Only 6 grams of fat, HALLELUJAH!

December 3, 2010 11:38 AM

Food Court Flash Mob sings the "Hallelujah" chorus.
posted by sonika (71 comments total)

Wow! Something palatable served up at a food court!
posted by giraffe at 11:43 AM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

'Tis the season to be aggravated EVERYWHERE you go!
posted by ReeMonster at 11:48 AM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I like how you can tell some participants had just practiced in church choir rehearsal the night before and were all like, 'hey, I know this one!'
posted by carsonb at 11:49 AM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Neat. Moving.

But where is this weird place with nobody but white people in it?
posted by rahnefan at 11:52 AM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Pretty sure I saw a sign in there that said Seaway Mall. So, probably this place.
posted by kira at 11:55 AM on December 3, 2010

I can't see these anymore without wondering what advertising firm concocted this one and what they're promoting.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:02 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is awesome, btw. :) Loved it.
posted by kira at 12:02 PM on December 3, 2010

'Tis the season to be aggravated EVERYWHERE you go!

Yeah, all those people who went to the mall looking for a little peace and quiet must have been pissed.
posted by mhoye at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2010 [11 favorites]

And people say there's no war on Christmas. These people are Yuletide Stormtroopers.

You vill appreciate unsere gay apparel!
posted by 2bucksplus at 12:06 PM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Also just happened at former Wanamaker's in Philly, the one with the huge pipe organ.
posted by fixedgear at 12:11 PM on December 3, 2010

Astro Zombie: in Philly they were busy selling the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
posted by fixedgear at 12:13 PM on December 3, 2010

I just knew the lady in the sage green cardy & the white blouse was one of them!

(Loved it, blowing my nose here. Sucker for this stuff..)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 12:14 PM on December 3, 2010

I'm just glad that the flash-mob types choose to do their thing in places that I never go. Especially when it involves screaming about Jesus.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:22 PM on December 3, 2010

Pretty sure I saw a sign in there that said Seaway Mall.

The sponsor is based in Niagra Falls Ontario, so Welland seems very likely.
posted by bonehead at 12:31 PM on December 3, 2010

Flash mobs?

How very 2004.
posted by Skygazer at 12:32 PM on December 3, 2010

Someday, somewhere, someone is going to start singing in a public place and someone is just going to walk up and slap them... and the 500 other people that were about to stand up will just sit down and finish their damn hamburgers.

I see it coming....
posted by HuronBob at 12:32 PM on December 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever

It sounds very pretty, and the singers are talented, but the Halleujah Chorus is all about supremacy and subjugation. No thanks.
posted by Scoo at 12:43 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well Scoo, that may be so, but don't you just think that, just maybe, the act and the location chosen for the act contrasted to the message, and the execution, and the spirit of the thing they did was greater than... oh, just pthbthtbhttbt!
posted by ilovemytoaster at 12:56 PM on December 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

YAY!!! I actually WORKED in that mall in 1982!!!!!! They did a great job.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:58 PM on December 3, 2010

Now I know that flash mobs where people sing are less annoying to me than flash mobs where people dance.
posted by thorny at 1:12 PM on December 3, 2010

Lots of "bah humbug" here. My first thought was "Gee, nothing cool like that ever happens when I'm shopping...." I liked it. Thanks for posting!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 1:17 PM on December 3, 2010

LOL
posted by Scoo at 1:20 PM on December 3, 2010

Is it proselytizing season yet?
posted by cmoj at 1:22 PM on December 3, 2010

The only 'proselytizing' being done is on behalf of Handel, and classical vocal music; it's the form, not the content, that matters.
posted by jrochest at 1:28 PM on December 3, 2010 [7 favorites]

Man, I was really hoping for Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, though I suppose that's not really food court music.
posted by eunoia at 1:32 PM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Just like to add that I, myself, have been a member of a chorus on many an occasion and sung all about the Jesus, but am not a follower of his and never intend my singing of songs about the dude to be anything more than "This is a piece of classical music that mentions Jesus as most such things were commissioned by the church at the time that they were written, aren't the harmonies lovely?"

