Inculturation, syncretism and cultural appropriation

[Steve Hayes]

There's been a bit of discussion in thje blogospere about Christians
observing the Muslim fast of Ramadan.

A pagan friend made some comments about it, referring to "cultural
appropriation" (which she thought was a bad thing). I had not encountered the
term before, though I knew very well what it referred to. And I thought it
could make an interesting topic for discussion, so I wrote about
inculturation, syncretism and cultural appropriation in a blog post here:

http://su.pr/1fgiBJ

Another blog post dealing with inculturation is

http://tinyurl.com/kwdvvg

Comments welcome.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering why I refer to blog posts in a discussion
forum like this one, it might help to think of it like this.

A blog post is like a paper read at a conference, and comments are like
questions addressed to the speaker, but for real interaction among the
audience, a more interactive format is needed.

So think of the blog comments as questions to the speaker, and this forum as
the interactive group discussions afterwards.

So, please interact!

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk