
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I suppose I can understand the historical sentiment concerning burning any and all books. Perhaps I'm spoiled to an extent in our modern information age in which information, and actual knowledge given appropriate actualization of info, is so readily available via the Internet and portable wireless devices. I do still think there's a difference between wanting to eradicate an entire library of a particular form of knowledge and sacrificing a few books or Kindles to symbolize one's own convictions and worldview, although Kindles would be more expensive. I would suggest deleting certain books, but I suspect it doesn't have quite the same flare as burning books alive.
blackout
Violet.
People buy $20,000 pianos only to have them decorate their foyers.
They spend four times that
filling a home library with books
that in the end
become musty and brittle
only to meet their end in the dumpsters,
never read,
on the fringes of an estate sale.
There are no laws stating that people who buy things,
must actually USE them
to the purposes
of that which they were originally intended.
They spend four times that
filling a home library with books
that in the end
become musty and brittle
only to meet their end in the dumpsters,
never read,
on the fringes of an estate sale.
There are no laws stating that people who buy things,
must actually USE them
to the purposes
of that which they were originally intended.
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The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I don't see the point in the practice of burning them in symbolistic for burning the religion, you'd have to buy them so technically all you're doing is giving them money, nobody cares what you do with the book, they make plenty of others, and just want your money.
Then again, I do have a Bible I took from a hotel room that may work
Then again, I do have a Bible I took from a hotel room that may work
I don't see the point in the practice of burning them in symbolistic for burning the religion, you'd have to buy them so technically all you're doing is giving them money, nobody cares what you do with the book, they make plenty of others, and just want your money.
Then again, I do have a Bible I took from a hotel room that may work
That's why it's only ritualistic, as Ultraviolet as conveyed. Really they are just feeding the monkey they apparently despise haha. That Bible you took would most likely be replaced by another one once somebody had noticed. The Bible is the most copied book ever, and only followed by the Tao Te Ching to a much lesser degree of manufacture.
If you decided to burn it in ritualistic fashion, it would only serve as a vent for your own emotional/intuitive sensibilities confirmed only by your own perceptions and convictions. It probably feels pretty good, and maybe these folks received the greater sense of satisfaction by the thought that they were going to share it with the world, including us. It's pretty ritualistic none the less. You just can't escape your own human nature. You can only accept it and learn how to let it evolve naturally as it is within the context of who you are.
The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Naw I'd never burn a book, as much as I know I'll never read it and it's useless since there are thousands of copies made each week, but it's probably better to give to someone who wants to be Christian or something.
blackout
Violet.
I don't see the point in the practice of burning them in symbolistic for burning the religion, you'd have to buy them so technically all you're doing is giving them money, nobody cares what you do with the book, they make plenty of others, and just want your money.
Then again, I do have a Bible I took from a hotel room that may work
People sell books for pennies at yard sales.
Libraries practically give them away as well
when they are 'clearing out'.
Books come your way when an older relative passes on,
and many of us have books on our own shelves
that we have since outgrown.
If you're going to destroy books in some kind of symbolic rite of 'passage'
(heh)
you might as well just destroy old ones
that really are fit for the garbage anyway.
It's counter intuitive/active to go out and buy new ones
and then destroy them.
First you have to literally 'support' them (ie buy them) in order to (literally and symbolically) destroy them.
It seems to cancel out the point of the act and leave you (literally) in the negative.
The other way is much more pragmattic.
The book is not only symbolic garbage to you,
it is also, literal garbage- because it is old.
It's smelly. Who wants to read it anyway?
It's garbage.
(for the record, I personally find the whole thing mindlessly melodramatic.
When taken seriously anyway. Like so much other bourgeois religious melodrama.
But that's me.)
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The Sum of Awe
Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
I actually like the idea of this ritual though, it's the easiest one to do IMO
I thought the video was quite nice. I could almost feel the warmth of the fire. That being said, "burning books" and burning "religious books" are probably two separate actions to the atheist involved. One is the act of intentionally destroying useful, entertaining, knowledgeable writing and the other is destroying what needs to be destroyed in their eyes.
I once asked my Christian friend what he thought would happen if people burned all of the bibles in the world and killed all the Christians. I asked him if that would make Christianity disappear forever and never be able to return. His reply was simple. "Thats impossible." he said.
I would like to burn a bunch of religious books myself, just so I can say that I did it. I would also like to read all of those religious books even though some of them are very old, archaic, hard to understand, follow and seem pointless on a larger scale. I also think that any informed atheist would realize that the act of burning books in large quantities could potentially harm the environment with all of the smoke emitted and it would perhaps be a better idea to recycle all of the religious books so that new, more brilliant, more pragmatic, more useful books can be written on those pieces of paper.
I once asked my Christian friend what he thought would happen if people burned all of the bibles in the world and killed all the Christians. I asked him if that would make Christianity disappear forever and never be able to return. His reply was simple. "Thats impossible." he said.
I would like to burn a bunch of religious books myself, just so I can say that I did it. I would also like to read all of those religious books even though some of them are very old, archaic, hard to understand, follow and seem pointless on a larger scale. I also think that any informed atheist would realize that the act of burning books in large quantities could potentially harm the environment with all of the smoke emitted and it would perhaps be a better idea to recycle all of the religious books so that new, more brilliant, more pragmatic, more useful books can be written on those pieces of paper.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
Yeah, I figured that one out all by myself, thanks.