Don't forget that St. Nicholas also famously slapped heretics!
I don't get the negative connotation around cultural reappropriation of rituals. To take the most obvious Christian example, the cross - the crucifix - was a pagan torture device. Looked at from a deliberately obtuse historical perspective, you could write an explainer saying…
Don't forget that St. Nicholas also famously slapped heretics!
I don't get the negative connotation around cultural reappropriation of rituals. To take the most obvious Christian example, the cross - the crucifix - was a pagan torture device. Looked at from a deliberately obtuse historical perspective, you could write an explainer saying that the cross has no Christian roots whatsoever, it was invented years and years before Jesus ever lived, by people who had never heard of Him. Christians "appropriated" it for their religion. Christians would reply, well, duh. What man intended for evil, God used for good, so that today this ancient Roman torture device has been appropriated into a symbol of our eternal salvation. Pretty cool use of some random pagan device, no?
It goes both ways, too. One of the most ancient symbols of the Christian and Jewish faith, going all the way back to the book of Genesis, is the rainbow. But let me assure you, when you see the rainbow symbol at your local corporation these days, its meaning is as far removed from Genesis as it is possible to be. America's new religion, a religion in which pride is something to be celebrated, has quite thoroughly replaced America's old religion, in which pride was considered sinful. We still have remnants of the old faith, like the existence of rights:
Yet for the most part the old faith is gone, and soon the rights will be too. You can only culturally appropriate so much, I suppose.
So it goes. Perhaps in a hundred years, an enterprising young reporter will write an expose for her peers revealing the true origins of the beloved trans flag, and detail how some historians controversially believe it was culturally appropriated from ancient Jewish tribesmen.
I love everything you wrote (to include your 'you don't have rights' article).
However, a different perspective is that the cross wasn't culturally re-appropriated. It is the symbol of Christ because it was used to torture and kill him as opposed to a new movement taking symbols and applying them unrelatedly (or mildly related) to mean something significant in the new movement. Had He been tortured and killed another way and then followers of Christ adopted the cross as a symbol because Christ had mentioned it in a sermon, that would be cultural re-appropriation.
Don't forget the Christmas tree, an ancient Germanic pagan ritual worshiping the tree because it stayed green during the winter, therefore representing eternal life.
Regarding the why's and wherefores' of early Christianity, only the ancients knew for sure - and they're not talking. That, and the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls and the gnostic scriptures at Nag Hammadi have completely altered what had been previously thought to be settled historical fact. So too, with other archaeological finds in the twentieth century.
So too, with all of recorded history - religious, or otherwise - when you think about it. What matters more is who wrote it, for what reason, and which particular axe they had to grind.
Don't forget that St. Nicholas also famously slapped heretics!
I don't get the negative connotation around cultural reappropriation of rituals. To take the most obvious Christian example, the cross - the crucifix - was a pagan torture device. Looked at from a deliberately obtuse historical perspective, you could write an explainer saying that the cross has no Christian roots whatsoever, it was invented years and years before Jesus ever lived, by people who had never heard of Him. Christians "appropriated" it for their religion. Christians would reply, well, duh. What man intended for evil, God used for good, so that today this ancient Roman torture device has been appropriated into a symbol of our eternal salvation. Pretty cool use of some random pagan device, no?
It goes both ways, too. One of the most ancient symbols of the Christian and Jewish faith, going all the way back to the book of Genesis, is the rainbow. But let me assure you, when you see the rainbow symbol at your local corporation these days, its meaning is as far removed from Genesis as it is possible to be. America's new religion, a religion in which pride is something to be celebrated, has quite thoroughly replaced America's old religion, in which pride was considered sinful. We still have remnants of the old faith, like the existence of rights:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/you-dont-have-rights
Yet for the most part the old faith is gone, and soon the rights will be too. You can only culturally appropriate so much, I suppose.
So it goes. Perhaps in a hundred years, an enterprising young reporter will write an expose for her peers revealing the true origins of the beloved trans flag, and detail how some historians controversially believe it was culturally appropriated from ancient Jewish tribesmen.
On that optimistic note, Merry Christmas!
Adrian,
I love everything you wrote (to include your 'you don't have rights' article).
However, a different perspective is that the cross wasn't culturally re-appropriated. It is the symbol of Christ because it was used to torture and kill him as opposed to a new movement taking symbols and applying them unrelatedly (or mildly related) to mean something significant in the new movement. Had He been tortured and killed another way and then followers of Christ adopted the cross as a symbol because Christ had mentioned it in a sermon, that would be cultural re-appropriation.
Everything is appropriated from somewhere. But that's what makes it fun!
https://polymathicbeing.substack.com/p/who-is-santa-claus
I agree. It is the neat little threads tying us all together which fascinate!
Don't forget the Christmas tree, an ancient Germanic pagan ritual worshiping the tree because it stayed green during the winter, therefore representing eternal life.
Just subscribed to your substack. You are a vital voice in dark times. Thank you for keeping the Faith.
Thank you!
Regarding the why's and wherefores' of early Christianity, only the ancients knew for sure - and they're not talking. That, and the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls and the gnostic scriptures at Nag Hammadi have completely altered what had been previously thought to be settled historical fact. So too, with other archaeological finds in the twentieth century.
So too, with all of recorded history - religious, or otherwise - when you think about it. What matters more is who wrote it, for what reason, and which particular axe they had to grind.
Cynical take. At the end of the day, you will need hope in your heart to keep you going.
The best-kept secret in Christianity is that the more you learn about it, the more sense it makes... If only the churches taught it that way!
>> “I don't get the negative connotation around cultural reappropriation of rituals.”
It is baffling. To say you cannot do something because another culture invented and nurtured it is puerile.
I never said anything about not educating people.
You're right! I misread your post. I just deleted it.
Haha.