Atonement or lack of it<\/strong>
Around here, it's the end of Yom Kippur, the quietest day of the year. Yesterday, in the early afternoon, before its onset, we were in Abu Ghosh, where even Muslim businesses were already closing - probably revealing that the majority of their clientele are Jewish Israelis anyway. Late in the night, there were sounds of motorcycles evidently using the dead roads as race tracks; probably lots of fun.
All these monotheistic religions have rituals of atonement. But it seems to me, looking in as an outsider, that the atonement remains mainly ritualized. I'm not sure that people are even aware of their actual "sins" - so how can they atone for them? We're all guilty of over-exploiting the biosphere; but most of the time people see nothing wrong with this. But having sex with the wrong person counts as a sin. And who is asking for expiation for genocide, let alone attempting to reconcile with the survivors?
Yesterday I was half-watching a doco on Arte about street art, graffiti and tagging and learned a few things, such as that in the gentrified neighbourhoods of cities, some well-to-do people actually commission street art. Obvious when I think about characters like Banksy.
For me, of a tired, uncool generation and background, most graffiti is just an eye-sore, looking worse as the paint begins to peel. It defaces beautiful old buildings as often as ugly modern concrete structures. But one thing I can relate to is the notion that while our societies are responsible for such dismal crimes against humanity, the attempt to make cities look charming, tourist-friendly and aesthetically pleasing deserves a significant response.
As revealed by old photos, the old neighbourhoods of European cities looked worse and more run-down a hundred and fifty years ago, when they were newer, than they do today, when they are older. But that worseness had a type of charm that their modern artificially spruced-up versions today lack. Defacing them with obscenities or graffiti carries a certain justice.<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","width":640,"height":426}
Around here, it's the end of Yom Kippur, the quietest day of the year. Yesterday, in the early afternoon, before its onset, we were in Abu Ghosh, where even Muslim businesses were already closing - probably revealing that the majority of their clientele are Jewish Israelis anyway. Late in the night, there were sounds of motorcycles evidently using the dead roads as race tracks; probably lots of fun.
All these monotheistic religions have rituals of atonement. But it seems to me, looking in as an outsider, that the atonement remains mainly ritualized. I'm not sure that people are even aware of their actual "sins" - so how can they atone for them? We're all guilty of over-exploiting the biosphere; but most of the time people see nothing wrong with this. But having sex with the wrong person counts as a sin. And who is asking for expiation for genocide, let alone attempting to reconcile with the survivors?
Yesterday I was half-watching a doco on Arte about street art, graffiti and tagging and learned a few things, such as that in the gentrified neighbourhoods of cities, some well-to-do people actually commission street art. Obvious when I think about characters like Banksy.
For me, of a tired, uncool generation and background, most graffiti is just an eye-sore, looking worse as the paint begins to peel. It defaces beautiful old buildings as often as ugly modern concrete structures. But one thing I can relate to is the notion that while our societies are responsible for such dismal crimes against humanity, the attempt to make cities look charming, tourist-friendly and aesthetically pleasing deserves a significant response.
As revealed by old photos, the old neighbourhoods of European cities looked worse and more run-down a hundred and fifty years ago, when they were newer, than they do today, when they are older. But that worseness had a type of charm that their modern artificially spruced-up versions today lack. Defacing them with obscenities or graffiti carries a certain justice.<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","width":640,"height":426}