I have very mixed feelings about the subject of that article.
As someone who describes himself as omni-spiritual, I try to find truths in all faiths. So I sympathize with the Christians to an extent - I hope they find the ritual broadening and personally meaningful.
On the other hand, there is something lost/changed by the appropriation of someone else's ritual without someone else's faith coming along. It might become a Christian Passover ritual, but it's not and will never be a seder, nor does the Jesus-centric nature of the accompanying commentary strike me as particularly well-balanced. For all the prohibitions against it, it strikes me as another variation on Christians engaging in a form of idol worship - the veneration of Jesus-the-Mangod rather than the message of "love your neighbor". If you love your neighbor, let them do their own thing - don't copy them and say it's yours. /B-,
Well... in defnse of Christians (and I can't believe I just types that!) Jesus WAS Jewish, and the "last supper" was, in fact, a passover supper. Elaine Pagel in one of her books (can't remember which one) posits, with ample backup for her hypothesis, that the gospels are not "fact" but allegory meant to conform exactly to the Jewish cycle of reading the Torah throughout the year.
OTOH, I don't know that Christians can fully appreciate all the symbolism of the traditional Passover Seder.
BUT, I don't really buy the "religious property" argument that says they can't have their own version of this. It is similar to people saying I "can't" celebrate my own modern versions of Celtic witchcraft/Druidism, that Americans who are not part of a Native American tribe "can't" practice to the best of their understanding and ability any sort of Native American religious practices, or that anyone who is not in the Ordo Templi Orientis "can't" do the Gnostic Mass.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. “Is Religion Possible? An Evaluation of Present Efforts to Revive Traditional Tribal Religions” in For This Land: Writing on Religion in America. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Rose, Wendy. “The Great Pretenders: Further Reflections on Whiteshamanism” in The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance. ed. M. Annette Jaimes. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
it is part of an all to common sense of entitlement that white americans have. we have taken the NA's land, we have taken their language and now we are taking their religion. and, to add insult to injury, NA have frequently been told by white people that the NA don't know their own traditions. (um...who has been going to the far reaches of the res to hold these rites that the U.S. gov't forbade? not white people).
i don't see who is telling you that you (general)can't practice celtic witchcraft (you aren't claiming to be CR) and i'm not an OTO to have a position.
but i do have an understanding about the situation of NAs in this country. some people argue that if people were to give something back to the Nation that the ritual was taken from, that helps alleviate some of the problem, and at least shows that you respect the NAs and their religion.
I don't think if a white person does a smudging on their house, they are "taking" the native American religion. Perhaps they are completely deluding themselves in doing such a ritual completely out of context of the culture in which such a ritual developed. But I don't see how this harms a Native American person. Now, I will say - people like Lynn Andrews et al, who set about to make money off of co-opting Native spirituality and claim to be a spokesperson for Native Americans, all so they can make big bucks teaching "authentic Native tradition" - I think they are ripping off the Native Americans and I can't think of enough bad names for them.
there are many times when western and NA tradition appear to overlap. burning pleasent smelling things to purify or send out prayers, sauna type events, sacrifices.
however, i don't think traditional NA people "smudge". i'm most certain about lakota and eastern band cherokee.
neopagans and new agers do smudge. dictionary definitions say to blur or to fill an orchard with smoke for protection against frost or insects. neopagans have added the meaning of "to purify" or "to clense". the whys and hows of Lakota burning sage and sweetgrass are different from smudging.
it harms NAs because the dominant society start telling NAs what it means to be NA.
i won't mess up magenta's LJ with this disagreement. i only ask that you read what i suggested above, or even
Kaye, Frances W. "Just What Is Cultural Appropriation, Anyway? The Ethics of Readng Black Elk Speaks" in The Black Elk REader, ed. by Clyde Holler. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000.
There was a good news article about that on MPR the other day, maybe you could search the site for it, I think you'd find it interesting. The woman who read/wrote the article is Jewish and has an Xian family who do the same thing.