Kinda surprised by the backlash, honestly, but hey. This is MetaFilter after all. Less fun than a barrel full of razorblades.
posted by sonika at 1:33 PM on December 3, 2010 [10 favorites]

My distaste for Christmas can best be described as "Scrooge to the power of Grinch," but even I'll sing The Messiah. It's just a great vocal composition. In fact, I'm considering going to a singalong in a couple of weeks.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:33 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Halleujah Chorus is all about supremacy and subjugation. No thanks.

For me, the Hallelujah Chorus comes close to being a deal-maker for Christianity. If God had appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, this would the song they played as he walked out. I suspect that after the Roche Sisters performed their version on Saturday Night Live, God gave them a free pass to heaven (or at least time off Purgatory). Anyone who hears the Hallelujah Chorus and still thinks the devil gets all the best songs probably needs an ear trumpet. The Hallelujah Chorus is the Chuck Norris of music. The audience freakin' stands when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed in concert -- out of fear! Supremacy and subjugation? Damn right! The Hallelujah Chorus is the supreme piece of music, and you feel subjugated because everyone who hears it is terror-stricken with the (usually temporary) realization that whatever God could have a music as great as the Hallelujah Chorus written in his honor, may indeed rule the universe.
posted by Faze at 1:39 PM on December 3, 2010 [11 favorites]

Neat. Moving.
But where is this weird place with nobody but white people in it?
posted by rahnefan

I'm just curious and I'm asking sincerely: had all the people in the video been African-Canadian, would you have asked "where is this weird place with nobody but black people in it?"
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:41 PM on December 3, 2010

The only 'proselytizing' being done is on behalf of Handel, and classical vocal music; it's the form, not the content, that matters.

Exactly. It's a song about my insignificance next to an imaginary being taking the form of screaming at people in a food court. I don't need to be proselytized about Handel either.
posted by cmoj at 1:46 PM on December 3, 2010

I'm so hip I hate flash mob food court concerts that haven't even happened yet.
posted by mecran01 at 2:09 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Life imitates art! Or at least, the Glee holiday special.
posted by not_on_display at 2:10 PM on December 3, 2010

I do feel a little badly for the two people in that food court who were not actually in the choir.

Still, it's nice to finally hear the Messiah sung as Handel intended it: With a mouthful of Famous Wok.
posted by bicyclefish at 2:13 PM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

A woman I was in high school with and friended on Facebook--despite having not spoken with her in 20 years--is very into her Christian Church, very cheerleader for Jesus. Cheerleading for Jesus is not really my thing, no matter what I think about God, faith, religion, belief or hope or Christmas. Nearly every time she posts something on FB, I think "sure, she's nice and all and we were friends in high school, but why am I reading her Facebook? We totally have nothing in common."

Anyway. She had posted this video and was excitedly hoping to take part in a Hallelujah chorus flash mob herself this season. And suddenly I remembered what I had in common with this woman. The complete and visceral joy of the Hallelujah Chorus. For me, it was not distinct from the spinetingling of the Silver Swan. For her, I'm sure it was. But for both of us, it was complete joy just to be part of that sound. A living part of a chord that was actually capable of stirring beauty in someone. Or really, just crafting something musical and doing it right.

God knows, I almost always hate being subject to other people's musical choices and I've been the person annoyed by musicians in the subway. Just today, I was irritated by a high school choir singing Jingle Bells in the courthouse. I ought to be ashamed of myself and I am. Cause it really is amazing, how awesome music is. And how exciting it is when you get to be part of it.
posted by crush-onastick at 2:17 PM on December 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

That was lovely, but does improv everywhere get royalties for this?
posted by palacewalls at 2:18 PM on December 3, 2010

"Man, I was really hoping for Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, though I suppose that's not really food court music"

That post was a couple of days ago, you missed it... but, perhaps we could do it for the next Cohen/Hallelujah post which is scheduled for June of 2011.
posted by HuronBob at 2:22 PM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

There are more camera operators than unsuspecting customers.
posted by fire&wings at 2:27 PM on December 3, 2010

Man, most Christmas music, especially in malls, is execrable, so the Hallelujah Chorus definitely would have been a welcome relief from that.

