# Smapti, Kabbalah, And Cultural Appropriation **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 16, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724 "2025-06-16T21:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/181 "2025-06-19T19:52:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I am not familiar with Coachella warbonnets, but if they are mocking First Nation culture, I’m happy to oppose them. …or at least disdain them (even [or especially] when practitioners insist that their practice is a “tribute”). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/182 "2025-06-19T19:58:37Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > When I was young our Easter baskets used to include chocolate crosses ??? How were little kids supposed to know which part to bite off first? At least with bunnies, the ears would be obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/183 "2025-06-19T20:47:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > How were little kids supposed to know which part to bite off first? At least with bunnies, the ears would be obvious. Legs first. Otherwise they hop away. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/184 "2025-06-19T22:38:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I am not familiar with Coachella warbonnets, but if they are mocking First Nation culture, I’m happy to oppose them. Judge for yourself. > **[Festival Fashion Culture Taking Away from Music — The Santa Clara](https://www.thesantaclara.org/blog/festival-fashion-culture-taking-away-from-music)** > > The attire at outdoor concerts is taking over both the music and fashion industries. Festivals are becoming less about music and more about brand marketing and cultural appropriation. > **[Coachella is back. But have festivals escaped the problematic legacy of ‘boho...](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/coachella-festival-fashion-cultural-appropriation)** > > Coachella and festival fashion was once one and the same. But its “boho-chic” dress code fell out of favor years ago, with uncomfortable instances of cultural appropriation that have now seared into the popular imagination. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/185 "2025-06-19T23:22:54Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > How were little kids supposed to know which part to bite off first? At least with bunnies, the ears would be obvious. > > Legs first. Otherwise they hop away. “Well…go on, what does it mean when you bite out the eyes and scream ‘STOP STARING AT ME???’” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/186 "2025-06-20T00:04:25Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > “Well…go on, what does it mean when you bite out the eyes and scream ‘STOP STARING AT ME???’” It means you want to watch them ineffectually attempt to hop away. The best part is because you leave the ears intact they can hear you laughing maniacally as you close in for the kill. Easter was very disturbing at my house. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2025, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/187 "2025-06-20T11:54:39Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I was on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of my quaker meeting back when yet another chocolate jesus was getting some publicity. If you’ve not already read the [1969 Easter Mass Incident](https://gallusrostromegalus.tumblr.com/post/169723347468/the-1969-easter-mass-incident), you desperately need to read it. (Requires logging into Tumblr but 100% worth it) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/188 "2025-06-21T03:22:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > A lot of Jews find stuff like this distasteful not because “you must believe exactly how we tell you” but because it sucks to see your culture reduced to a toy for religious dilettantes. If we’re perhaps especially sensitive to it, it’s because the unseriousification of culture is one square of many on the dehumanization game board that ends with pogroms. I disagree, it’s the opposite. Taking culture very seriously is the sort of thing that leads to tyranny and mass murder; not taking it “unseriously”. People who take culture “seriously” are the sort who turn to violence on cultural issues, because it _is_ a serious matter to them. “Unserious” people don’t care enough to bother. “People who don’t live like me are evil and must be destroyed” _is_ taking culture seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/189 "2025-06-21T03:31:02Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I disagree, it’s the opposite. Taking culture very seriously is the sort of thing that leads to tyranny and mass murder; not taking it “unseriously”. People who take culture “seriously” are the sort who turn to violence on cultural issues, because it _is_ a serious matter to them. “Unserious” people don’t care enough to bother. Culture includes the shared beliefs and values of a people. Who the hell doesn’t take their values and beliefs seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/190 "2025-06-21T03:37:35Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Culture includes the shared beliefs and values of a people. Who the hell doesn’t take their values and beliefs seriously? Lots of people, for certain values of “seriously”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/191 "2025-06-21T04:07:11Z")
We’re just a teeniest tiny speck in this Universe. A bunch of crap don’t matter, really. We just decide it matters to _Us_ in that moment. And that’s your prerogative. If you continue to shrink your world and your circle, you’ll soon be all alone in your outrage. No one wants to be around someone who cannot tolerate or even discuss their differences. You don’t have to accept or believe. You don’t have to like. Just like you want your veiws respected I’m pretty sure any human in half a mind wants theirs respected as well. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/192 "2025-06-21T09:11:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “People who don’t live like me are evil and must be destroyed” _is_ taking culture seriously. And, as noted upthread, not a tenet of Judaism. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/193 "2025-06-21T09:58:24Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “People who don’t live like me are evil and must be destroyed” _is_ taking culture seriously. Exactly _no one_ in this thread is taking any of the issues discussed to that level. Nowhere near. DocCathode doesn’t like what Smapti is doing, but acknowledges that he is legally allowed to do it and is in no way (other than his own words) barring him from doing his “occult ritual”. That’s a big straw man you’re erecting. Saying no one is allowed to take cultural issues seriously and/or object to mockery is just as bad as saying no one should take casually and blasphemy (however defined) should be severely punished. It still comes down to one person telling another person how to think or feel against that person’s objections. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/194 "2025-06-21T10:51:55Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Exactly _no one_ in this thread is taking any of the issues discussed to that level. Nowhere near. Not my point. My point is, that’s the _direction_ that "taking culture seriously " goes. As opposed to the claim that it’s _not_ taking culture seriously that leads to murder. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/195 "2025-06-21T11:19:26Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Culture includes the shared beliefs and values of a people. Who the hell doesn’t take their values and beliefs seriously? The people who think culture is merely a difference in national dishes and festivals. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not my point. My point is, that’s the _direction_ that "taking culture seriously " goes. As opposed to the claim that it’s _not_ taking culture seriously that leads to murder. There’s possibly a correlation in that if you want to dehumanise a group of people, you won’t feel obliged to be respectful of their culture, and may indeed find it useful to mock it. I don’t think the converse is true: cultural borrowing/appropriation is most often done from benign motives. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/196 "2025-06-21T12:15:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not my point. My point is, that’s the _direction_ that "taking culture seriously " goes. As opposed to the claim that it’s _not_ taking culture seriously that leads to murder. @DemonTree makes my point: mockery and derision is often a step along the way to dehumanizing and abusing entire groups of people. That doesn’t mean _all_ less-than-serious treatments of culture are on that slope, just that the fact some of them are is one reason there are people who have a strong issue with mocking and disrespecting other cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/197 "2025-06-21T13:59:44Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > @DemonTree makes my point: mockery and derision is often a step along the way to dehumanizing and abusing entire groups of people. Mockery and derision _is_ taking culture seriously. Just in a negative, hostile way. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724/198 "2025-06-21T14:28:05Z")
And that is NOT a good thing, by and large. Particularly for minorities and/or groups with little wealth or power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-kabbalah-and-cultural-appropriation/1019724.md?page=9)