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> Imagine how an Orthodox Jewish rabbi would feel if a gentile pop-music multimillionaire made a music video in which he used the Kaddish to mourn a Maserati he

> Imagine how an Orthodox Jewish rabbi would feel if a gentile pop-music multimillionaire made a music video in which he used the Kaddish to mourn a Maserati he’d totaled. The offense isn’t appropriation; it’s the insult entailed by trivializing something another group holds sacred. Interesting hypothetical, if unrealistic. See for example "the best Christmas songs" [1], which teach us that Christmas is mostly about red-nosed reindeer (invented by the song-writer's brother-in-law), snow, chestnuts, marshmallows, and silver bells, rather than having anything to do with any Christian or earlier pagan festivals. [1] The Best Christmas Songs Were Actually Written By Jews - https://www.newsweek.com/best-christmas-songs-were-actually-written-jews-758528 https://www.newsweek.com/best-christmas-songs-were-actually-...

bobthechef 5y ago
Those songs are not religious and actually demonstrate how Christian feasts have been appropriated by secularism/consumerism. Same with Easter. Same with all sorts of Christian symbols. So why should anyone care about anyone else's cultural and religious symbols and traditions if those that are Christian are fair game? I also don't like the relativism involved in appealing to the feelings of other people. People have all sorts of feelings.
- chuckee 5y ago
  > Those songs are not religious Yes, that was my point. Non-religious songs about a religious holiday.
throwaway210222 5y ago
> Imagine how an Orthodox Jewish rabbi would feel… You don't have to imagine, the Vulcan salute was lifted (granted by a Jewish actor) straight out of an orthodox ceremony into a very secular film franchise. 50 odd years later, most Jewish folk are fine with this. Not everyone treats being offended as a competitive sport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute
- chuckee 5y ago
  > granted by a Jewish actor He appropriated his own culture? Shall we then count everything inspired by other European cultures, that is present in pop culture, as "appropriated", regardless of who introduced it to pop culture? I agree the idea of cultural appropriation is absurd, but so was his (and yours) example.

bobthechef 5y ago

Those songs are not religious and actually demonstrate how Christian feasts have been appropriated by secularism/consumerism. Same with Easter. Same with all sorts of Christian symbols. So why should anyone care about anyone else's cultural and religious symbols and traditions if those that are Christian are fair game? I also don't like the relativism involved in appealing to the feelings of other people. People have all sorts of feelings.

chuckee 5y ago
> Those songs are not religious Yes, that was my point. Non-religious songs about a religious holiday.

throwaway210222 5y ago

> Imagine how an Orthodox Jewish rabbi would feel… You don't have to imagine, the Vulcan salute was lifted (granted by a Jewish actor) straight out of an orthodox ceremony into a very secular film franchise. 50 odd years later, most Jewish folk are fine with this. Not everyone treats being offended as a competitive sport. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute

chuckee 5y ago
> granted by a Jewish actor He appropriated his own culture? Shall we then count everything inspired by other European cultures, that is present in pop culture, as "appropriated", regardless of who introduced it to pop culture? I agree the idea of cultural appropriation is absurd, but so was his (and yours) example.