Tag Archives: Cultural Appropriation

Take Up Space! Don’t Cede the Public Square to Those Who Hate Us.

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Archbishop Viganò (bless him!) has rather aptly categorized the two “teams” vying for control of our world: The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness.

Team Darkness: On the March

Let’s face it: the latter half of 2020 has been looking pretty sweet for Team Darkness. Western governments are actively engaged in a contest to see who can outdo the other when it comes to suppressing freedom in general (and Christianity in particular) with ever more draconian lockdowns and restrictions on personal liberties. The astounding hubris with which the mainstream media and Big Tech are hailing the fraudulent destruction of the American electoral system must have Team Darkness cheering in the stands as well.

What’s coming next? If Team Darkness has their way, expect more of the same in 2021. Your opinions on social media apps such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter will continue to be suppressed. We will see drastic reversals in policies which for the last four years have favored (or at least been refreshingly neutral) on Judeo-Christian values such as the sanctity of life. I expect that we’ll see a dedicated effort to suppress Christian opinion (and even thought) in Big Media, Big Tech, and (may God forbid) the Deep State if Team Darkness succeeds in their power grab.

How do we Fight Back?

Prayer is an obvious first response. Continuing to maintain Christian households is essential. We must protect our families and loved ones from the assaults of Team Darkness by holding fast to what we know to be the Truth. But there’s more that we can do. We must, as Dr. Taylor Marshall puts it, “Take up space.”

What does that mean, exactly? In a nutshell, it means don’t let them push you out of the public square! Team Darkness, as the name implies, gets creeped out if too much light is shining around them. The best way to suppress those Christians on Team Light is to push them off the stage, confine them to the 21st Century equivalent of a ghetto. “Yes, let them practice their hateful beliefs (for now), but not in public! You may be against the Great Reset, and you’re free to express your opinions to your fellow like-minded bigots, but NOT in public and ONLY if you adhere to whatever rules we have mandated for you. We’d prefer very much if you NOT have any public manifestations of your faith because it makes others uncomfortable.”

Well, we’re not going to let them push us around like that! Team Darkness, you may think you’re on top right now, but the King of Kings is returning to claim what is rightfully His, and we are going to keep reminding you of that blessed fact by continuing to take up space in the public domain!

Strategies for Taking Up Space

Here are some simple ideas for implementing this strategy. Worshiping in public is at the top of the list. Keep going to Mass, and let ’em know you’re doing so! If there’s a public prayer vigil, Eucharistic procession or Rosary Rally, seriously consider participating. You are witnessing to a world that is, in the words of a beloved preacher from my pre-Catholic days, “Lost and doomed, damned and dying.”

There are additional ways you can take up space. Up until just a few years ago, these public expressions of faith would have seemed almost trivial and without the slightest whiff of in-your-face controversy. Now, in 2020 and beyond, they have the potential for making a much bolder and vitally necessary impact.

This vinyl bumper sticker lets ’em know where you stand, though many on Team Darkness probably won’t have a clue as to the context of this message. The Left is like that...

Bumper Stickers. It’s simple. It can seem cheezy. But it is a very real way to express who you are and what you believe. Most bumper stickers you see while driving are inconsequential. They might be amusing. They are often profane, if not downright obscene. But they can communicate profound truths as well. How many people driving around see stickers proclaiming that the driver is a Catholic? That they are pro-life and pro-family? Stickers which can remind the lukewarm to pray the Rosary? Stickers which remind the reader of Who Christ is, and that He’s returning soon? You can find some great ones at religious stores and on the internet. There are many on-line resources for designing your own custom-made bumper art. Do be aware of a couple of important considerations if you take up this form of automotive evangelization: First, the effectiveness of your message–your Christian witness, if you will–may well be diminished if you drive like a jerk. (“Hey, that Catholic in the Ford just cut me off and flipped me off!” No bueno.) Second, there will be people on the road who will take serious exception to your message. You may well experience unsolicited feedback, which may range from a dirty look, an obscene gesture, and perhaps even some degree of road rage or vandalism if they come upon your car and its associated message in the Walmart parking lot. Getting run off the road because you’ve proclaimed your Christianity is a form of white martyrdom, maybe…don’t blow it by responding poorly.

Statues in your front yard–like these from Design Toscano–proclaim your Faith.

Yard Art. The once ubiquitous garden statue takes on new significance in these apocalyptic times. If you’re going to have yard art, why simply have a statue of some maiden pouring water out of a jug when you can have a sculpture of the Sacred Heart or Blessed Virgin proclaiming your faith to passers by in the neighborhood? The time may be coming where some Leftie Snowflake may find such a public display so disturbing that he/she/it declares it “Hurtful” (a major felony for Team Darkness) and seeks its removal. The battle for the soul of our society will take place on many fronts. Speaking of battles…

Why have a vanilla-ish “Have a Nice Day” garden banner, when you can have something like this?

Hoist Your Colors! Do you have a flagpole or one of those little hangers for “garden banners?” Instead of hoisting the colors of your favorite sports team or one of those meaningless little “Let it Snow!” garden banners, why not put it to better use? We’re in a spiritual war. Why not hoist the battle flag of St. Michael, or the colors flown by the Catholic patriots of the Vendee? Let ’em know you’re Catholic and you’re ready to stand your ground! Many stunning and colorful Catholic-themed flags are available online. Hank Igitur, the Traditional Roamin’ Catholic, has turned his RV into a LAV (Liturgical Assault Vehicle) by flying a “Deus Vult” flag from the Crusades from his rig. Why not do something similar? It’s bold, it’s eye-catching, and it lets people know where you stand. In other words, it takes up space.

