More a discussion of whether or not something he is doing is offensive to a particular religion, or offensive in general, or whether or not he knows what he’s doing.
Smapti is free to do whatever he wants in regards to his relationship with the spiritual. Others are free to have their opinions about it. In general, Jews really don’t care what others believe. Heck, most of them don’t even care what their fellow Jews believe. What they do care is that your actions don’t impact negatively on them, or make mockery of their culture/customs/traditions/beliefs.
I believe DocCathode is concerned with the issue(s) brought up by the last sentence in the above paragraph.
A lot of Jews find stuff like this distasteful not because “you must believe exactly how we tell you” but because it sucks to see your culture reduced to a toy for religious dilettantes. If we’re perhaps especially sensitive to it, it’s because the unseriousification of culture is one square of many on the dehumanization game board that ends with pogroms.
With all due respect to Doc, I think Kabbalah is absolute nonsense. But it’s our nonsense and I absolutely hate that it’s become this kind of trendy thing for people who say stuff like “I’m not religious, you know? But I’m, like, very spiritual.”
People can do what they want. Judaism as a religion is more or less disinterested in what gentiles do or don’t do. But on a personal level I think what Smapti did is kind of uncool; not because he chose to go on this journey, but because he decided to use social media (here and YouTube) as a platform for aggrandizing it. It turns my culture, even a nonsense part of it, into a prop. And that’s ew.
I’d feel similarly if he was appropriating a Native American or Voudon ritual, though that would certainly be more sympathetic ewness than personal.
I’m having trouble with that connection. I think that treating a culture as a costume can have some terrible effects, but leading to genocide? Except when the culture is treated as already extinct, as is the case with Native Americans in many cases, I’m not sure that connection is there at all. But I’m willing to be educated.
You said genocide, not me. History teaches us, unfortunately, that it’s appropriate to draw a distinction between a culture that encourages pogroms and one that is actively trying to commit a genocide.
But yes, I think it’s easier to be dismissive of a culture if you’ve infantilized and devalued the things that make it unique.
The bit you quoted is a broader point, anyway. Like I said later in the post, I specifically feel that this is much more of an “ew” thing than a “you’re ruining my culture” thing. If It thought that I would have used stronger language than “kind of uncool.”
I guess i think most cultural appropriation is sparkling syncretism. That’s how I’d classify both kabbalah and what Smapti is doing, anyway.
Even before he changed the name of his thread, i didn’t think he was mocking anything. And i certainly don’t think his actions have a negative impact on anyone else. Unless it’s getting in the way of getting his work done or something.
Honestly, he seems pretty serious to me. If he was throwing a religious-themed game night and he picked kabbalah as his “costume”, i would be more inclined to find it offensive.
I’m not religious, but I’ve had very spiritual experiences.
Most on large does of LSD &/or MDMA. Sometimes it is fun to be a tourist into a religious mindset.
Of course, having been there and done that, I am still firmly atheist.
I still enjoy the occasional spriritual experience, a bit as much as I enjoy a funfare ride. Good while it lasts. Useful as something to look back on and consider. Worth paying a little bit for. Not a life-changing event, though.
As far as cultural appropriation goes, “Suck it, Albert Hofmann!!!”
It might be relevant to my reaction to Smapti’s modifications that I’m a reform Jew. We believe in modifying the rules in ways that works for us. When i was pregnant, i ate one small meal on Yom Kippur. When i was nursing, i abstained from food, but i drank some water. Did i fast? I dunno, but i certainly modified my behavior because it was a fast day
Is cultural appropriation in part a matter of power and consequences? “The Irish” are no longer a group targeted for discrimination; leprechaun jokes and people taking on bits of Irish culture do little, perhaps no, harm to anyone of Irish descent. The same cannot be said regarding many other groups. Is that a distinction to consider?
Eh, the Kabbalah was toyed with by celebrities a few years back which did genuinely offend some Jews, and given how our rituals, customs, traditions, and even texts have been used against us over the centuries some of our tribe are very sensitive to these things.
I’ve already stated that from my viewpoint Smapti’s offense, if any, was minor but I do appreciate him requesting the change in thread title. What he is doing may have Jewish roots and influence but it is not a Jewish ritual and it is certainly not part of Kabbalah study or practice even if there is a link there. The thread title is now more accurate and I think that’s a good thing.
I agree. This is between Smapti and his relationship with the divine (or possibly demonic if he screws up, but I’m quite skeptical about the whole thing myself).
Since merely as a “side effect” there may be some benefit to Smapti in regards to his long-term health I have already stated that it should be allowed as such an outcome would be to the benefit of someone’s life, and that’s considered a good thing in Judaism (and in general). Judaism holds preservation of life above nearly all else, a principal referred to as pikuah nefesh, so in my view a bit of minor offense must be tolerated for the higher good. Perhaps the act should even be encouraged given the potential positive outcome, although preferably in a manner minimizing the potential negatives.
The fast for Yom Kippur was never intended to be absolute. Children are not expected to fast, neither are the pregnant. People whose health could be endangered by fasting are exempt under the principal of pikuah nefesh, or are allowed modified fasts such as you did.
There were some Polynesians who had a similar reaction to Disney’s Moana. One of their concerns was the Disney version of Maui and Polynesian culture/history might drown out their own versions. While I do think there are some ridiculous complaints about cultural appropriation, like jumping on a white girl for wearing a Chinese qipao dress to prom, I do understand why some Polynesians would be concerned about how their culture is repackaged for mass consumption. For a lot of people throughout the world, the Disney version is Polynesian culture, and I can understand why Polynesians might be concerned about that.
While I’m critical of cultural appropriation as a concept, I cannot help but have some sympathy in some cases.
Of course Hasidim do but I’ve known Jews who felt the Hasidim worship the Baal Shem Tov as a deity and feel they are not respecting one of the most (or most) basic tenets of Judaism. I give their opinions no more consideration than the OP’s but that’s how they feel.
I was on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of my quaker meeting back when yet another chocolate jesus was getting some publicity. A local mosque sent us a letter about how they were offended on our behalf, this is unacceptable, etc. After some head scratching, we drafted a polite response explaining that this wasn’t anything to get excited about. My suggested additions about questioning the artist’s originality or explaining that anyone bothered by it could seek medical treatment were deemed not aligned with the sense of the meeting.
ETA I believe it was the 2007 work here. I don’t recall if the issue was the chocolate or the penis.
When I was young our Easter baskets used to include chocolate crosses - a bit macabre but an acceptable confection at the time.
One time I bought some surplus chocolate heart candy at a steep discount after Valentine’s Day right before Easter which was early in the season that year.
My son was only around 3 or 4 at the time so I put the chocolate hearts in his Easter basket.
I told him and, more importantly, my family, that they were the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to just deal with it.
It’s unfortunate, all right. Because if history thinks that it’s appropriate to draw a bright-line distinction between pogroms and genocide, then history is full of shit.