And I like the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb" too, even though those lyrics are all about subjugation. The world is too complicated to write off all art with questionable origins or intent.
posted by speicus at 2:35 PM on December 3, 2010

It sounds very pretty, and the singers are talented, but the Halleujah Chorus is all about supremacy and subjugation.

This is, I believe, a fact. Whether you see the story as allegory, or as prophecy of what is to come when all the sinners are in hell, and the saved are in heaven, that is, in fact, the "tenor" of the song. Which brings me to this ...

And suddenly I remembered what I had in common with this woman. The complete and visceral joy of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Yes it's great that we all get that same wonderful, even weepy feeling when we experience music, but we get common feelings when we do a lot of things - eat good food, have sex, hit the sweet spot at golf, baseball, or tennis. The thing that I don't like about the public singing of this piece is that I'm suspicious that for a bunch of those singers, that wonderful common feeling is mixed up with those ideas of supremacy and subjugation. Those christians that really like the words of that song, don't really care about common feelings, unless your feelings and believings are common to them too.

So I get all kinds of mixed and uncomfortable feelings when I hear those words and that music together in any context, especially if I don't know who's singing it. And if it's in a mall around Christmastime, then you can bet that some of those singers are hoping that you're hearing the ad for their Jesus, and their God, and their church. You know, the best one, the Lord God and King that requires mass prostration.
posted by kneecapped at 2:49 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was all ready to come in here and be all, "Aw, man, flash mob in a food court is so lame and overdone" but I watched the video first and totally got into it.

I especially love the two most prominent (for me) reactions: from the kids. The first one, completely entranced at 1:19 (and back on camera at 3:05), and the dad with the "Sit down with me, son, and get some culture" at 1:48.

The Jesusphilia/-centrism of the piece doesn't so much bug me because I see it in the context of my own tradition, which is even older than Handel's. So much of it is based on the Hebrew Bible (Lord of Hosts, Prince of Peace - these are all terms that originated in the Hebrew texts), that I manage to enjoy the piece and overlook the historical problems overlaid on it by the Church (and some modern so-called Christians).
posted by yiftach at 3:22 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

you can bet that some of those singers are hoping that you're hearing the ad for their Jesus, and their God, and their church. You know, the best one, the Lord God and King that requires mass prostration.

Dude, as I say, I've been in choruses and most of us who sing are just happy to have an audience that we didn't have to forcibly drag in. I've sung with Christians, non-Christians, etc, and outside of a church choir, I have never, ever felt a vibe that the goal was anything other than "Let's create music that doesn't totally suck!"

Unless you've been in a chorus with Christians who were secretly passing out tracts in the bathroom, I suggest you tone down your "THEY'RE OUT TO CONVERT ME!" paranoia and try looking at through the lens of "Oh hey, they worked hard on this piece and they thought it would be neat if some people heard it in a kind of unexpected setting."

As I say, I speak from experience. Christmas is a big holiday for musicians. Most choruses perform Christmas music. If you asked choral singers what their goal was in doing this, it would most emphatically not be "To bring people to Jebus!" for more than say, five of them. And I'm being generous with my estimation of how wacky people can be.

Again, I'm a Buddhist who has absolutely no issue performing a lot of classical Christian-based music in a secular setting because the music is the point and the music is freaking awesome.
posted by sonika at 3:25 PM on December 3, 2010 [6 favorites]

I was at a football game a few weeks ago and when Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II" played over the PA I clapped my hands and shouted "HEY!" along with everyone else and I'm pretty sure that not a single Cambodian child got molested in the process.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:32 PM on December 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

I can't see these anymore without wondering what advertising firm concocted this one and what they're promoting.

