That’s not to say you can’t embrace your identity as a former religionist. But that’s a distinct cultural identity, involving your fond memories of formerly being offended by sacrilegious acts, as opposed to still currently being offended by them.
Trouble is, your identity is about much more than that in practice. It’s deeply entangled with your way of life, your family, community, and social network, and also with the way others see and treat you. An offensively blasphemous act may (note: may, depending on the situation) be a credible signal that someone is hostile towards the group you identify with, and given the power to do so, would act so as to endanger your way of life, your community, and perhaps also your personal well-being. (This could range anywhere from making your life miserable in petty ways to outright violence.) In many cases, you must also take into account that those hostile to your group see it as your inherent identity that you can’t disown and escape from even if you wanted to.
With this in mind, often it is irrational to get riled up over some provocative act that is best ignored, or that isn’t even meant to be provocative but has it as an unwanted side-effect. However, sometimes it is also irrational to ignore clear signs of genuine hostility, some of which can plausibly translate into real danger. In the latter case, the visceral reaction is well adapted to reality.
(There are of course also various other cases where it’s less clear if a visceral reaction can be reasonably called “rational,” such as when some instrumental goal is best furthered by throwing a tantrum and creating drama to extract concessions.)
Trouble is, your identity is about much more than that in practice. It’s deeply entangled with your way of life, your family, community, and social network, and also with the way others see and treat you. An offensively blasphemous act may (note: may, depending on the situation) be a credible signal that someone is hostile towards the group you identify with, and given the power to do so, would act so as to endanger your way of life, your community, and perhaps also your personal well-being. (This could range anywhere from making your life miserable in petty ways to outright violence.) In many cases, you must also take into account that those hostile to your group see it as your inherent identity that you can’t disown and escape from even if you wanted to.
With this in mind, often it is irrational to get riled up over some provocative act that is best ignored, or that isn’t even meant to be provocative but has it as an unwanted side-effect. However, sometimes it is also irrational to ignore clear signs of genuine hostility, some of which can plausibly translate into real danger. In the latter case, the visceral reaction is well adapted to reality.
(There are of course also various other cases where it’s less clear if a visceral reaction can be reasonably called “rational,” such as when some instrumental goal is best furthered by throwing a tantrum and creating drama to extract concessions.)