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Do we need to treat a kippah with more respect than a normal hat? I frisbeed a couple of kippahs across the room to a friend and he became indignant at me throwing them on the floor.
I remember as kids we were taught to kiss our kippa if it fell off our head before putting it back on, but in Yeshivah I found no such attitude so now I would brush it off if dirty but not kiss it before returning it.
And would it make a difference whether its on your head or not?
People seem to have turned kippah into a ritual object, when it really isn't. It's religiously appropriate to cover your head, and a kippah is just a convenient way to do so.
In the Star-K guide to sheimos disposal, they make clear that a worn-out kippah can be thrown in the trash! (I suspect they saw people depositing them for dignified burial along with worn-out Torah scrolls.)
Now obviously if you see someone spitting on their kippah or stomping on it, that's probably an indication that their outlook towards religious life isn't exactly a healthy one. But it's not a holy object -- it's a mundane piece of cloth that enables you to do a holy act.
There is a halacha that once you elevate something, you can not diminish it. This is one of the reasons why we light 1 candle the first night, and 8 candles the last night.
If you view wearing a kippah as a "davar shel Mitzvha", that is, an item which you fulfill a mitzvah with, then it must be treated with "more respect" than a normal item. The halachot regarding how an item is "treated with respect" differs in both time and place, as well as based on the item itself.
Techincally, a kippah is a minhag, but "minhag yisroel cmo mitzvah" (The customs of Israel are like a commandment), so your mileage will vary on how to treat kippot.
The idea of kissing a kippah when it falls on the floor, I believe, is a way to teach children to be respectful to the kippah.
it seems to me that a kipah is a head covering just any other hat is, and if a kipah has any "kedusha" (holiness) so would any other head covering. Basically, the reason most people wear a kipah because it is more convenient than wearing a hat. Also, don't forget that there are a great many people who do wear a hat most of the time, would hats then have the same rule a kipah to those who hold there is any "kedusha" in a kipa.
It really is based on your emotions. There are some things that according to Halacha are banned, such as throwing banned. However other things are based on ones emotions. For example if you are brought up in a town where you only frisbee things that are sacred and that is the way you show respect, then by all means frisbee them.
However if you, like most of us, percieve throwing an object as a way of demeaning it a little, then it is wrong for you to do it, not because that is the halocho, but because you are showing disrespect for something you really hold of. Whether to kiss it or not, is again up to you to decide how much respect you have to show it according to your own feelings. If you feel dusting it of is enough, then that is good. However someone brought up to always kiss it, he will not be able to properly respect it until he kisses it.
