Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

[atreideslioness]

"Last week, we covered Eid ul-Fitr," Ghanima began as people began taking their seats today. "However, this isn't only a holy time of year for Islam. Today is Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, which is one of the holiest days of the year for the Hebrew people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with an approximately 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days."

"Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God, known as bein adam leMakom, and against other human beings, or bein adam lechavero," she continued, pronunciation perfect. "The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers one's self absolved by God."

"Now, Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest and of fasting," Ghanima said, moving to write on the board. "Five additional prohibitions are traditionally observed, as detailed in the Jewish oral tradition; Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:1."

1. No eating and drinking
2. No wearing of leather shoes
3. No bathing or washing
4. No anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions
5. No marital -- or non-marital sexual -- relations

"Total abstention from food and drink usually begins 30 minutes before sundown," she noted as she turned back to the class, "and ends after nightfall the following day. Although the fast is required of all healthy adults, it is waived in the case of certain medical conditions. Now, virtually all Jewish holidays involve a ritual feast, but since Yom Kippur involves fasting, Jewish law requires one to eat a large and festive meal on the afternoon before Yom Kippur, after the Mincha afternoon prayer. Wearing white clothing, and for men a Kittel, is traditional to symbolize one’s purity on this day."

"Today I'd like us to discuss the concepts of atonement and repentance as a group, and once class is over, I ask that you use the rest of the day for self-reflection. Last week was about joy and goodwill towards your fellow man; today is about being a better person."

[the ocd is in the house!]

Comments

Class Discussion: Atonement

[atreideslioness]

"From the dictionary," Ghanima said, writing on the board again. "Atonement:

1. the act of atoning
2. satisfaction given for wrongdoing, injury, etc.; amends; expiation
3. Obsolete agreement or reconciliation."

"What does atonement mean to you? Is it a concept you believe in? I'd like to hear your opinions."

[Class discussion, so as always, ping to anyone anywhere anytime!]

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[trigons_child]

Raven was very familiar with atonement, though she wasn't sure how much she should reveal openly in class. "There is one from my world," she said, keeping things vague, "who has caused a great deal of harm to others. Each time I heal someone, I think in some small way I am atoning for what he has done." Or what she could possibly do in the future.

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[weetuskenraider]

"Can you do that?" Tahiri asked, sending a curious glance Raven's way. "Do you think it's really possible to make up for someone else's wrongs?"

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[trigons_child]

"The wrongs cannot be undone," Raven said quietly. "But a simple act of good can help restore balance."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Elena was too intrigued -- for personal reasons -- not to chime in on that matter.

"What if ... it's more complicated?" she asked. "If you stand with someone, as family, or as an associate ... then in some senses, it may seem as though you condone what they have done. In that case, maybe there's some degree to which you have to atone, too, even if you weren't in the least responsible in the first place."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[likethegun]

"Do you feel like you make progress in that respect?" Sam said, keeping things vague too, for her sake. "I mean, I understand the idea, but it only works if you feel like someday, you'll have healed enough people to fully atone for him."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[trigons_child]

"I hope to make a difference," Raven said, shaking her head, "but no, I do not think I have the power to atone for all he has done. I wish that I could, but I do not think it truly possible."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"Is he someone close to you?" Elena asked. "I'm curious if you feel a sense of responsibility, or guilt, for what he's caused the world. If the atonement is personal."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[trigons_child]

"We have a connection," Raven said vaguely. "My world is very small."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[endsthegame]

"Atonement is about the self, I believe," Ender said, thoughtfully; not that he'd spent an awful lot of time on this topic. "Recognition of your own sins - even if everyone else around you chooses to be apologist about them - and working, constructively, to do something of equal value or more into the other direction." A pause. "Although it's not so clinical that there are scales, of course. But, to make a long story short..." His mouth pulled up. "I'd like to think it exists. It's in the intent."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[momslilassassin]

"But this holiday for atonement only lasts for a day, right?" Ben said quietly. "Not an entire lifetime?"

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[endsthegame]

"As far as I know."

To his credit, Ender said nothing about not being Jewish, or some sins taking a lot more time.

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure I entirely agree," Elena mused. "It's about the self, except ... if you're truly atoning, you're less focused on the sins and transgressions you made, and more on how to right what you've done wrong. Trying to improve the situation of any you may have harmed."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[endsthegame]

"And what if there's nothing in particular you can do to right exactly what you've done wrong?" he inquired, "What if the only option left is to do what good you can, when there's no one left?"

Purely hypothetical.

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It's never been as complex as it seems to be presented here," Jonas said, latching onto the second definition because it's the one that he'd experienced. "Where I'm from, it was just apologizing and that was considered enough to be absolved of whatever you'd done wrong."

Of course, if you didn't learn your lesson, the punishments were progressively worse until you just didn't exist anymore. It was frightening to think about.

"Once you apologized, you were forgiven and you went on with your day," he continued. "You tried not to make that mistake again, though."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"What if whatever you did was something that can't be undone?" Elena said. "Either by malice or accident. If you wreck your car, and it kills a young mother, I don't believe her children will accept 'Sorry, it was an accident' in place of her."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"That sort of thing didn't happen where I'm from," he explained honestly, thinking back on what the Community would have been like with those sort of things introduced into such a stringent society. "The Community was run and governed to prevent things of that nature from happening so grudges and confrontations were rare. If they happened, it was the Elders that addressed it."

He thought about going into the concept of birthmothers not even being interspersed with the regular Community members but it didn't seem to the focal point of her question.

"If you made a mistake, you apologized and that was the end of the incident," he said, not realizing how...strange that sounded. He couldn't do that just yet. "The other person is supposed to forgive and move on. And that's what they did. Acceptance always happened."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[bitten_notshy]

"It means you let God and your community know that you're aware that you did wrong and you repent," Jack offered thoughtfully. "I believe in it to a point, but I think the true test is if you do it again. Otherwise, it's just words."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"What if the ones you've wronged don't want your apology?" Elena asked, uncertainly.

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[bitten_notshy]

"... I don't think I said anything about that," Jack answered. "If they don't, all you can do is move on and not do it again. Beating yourself does no good."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"I believe ..." Elena hesitated, unsure of how to phrase her thoughts. Of how much to reveal. "I believe that you can never really undo the things you may have done. You can be sorry, and you can make what amends you can -- and you should, if you're sorry -- but I'm not sure there's any way to balance that scale. You could do a thousand good deeds, and it's not going to make someone you killed come to life again."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[solo_sword]

That was definitely along Jaina's lines of thinking. "I think you're right there," she said. "What's done is done and you can't fix it, but then it becomes about recognizing what you did was wrong and learning from it. Maybe preventing it from happening again, by not doing the same thing or whatever the circumstance was, is sort of a way of balancing the scales."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

Elena nodded. "At least by stopping it the second time around, you've ... used what you did wrong to prevent further loss, and that's ... it's something. Some good has come out of something terrible. That doesn't seem to happen a lot."

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[furnaceface]

//It won't undo hurt that yer ran from, either,// Jono noted, glancing her way. //A life doesn't have to be lost for it to be destroyed.//

Re: Class Discussion: Atonement

[findingelena.livejournal.com]

"No, it doesn't," she said. "If someone's still alive, there's ... a chance you can apologize, or try to improve their situation. I only used death because it's final. The hurt you caused someone might be permanent, but you might also have a chance to try for atonement."