Religion is a mental illness

[trog.livejournal.com]

Photo: Orthodox Jewish Man Covers Himself In Plastic Bag On Plane

Why is he doing this? Don't read further. I'm telling you, you do not want to know...



We don't often see the classic Twin Peaks phrase "wrapped in plastic" taken so literally—but a Redditor posted the above photo of an Orthodox Jewish man who did just that on a recent flight. Poster "FinalSay" initially assumed the man was covering up because he was in front of women, but others pointed out that it is much more likely that the man is a "Kohen", who are holy priests (or descended from them).

Kohens are prohibited from flying over cemeteries ("A kohen initially was not supposed to approach any dead body, and if he did so he became ritually impure"), which as you can imagine, could be a major problem for travel. According to Haaretz, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, the leader of the Lithuanian Haredi community in Israel, "found a solution to this issue, ruling that wrapping oneself in thick plastic bags while the plane crossed over the cemetery is permissible."



Source: http://gothamist.com/2013/04/11/photo_orthodox_jewish_man_covers_hi.php

Comments

[liliaeth]

I don't see the issue here, he's not forcing anyone else to go out of their way for him. He's trying to find a way to stick to his own rules without causing trouble to others.

[trog.livejournal.com]

Oh, I dunno, because his kids might go to school with mine, or he might be driving next to me in a car, or maybe there are 1000 other situations where his idiotic, insane judgment might put me at risk that don't include using the state to impose his will on me.

[chron-job.livejournal.com]

> I don't see the issue here

The issue is that his rules are absurd.

Now, I grant you, in this case, they are harmless in their absurdity, since they effect him, rather than trying to rope others into obeying the absurd authority he obeys... so I'm not gonna try and pass any laws against him or mess with him. But I still note, that there's a problem here.

The problem, ya see, is that making the critical decision "Does this effect just me? Or is this effecting others? Should my rules apply to them as well?" requires the application of reason.... and the defining characteristic of absurd authority is that it is immune to appeals from reason.

That's why we (or I, at least) are unsettled by absurd authority, even when it does not effect us directly at the moment, because at some time it may, and when it does, it will be just as immune to reason.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I hope air holes were permissible.

[miss-peg.livejournal.com]

I was going to say something similiar, otherwise he would most definitely die in the time it takes to save his soul.

[pepsquad.livejournal.com]

me too!

[macychick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing...how is he possibly not DEAD? We often hear about people committing suicide by putting plastic bags over their heads.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

I read about this earlier. According to the other piece, air holes are only permissible if they are accidental in the process of covering himself.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

so he is show-boating, what else is new?

religious people are interested in others seeing just how holy and pious they are. this man is no different.

you familiar with Jon Safron? You seen his exorcism video? Thoughts? (From one critic of religion to another, its a most curious and odd little thing that happens to him)

[wind-shadow2008.livejournal.com]

so he is show-boating, what else is new?

Or, he is following a religious mandate he believes in. How is that showboating?

religious people are interested in others seeing just how holy and pious they are. this man is no different.

Well.....yes, there are many who are like that, unfortunately. I am just not convinced this man is one of them. Obviously, doing something like this will draw attention to himself, but is that really the reason he's doing it?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

you familiar with Jon Safron? You seen his exorcism video? Thoughts? (From one critic of religion to another, its a most curious and odd little thing that happens to him)

Curious and odd? Oh please.

Funny story. A priest in Jr High School claimed to have witness an exorcism, successful, and he told about 30 14 year olds that she floated up to the rafters of the church, lost her demons and fell to her death, but it was okay since she went to heaven. This is exorcism. I got scared figuring they killed the girl.

Its all show biz man.

I'm watching the episode now. So far the exorcist is a total quack.


PT Barnum would be proud. This is a joke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Cfphh7R9gH0#t=179s

Nothing "happens" to him other than some of his (and his exorcist) bad acting being filmed.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

John Saffran is awesome :)

[american-geist.livejournal.com]

It's a pretty silly thing to do, but I wonder what your solution is. Should his fellow passengers have berated him? Kept quiet, as they presumably did? Should airlines outlaw the practice? Or should we just mock him on the internet?

I guess what I'm asking is how do you propose discouraging such activity in a free society, if at all?

I don't disagree with your sentiment, I don't care for religion at all, especially with regards to public discourse. Still, your use of the quasi-medical "mental illness" language trouble me, besides potentially being construed as vaguely eugenical, I think it gives religion itself way to much credit for human idiocy.

[trog.livejournal.com]

My solution is to marginalize, mock, and shame such behavior. These people are insane and their judgment is clearly very very poor. If a person believes the world is 6000 years old, for instance, who knows what other crazy shit the person believes -- maybe he believes that his car will levitate over anyone he is driving toward so he doesn't need to swerve.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Strange solution. A trip to a mikvah would solve the issue just fine.

[pepsquad.livejournal.com]

that was my thought.

[op-tech-glitch.livejournal.com]

Wonder what the Jains do when they fly...........

ETA: Also:

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Gentle move away all birds. Really, they shouldn't fly.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Wow. Uh, is C02 kosher?

Seriously trog, what do you have against Bagism and bagists?

[pepsquad.livejournal.com]

is it wrong that my first thought was "dutch oven"

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

NO. That is so right.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

So, is this where the derogatory term "jewbag" comes from?

[macychick.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it's a portmanteau of "Jew" and "douchebag."

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

You can't stop crazy from happening if crazy wants to happen.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

You see a religious and crazy person do a crazy thing, zomg!

Did he do this because:

a) He's religious

b) He's crazy

[new-wave-witch.livejournal.com]

Yawn.

[yelena-r0ssini.livejournal.com]

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, the leader of the Lithuanian Haredi community in Israel,

Well there you go then. The Haredim are batshit. That said, this is like the least dangerous batshit Haredi activity to make the news lately - as long as they're not spitting on 8-year-olds IDGAF.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

Nobody tell him that dirt is dead stuff.

[nyxelestia.livejournal.com]

That's weird as fuck and...no, just weird as fuck.

That said, I fail to see how this is a "mental illness". If this is a mental illness, then 95% of the planet is fucking sick or something. And still, at least the man isn't making anyone else go out of their way for him or his beliefs, so honestly, my reactions mostly just a "*shrug* I hope he had airholes. *move on*"

[merig00.livejournal.com]

The description is not fully accurate. The group of haredim (who are ultra-ultra-orthodox) missed their flight that wasn't suppose to fly over a cemetery. So they had to take this flight and this man consulted his rabbi what to do and his rabbi found a solution to this issue for him. So maybe this man wasn't that happy being wrapped in plastic. It's all in the Haaretz article which was mentioned but not linked here