Some photography company or something - their URL is helpfully displayed on a giant banner in the second shot of the video. And also appears on the YouTube page in case you missed that.
posted by spilon at 4:15 PM on December 3, 2010

Damn ya'll are depressing sometimes. The MeFites who stole Christmas.
posted by jmd82 at 4:29 PM on December 3, 2010

Mefi is so behind the au currant.

Somebody gave or sold one of my very private email addresses to GodTube and they alerted me about this maybe 2 weeks ago.

[ I've been meaning to tell GodTube to stop sending me their announcements because I'm really not that interested in Jesus. But then again some days I'm glad God is there and proves it by showing that my email is still working ]
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 4:38 PM on December 3, 2010

then you can bet that some of those singers are hoping that you're hearing the ad for their Jesus, and their God, and their church

Hi, atheist here. I'm going to a Messiah sing-along in two weeks with another atheist. I would have been very excited to be a singer for this event. You are correct that some people will be prosthelytizing assholes every chance they get, but that doesn't mean you have to ruin everyone else's fun.

I understand where you're coming from, since I also dislike events that should be welcoming but instead are subtle prosthelytizing events. But this is not one that we should be worrying about, Captain Buzzkill. This is fun and funny.

[/rant]

Did anyone notice the singer pretending to use her cell phone at 2:04?
posted by Tehhund at 4:57 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

I just knew the lady in the sage green cardy & the white blouse was one of them!
Yeah, it reminded me of the pod people -- aliens in human guise. One minute you're quietly having your lunch and the next minute all the people at your table stand up and reveal themselves as Choral Singers!! The horrror! But seriously, I think it's sweet.
posted by binturong at 5:03 PM on December 3, 2010

Did anyone notice the singer pretending to use her cell phone at 2:04?

She's the same singer that started the whole thing with the Soprano solo, also by pretending to use her cellphone. Presumably she either really was singing to/at somebody, or she just kept the prop for the whole thing.
posted by sonika at 5:08 PM on December 3, 2010

I'm just curious and I'm asking sincerely: had all the people in the video been African-Canadian, would you have asked "where is this weird place with nobody but black people in it?"

Nope, that would look like home to me.
posted by rahnefan at 5:15 PM on December 3, 2010

Metafilter: Where you can figure out how to shit on anything.
posted by prodigalsun at 5:24 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

And I ain't knocking anything, that was plain beautiful. Goosebumps.
posted by rahnefan at 5:29 PM on December 3, 2010

Captain Buzzkill here: Sorry for bringing my personal shit into the fray. I love Christmas and the family times. Every Christmas we listen to the Messiah in its entirety at least once (I like Neville Mariner's version - it moves.). Hell, I'm a regular church goer and will read John 1:1-14 at the Christmas Eve service ... "and the word was with God". I will sit in a church and a school auditorium this year and hear the chorus. I will be invited to join the standing choir, and sing along. If I choose to go up and sing along I will be given the music to a song that I've sung a few times (the tenor line is a bitch and you rarely get to stand beside someone who's actually prepared to stretch his gitch to get to the A. If I don't join the choir I will stand with the congregation and hope that the quality of the performance befits the quality of the music.

I do believe that the Hallelujah Chorus has always been, and more recently has become, an anthem of the Christian right. That's not to say that Christians (and Buddhists, etc) of all sorts won't sing and appreciate it, but that does not change the way I hear it, nor remove my questions about how a piece of art of any sort can become co-opted and over-used in such a way that it loses its essence.
posted by kneecapped at 6:06 PM on December 3, 2010

Hey, let's have this exact same conversation again!
posted by chococat at 6:15 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

I do believe that the Hallelujah Chorus has always been, and more recently has become, an anthem of the Christian right.

That certainly does help to understand where you're coming from. I've never, ever made that association - even though I know both musicians and members of the Christian Right and some of them overlap in my own father. (Who "credits" the Messiah [and also the Shroud of Turin] with his conversion to following the J Man, but then again, he's batshit insane so I never thought of this as an actual recruiting tool.) I guess from that perspective, it would be a lot more loaded than just "People burst out into song in crowded place for awesome!"
posted by sonika at 6:22 PM on December 3, 2010

Great, so kids today are now too lazy to do their Christmas caroling door to door?

In my day, we used to go Christmas caroling the proper way - door to door, at night, trudging miles in the freezing snow uphill both ways, in bad neighborhoods while dodging traffic. And we liked it!

Good Lord, just because someone mentions god doesn't meant they're proselytizing. Jesus Christ people, lighten up. <---- see! not proselytizing!

Anyway, I really enjoyed this. And I'm a semi-militant atheist who dislikes malls and the people who go to them. And if hearing the words Lord/God/Jesus/Christ bother you enough to suck all of the enjoyment out of beautiful singing I have a suggestion: when you hear those words, think "science/reason/logic" instead. If that doesn't work, unplug your TV and internet until January.

Merry Christmas! (It's a mostly pagan holiday, anyway).
posted by Davenhill at 6:29 PM on December 3, 2010

KEEP YOUR DAMN JOYFUL SINGING OUT OF MY MISERY TIME YOU JOY FASCISTS!
posted by Ad hominem at 6:31 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

The audience freakin' stands when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed in concert -- out of fear!

Fear, respect, awe, whatever, I've long believed that you're supposed to stand when hearing the Hallelujah Chorus. In that rendition done in a Macy's store a few weeks ago, pretty much everybody was standing anyway, but why didn't the people in the food court in this one stand up? Do people generally not know this is the custom?

I do believe that the Hallelujah Chorus has always been, and more recently has become, an anthem of the Christian right.

Really? I can't wrap my head around that. I've always considered it to be fairly "generic" and have never associated it with a particular political movement. I'll not denigrate anyone's religious beliefs, but no way will I give up my almost lifelong appreciation for this song because it may or may not have been co-opted for some less-than-Christian political purposes.
posted by fuse theorem at 7:12 PM on December 3, 2010

Fear, respect, awe, whatever, I've long believed that you're supposed to stand when hearing the Hallelujah Chorus. In that rendition done in a Macy's store a few weeks ago, pretty much everybody was standing anyway, but why didn't the people in the food court in this one stand up? Do people generally not know this is the custom?

Never heard of this custom. Should men remove their hats?
posted by fixedgear at 7:25 PM on December 3, 2010

why didn't the people in the food court in this one stand up? Do people generally not know this is the custom?

GUARDS! SEIZE THEM!
posted by Scoo at 7:52 PM on December 3, 2010

GUARDS! SEIZE THEM!

Well, yeah, that's allegedly how the custom started. From Wikipedia:

"In many parts of the world, it is the accepted practice for the audience to stand for this section of the performance. The tradition is said to have originated with the first London performance of Messiah, which was attended by King George II. As the first notes of the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus rang out, the king rose to his feet and remained standing until the end of the chorus. Royal protocol has always dictated that when the monarch stands, everyone in his (or her) presence is also required to stand. Thus, the entire audience and orchestra stood when the king stood during the performance, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries. It is lost to history the exact reason why the King stood at that point, but the most popular explanations include:

* He was so moved by the performance that he rose to his feet.
* Out of tribute to the composer.
* As was and is the custom, one stands in the presence of royalty as a sign of respect. The Hallelujah chorus clearly places Christ as the King of Kings. In standing, King George II accepts that he too is subject to the Lord of Lords."

posted by fuse theorem at 8:31 PM on December 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

I do believe that the Hallelujah Chorus has always been, and more recently has become, an anthem of the Christian right.

I have never heard of this concept. The Messiah has been a standard choral work since it was written, and the Hallelujah Chorus has been a staple around the holidays for decades, at least in the US. I know of no special connection with the Christian Right, opposed to the Christian Left, or the Christian Center.

If you know otherwise, please provide cites.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 8:42 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

sonika: She's the same singer that started the whole thing with the Soprano solo, also by pretending to use her cellphone.