Hoist your battle colors. God wills it!

Don’t Give Up the Web! During the War of 1812, Captain Lawrence, mortally wounded as his ship slugged it out with a British man-o-war, famously uttered “Don’t give up the ship! Fight her till she sinks.”  We could do to remember the Captain’s words. Don’t give up your online presence in social media. Keep posting on social media. Let an increasingly hostile world hear the truth. You may get blocked. You may get banned. No matter. Keep firing away. Don’t give up. Fight her till she sinks.

    Christmas and “Cultural Appropriation”

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    Large Hand grabbing a Nativity Scene

    It’s a thing that’s all the rage in our politically-correct culture (“rage” in the sense that it’s wildly popular and also “rage” in the sense of those who delight in virtue-signaling their imagined outrage at something unspeakably offensive):  If you dare to don a sombrero but you’re not Mexican, that’s “cultural appropriation.”  It’s a BIG no-no these days.  At best, those guilty of cultural appropriation are insensitive and ignorant.  At worst, they’re intentionally evil bigots or racists, probably both.  It’s all part of the Snowflake Syndrome rampaging through college campuses and trendy social circles.

    And that got me thinking.  If it’s inappropriate for somebody to wear garb considered unique to one particular race, nation, or culture, why is it not considered inappropriate to hijack the second most important holiday for a billions of Christians and use it as an occasion for commercial profiteering, donning the stylized garb of a completely misunderstood/mischaracterized Catholic saint, or trivializing it with the addition of reindeer and dancing snowmen?

    Take that peppermint chip off your shoulder.  

    Should Christians take offense when we see people who are obviously clueless about our holiday going to great lengths to appropriate the holiday for their own use, tossing out doctrines they find uncomfortable while retaining the emotionally-satisfying portions (and adding ridiculous components of their own invention to boot)?  Would a Muslim tolerate such behavior by the population at large during Ramadan?  (Imagine for a moment a clever ad agency executive who invents “Robbie the Ramadan Raccoon” as an appealing way to sell toys and seasonal apparel to celebrate the holiday…that kind of hijacking of a religious holiday probably wouldn’t be too well-received.)

    If we’re bold in proclaiming our faith, we might respond with a gentle reminder like “Jesus is the Reason for the Season,” and leave it at that.  It’s a subtle way of saying, “Hey, Christmas is important to me, and maybe it should be important to you as well.”  But that’s about as far as it goes.

    Do I think we should all put a big peppermint chip on our shoulders starting the first Sunday of Advent and stomp around just daring anyone to knock it off, then howl “cultural appropriation!” when they do?

    Of course not.  The Christmas message is meant for the entire world.  And while committed Christians understand that the Crib leads to the Cross, this most essential aspect of Christmas is pretty much entirely lost to our secular friends and neighbors.  Throwing a hissy-fit because secularists have hijacked Christmas to suit their own materialistic and/or self-satisfying ends doesn’t do anything to promote the salvation of their souls.  We just need to figure out a way to re-direct the world’s attention away from the cash register and back towards the Creche (and ultimately, the Cross).  And, considering that for so many people, a Nativity scene has value only if it can serve as a backdrop for that awesome Christmas selfie to go on Instagram, this is quite a challenge.

    A chance to evangelize…just a little, anyway!

    Should we, as believing Christians, take advantage of the numerous teaching moments presented to us as a way to share our faith, and just maybe evangelize the lost and unbelieving world which surrounds us?

    Yeah, probably.

    Here’s an example of one potential “teaching moment:”

    “Do you know what the origin of your candy cane is?  It’s based on something called a crozier, the staff carried by Catholic bishops like Saint Nicholas.”

    That lead-in sentence, inoffensive and disarming as it appears on the surface, would allow me to enter into a broader discussion on the real St. Nicholas, tying the entire modern and utterly ridiculous “Cult of Santa Claus” back to an authentic historical (and Christian) origin.  Such a conversation isn’t an In-Your-Face/Take-This-Pamphlet type of event.  It’s more of a non-threatening “fun fact” type of thing which nonetheless diverts the listener’s attention back in the general direction of our Christian understanding of Christmas…even if tangentially, and even if only for a moment.

    They’re on OUR turf now!

    And, of course, the few remaining Nativity scenes I might see in public offer me a similar opportunity for a casual, two to three sentence evangelization opportunity.  In a way, we can consider somebody stopping to admire a Creche (even if only pausing for that all-important Instagram selfie) as having stepped onto “our turf,” and speaking to them in a friendly manner about the display’s meaning is not an intrusion.  If they’re showing even passing interest in the trappings associated with Christendom’s second most important holy day, then in a way, they’re pretty much “fair game.”

    Imagine yourself stopping to admire some brightly colored lights strung up for the commemoration of Ramadan.  If you stopped to admire them, and a well-meaning Muslim came up to you and said, “Hi.  Do you know why we celebrate Ramadan?” would you take offense?  Probably not.  If you have any manners at all, you’d probably listen politely, and perhaps even engage in a friendly conversation.

    We can take that attitude as well.

    IF I have to guts to actually go through with it.

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