(Ignoring for now the whole postmodern argument that the Modern Western Christmas is in itself a form of misappropriation)
Oh, i wouldn't ignore that, it's an important element of this. The Roman Empire was a classic hotbed of cultural misappropriation. Wherever they invaded, the Roman upper class would start worshiping those people's gods, but of course it would be a *Roman* version of their gods, and they would worship with Romanized rituals. The Roman cult of Osiris is a perfect example. The only conquered people they didn't do this to were the Jews, who actually made up a quarter of the Empire's population at the time of the Roman-Jewish War.
Eventually Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and for a time after that happened, the Christians had a practice of absorbing and Christianizing the practices and beliefs of other religions around them. It was a continuation of the Roman approach to treating religion and beliefs as a cafeteria.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-01-08 07:55 pm (UTC)Oh, i wouldn't ignore that, it's an important element of this. The Roman Empire was a classic hotbed of cultural misappropriation. Wherever they invaded, the Roman upper class would start worshiping those people's gods, but of course it would be a *Roman* version of their gods, and they would worship with Romanized rituals. The Roman cult of Osiris is a perfect example. The only conquered people they didn't do this to were the Jews, who actually made up a quarter of the Empire's population at the time of the Roman-Jewish War.
Eventually Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and for a time after that happened, the Christians had a practice of absorbing and Christianizing the practices and beliefs of other religions around them. It was a continuation of the Roman approach to treating religion and beliefs as a cafeteria.