Heh, I completely missed that. I guess at 0:31 the singing was unusual and attention-grabbing, but by 2:04 the singing was the norm and the cell phone no longer fit the mold.
posted by Tehhund at 9:01 PM on December 3, 2010

why didn't the people in the food court in this one stand up? Do people generally not know this is the custom?

I sort of vaguely remembered a story that people traditionally stand for the HC because on opening night in Dublin in 1742 the enthusiastic audience had stood and crowded forward towards the stage and that was why nobody was hurt when part of the roof fell in at the back of the hall. I was looking for evidence to quote and display my superior grasp of minor historical facts when, fortunately for me, fuse theorem got in first and quoted Wikipedia. And now I can't find any evidence for my clearly less-than-superior memory.

Has anyone else heard this and can point to a source?
posted by aqsakal at 10:56 PM on December 3, 2010

I was at a football game a few weeks ago and when Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II" played over the PA I clapped my hands and shouted "HEY!" along with everyone else and I'm pretty sure that not a single Cambodian child got molested in the process.

On a bit of a tangent, but apparently my wife's high school band director called that song Timelords when he taught it, despite the fact that they were clearly only playing "Rock and Roll Part II". I wonder if it was an attempt to disassociate from Gary Glitter.

Even more tangentially, I was so disappointed when I realized that's what "Timelords" was. I thought for a second that she had a badass band director that was having them play the Doctor Who theme.
posted by kmz at 11:18 PM on December 3, 2010

why didn't the people in the food court in this one stand up?

Well, some people tried to stand, but that one hipster dude stole the piso mojado sign, and they slipped and fell.

Now I'm hungry for Arby's. There's something wrong with me.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:59 PM on December 3, 2010

I was thinking of making an FPP about this but it would have been my first and I set myself insanely high standards, and thus it never happened. Anyway, here's a link with some backstory.
posted by Ms. Next at 2:12 AM on December 4, 2010

I'm an atheist, or apatheist, who doesn't give a flying fuck about christ or divinity or any of that nonsense. Here's to ensemble singing!
posted by goofyfoot at 4:34 AM on December 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

Well these are by no means conclusive, but they're something:

The Christian National Anthem

Biblical Christianity - one of a bunch of blogs like it.

From a prof at Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN)

It's hard to quantify this kind of thing. If I say that Lennon's "Imagine" is a kind of anthem for humanists, do I need a citation to support the claim?
posted by kneecapped at 7:00 PM on December 4, 2010

If I say that Lennon's "Imagine" is a kind of anthem for humanists, do I need a citation to support the claim?

YES PLZ. I love John Lennon, and humans, but Gourd that song irritates me and if anyone's going to use it as an anthem for anything, I'mma gonna give 'em a citation for GAH PICK A BETTER SONG.
posted by sonika at 7:26 PM on December 4, 2010

If I say that Lennon's "Imagine" is a kind of anthem for humanists, do I need a citation to support the claim?

Dude, you can say whatever you want. You can say that Lady Gaga's Pokerface is an anthem for humanists. And I can say that Handel's Hallelujah Chorus is an anthem for lizard people. Without cites it's all talk.

My mom's a middle-of-the-road United Methodist who plays the Messiah every year at Christmas and started taking me to the singalongs as soon as I could carry a tune. I don't think she would be willing to surrender that experience to the anti-gay, anti-abortion wing of Christianity.

I'm an agnostic and I'll sing it in front of your house at 4 am with obscene lyrics before I let the wingers lay claim to the Hallelujah Chorus.

This beautiful work of choral music belongs to all people just like Ode To Joy. You can edit my textbooks, you can censor my museums but you'll never take my music!
posted by irisclara at 11:30 PM on December 4, 2010

Being an atheist doesn't mean you have to scorn great parts of western culture. If you just have a truculent itch, try it this way: Imagine if Christians tried to say "this is a Christian song, you can't have it". Bullshit! I'm part of western culture, and I call dibs on its best products even when they involve religion. They are part of MY heritage and MY tradition, and I regard them with secular enjoyment and even inspiration at the human genius they evince. Nyah.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:42 PM on December 11, 2010 [1 favorite]