Reading an org-file. I should note, it is the highlighting that is the
problem, not the footnote itself. If I could somehow toggle it to the color
of the text, that would solve my problem.

For example, the [16] here is a distraction:

* Chomsky
** Books
*** Deterring Democracy
**** Chapter 1. Cold War: Fact and Fancy
****** (1) The Cold War as Ideological Construct
****** Overview
****** The Orthodox Version
******* No Justification Provided
******** Worship Of The State As Secular Religion

Though the sophistication of traditional theology is lacking, the
similarity of themes and style is striking. It reveals the extent to
which worship of the state has become a secular religion for which the
intellectuals serve as priesthood. The more primitive sectors of
Western culture go further, fostering forms of idolatry in which such
sacred symbols as the flag become an object of forced veneration, and
the state is called upon to punish any insult to them and to compel
children to pledge their devotion daily, while God and State are
almost indissolubly linked in public ceremony and discourse, as in
James Reston's musings on our devotion to the will of the Creator. It
is perhaps not surprising that such crude fanaticism rises to such an
extreme in the United States, as an antidote for the unique freedom
from state coercion that has been achieved by popular struggle. [16]

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 9:17 AM, John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 7:03 AM, 42 147 <aeuster@gmail.com> wrote:

Self-explanatory. I like how org-mode handles footnotes, but I want an
option to hide them while reading (for they are distracting).

Reading what? The org file or resultant PDF? If you're talking about the org file, I don't think there's going to be a way, but I could be wrong. If you can give more specifics, that would be helpful -- is it the [fn:1] you find distracting?

John