What makes something sacred?

[hmkpoker]

See subject title

It means something to the individual. Something is sacred when the individual gives meaning to it and regards it as meaningful to him. The value is purley subjective and deserves whatever amount of meaning the individual places on it.

[Trantor]

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It means something to the individual. Something is sacred when the individual gives meaning to it and regards it as meaningful to him. The value is purley subjective and deserves whatever amount of meaning the individual places on it.

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Why do you consider the last sentence to be the case, for you at least? I can think of examples where I wouldn't consider that to be the case. (Dead body of a child to a satanist, for example)

"Why do you consider the last sentence to be the case, for you at least? I can think of examples where I wouldn't consider that to be the case. (Dead body of a child to a satanist, for example)"

The dead body of a child might be more sacred to him then the dead body of a caterpillar. (Jeez, what an example.)

To me sacredness is placed by the individual. Therefore, what is sacred to him may not be sacred to you, or anybody else in the world.

[Trantor]

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"Why do you consider the last sentence to be the case, for you at least? I can think of examples where I wouldn't consider that to be the case. (Dead body of a child to a satanist, for example)"

The dead body of a child might be more sacred to him then the dead body of a caterpillar. (Jeez, what an example.)

To me sacredness is placed by the individual. Therefore, what is sacred to him may not be sacred to you, or anybody else in the world.

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I thought you were saying anyone else's sacred view deserves respect...maybe I misunderstood.

"But you said anything someone considers sacred should be "respected""

Did I say that? If I did I didn't mean to. Sacredness only matters to the individual - not to anyone else. That's what I mean by purley subjective. So whether or not something "should" be respected doesn't matter to a thing's sacredness.

Does this answer your question?

PS. I don't think a group of people can truly hold something sacred. An object or idea does not carry the same meaning for everybody. 'They' *cannot* hold something sacred if by 'they' you mean one entity/group, but 'they' *can* if you mean 'they' are 7 (or so) individuals in a group with their own ideas of what is sacred.

In the religious sense, sacred means "holy". It is "set apart" or consecrated for worshiping God. This is why it pisses me off when Bush & co. talk about marriage being "sacred". The intended audience knows what he means, without him coming right out and saying "marriage is holy, meant to glorify God".

[hmkpoker]

Ok then.

So what makes marriage sacred?

"So what makes marriage sacred?"

Along with my answer from before, I would say nothing can be objectively sacred. The definition of sacred I'm using is: "worthy of reverence." How worthy something is is entirely up to the individual, IMO. Thus marriage is only as sacred as each married person deems his/her marriage. I wouldn't say marriage is sacred in any absolute sense. I realize most people would disagree. Honestly, I think most people get married for the wrong reasons and they end up unhappy, because it's an exception for two people to be happy with each other their whole lives.

I feel that a good trick can be just as sacred [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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So what makes marriage sacred?

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1) God
2) Not applicable (it's not sacred)
3) People (it's a respected institution)

(Note: #3 isn't really true, but some would WANT it to be true.)