Zygmunt Bauman, in his book "Modernity and the Holocaust," presents an interesting idea on how feelings of hate begin.
On page 37, ( I think..) he reduces antisemitism to the most fundamental and primal stage of 'resentment' - as the basic ground from which hatred intensifies.
So this "crack" which occurred back then- during the early days of Christianity, when it was a small and growing religion, the Jewish people, full of skepticism towards the "new Jews" did not accept their new "tweaks" to their known beliefs and rituals, and this just kept growing and growing, fuelled by bodies of interest.
As time progressed, Christianity became fully established while Judaism, after the exile from the biblical land, scattered around the globe, dealing with being a minority. As time progresses and for various reasons.. many Jews converted, some willingly, others forced to make the choice.
While many converted, but not all... Some remained Jewish, perfectly happy with their familiar spiritual territory.
"...I have everything I need to live my life in peace, and I have no interest in the new religion" (bear with me... I am trying to make a point here! 🙂).
So this puts some of the New Testament people in a bit of a fix, thinking - "Why did we convert? How can the remaining Jews maintain their older version of worship, while I felt unsatisfied? Could it be that something is wrong with me??
In fact, to be sure I made the right choice, Best for me if they convert.."
Broken Time
I want to try and illustrate the problem, from a different angle. Let's try this idea on a whole new and original example...a somewhat familiar scenario we might recognise:
Let's use the cellphone-technology-upgrade-world for this demonstration. 😏
When the first phone was introduced, it bore the amazing promise of making a phone call wherever you are without any delay! What an innovation! It was a jaw-dropping leap into a better future!
Anyway, then come the new phones, and with them come new features, new developments - sending messages, playing games, getting internet access, social media, touch screens - all the time, a newer tech device with a new promise that many of us keep updating to.
The newest solution that will help us live better, work better!
We want it, we need it! Found our electronic "salvation"!
How would my feelings be effected if I come across a person walking by with an old first model of the phone, using it only for making random phone calls,"send & end is all I need!" ..that's it?....no problems?..you're all sorted? What does he know that I don't? What did I miss here that he figured out?
In some way, his decision to not make the change, projects on my decision to move on to the new device. If he won't convert to a newer phone, it could affect my feeling towards MY action, questioning MY decision. This mild and subtle feeling of uneasy won't go away, and in fact - every time we'd meet, I'd probably wonder if he upgraded.
Mobile Evolution Or Mine is Bigger image from Wikipedia
This scenario is something I can imagine or identify...
Ask yourself - how likely are you to impose your method on the other, and how important would it be for you to convince the other to follow your decision to "upgrade," or would you just "live and let live"?
It can be with any new change - not only tangible, such as smartphones, computers, and vehicles, but also with ideas, thoughts, etc.
It just might be a primal resentment towards change or the lack of...
This example is a long stretch of the imagination...but it helped me see the 2000-year-old 'resentment' in a new way.
The book "Modernity and the Holocaust" was truly an eye-opening experience for me, as it added more depth and nuance to what I already knew. It did not contradict my previous knowledge; instead, it provided additional facets to those familiar events, allowing me to see a bigger picture and prompting me to ask even more questions. The further I delved into the subject, the more complex it appeared.
That is precisely what I love about the photography workshops - they help to focus (pun intended) our thoughts. By engaging with visual content and the processing it involves, new ideas can emerge and develop and even if they seem subtle, small or insignificant at first they can lead to a deeper understanding and original insights.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and ideas if you would like to contribute to this idea. Thank you for reading this far. 🙏
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