Eh. A Christian passover, fine. But I wouldn't call it a seder.
I am amused and disturbed that, accompanying this appropriation is a rather large and tenacious burden of guilt. I bet that's the real reason for it. If so, it's a bit misguided at best. At worst, it's yet another insult on a pile of wrongs and insults.
At least they're finally saying that Jesus was Jewish.
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Date: 2006-04-13 07:54 pm (UTC)As someone who describes himself as omni-spiritual, I try to find truths in all faiths. So I sympathize with the Christians to an extent - I hope they find the ritual broadening and personally meaningful.
On the other hand, there is something lost/changed by the appropriation of someone else's ritual without someone else's faith coming along. It might become a Christian Passover ritual, but it's not and will never be a seder, nor does the Jesus-centric nature of the accompanying commentary strike me as particularly well-balanced. For all the prohibitions against it, it strikes me as another variation on Christians engaging in a form of idol worship - the veneration of Jesus-the-Mangod rather than the message of "love your neighbor". If you love your neighbor, let them do their own thing - don't copy them and say it's yours. /B-,
no subject
Date: 2006-04-13 08:46 pm (UTC)OTOH, I don't know that Christians can fully appreciate all the symbolism of the traditional Passover Seder.
BUT, I don't really buy the "religious property" argument that says they can't have their own version of this. It is similar to people saying I "can't" celebrate my own modern versions of Celtic witchcraft/Druidism, that Americans who are not part of a Native American tribe "can't" practice to the best of their understanding and ability any sort of Native American religious practices, or that anyone who is not in the Ordo Templi Orientis "can't" do the Gnostic Mass.
please read
Date: 2006-04-13 09:28 pm (UTC)Rose, Wendy. “The Great Pretenders: Further Reflections on Whiteshamanism” in The State of Native America: Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance. ed. M. Annette Jaimes. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
it is part of an all to common sense of entitlement that white americans have. we have taken the NA's land, we have taken their language and now we are taking their religion. and, to add insult to injury, NA have frequently been told by white people that the NA don't know their own traditions. (um...who has been going to the far reaches of the res to hold these rites that the U.S. gov't forbade? not white people).
i don't see who is telling you that you (general)can't practice celtic witchcraft (you aren't claiming to be CR) and i'm not an OTO to have a position.
but i do have an understanding about the situation of NAs in this country. some people argue that if people were to give something back to the Nation that the ritual was taken from, that helps alleviate some of the problem, and at least shows that you respect the NAs and their religion.
Re: please read
Date: 2006-04-13 10:24 pm (UTC)Now, I will say - people like Lynn Andrews et al, who set about to make money off of co-opting Native spirituality and claim to be a spokesperson for Native Americans, all so they can make big bucks teaching "authentic Native tradition" - I think they are ripping off the Native Americans and I can't think of enough bad names for them.
Re: please read
Date: 2006-04-14 12:34 am (UTC)however, i don't think traditional NA people "smudge". i'm most certain about lakota and eastern band cherokee.
neopagans and new agers do smudge. dictionary definitions say to blur or to fill an orchard with smoke for protection against frost or insects. neopagans have added the meaning of "to purify" or "to clense". the whys and hows of Lakota burning sage and sweetgrass are different from smudging.
it harms NAs because the dominant society start telling NAs what it means to be NA.
i won't mess up magenta's LJ with this disagreement. i only ask that you read what i suggested above, or even
Kaye, Frances W. "Just What Is Cultural Appropriation, Anyway? The Ethics of Readng Black Elk Speaks" in The Black Elk REader, ed. by Clyde Holler. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000.
and consider what they say.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-13 10:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-14 05:53 pm (UTC)I am amused and disturbed that, accompanying this appropriation is a rather large and tenacious burden of guilt. I bet that's the real reason for it. If so, it's a bit misguided at best. At worst, it's yet another insult on a pile of wrongs and insults.
At least they're finally saying that Jesus was Jewish.