Secular culture is constantly pushing boundaries. But it seems, as times goes on, the push has become increasingly aggressive.
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Earlier this week, Converse unveiled a new limited edition collaboration with fashion designer Rick Owens, through his brand, Drkshdw. The sneakers — coming in several styles — feature a pentagram in place of the iconic Chuck Taylor star.
In a quote posted by Converse, Owens said he has “been using this pentagram for a long time because, obviously, it has adolescent occult associations.”
“But I like geometric diagrams like that because, in a very primal way, they are a culture’s grasp for control,” the 59-year-old designer explained. “And a way to organize thoughts and systems. And a pentagram, in this day and age, with all of its associations … I like the fact that it refers to an alternative system. And that suggests openness and empathy. It suggests the pursuit of pleasure, this pursuit of sensation. But one of the main things that I think it suggests is empathy and a consideration of systems of living that might not be standard. So that leads us to be more accepting and tolerant of other systems, which I think is a good thing.”
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Owens told WWD his approach to design is bombastic and “a little grotesque.”
“I always think of it as kind of corrupting something that exists,” he told the outlet. “And I don’t mean that in an aggressive way.”
Rick Owens DRKSHDW x Converse TURBODRK Chuck 70. pic.twitter.com/3xvwQ6m1uB
— GRAILED (@grailed) July 26, 2021
The designer went on to say his “aesthetic gesture has always been about promoting the idea that perfect or traditional beauty can be very strict and cruel” and boundary pushing “signifies tolerance for other ideas.”
Owens’ collaboration with Converse comes several months after rapper Lil Nas X unveiled his own partnership with MSCHF, which customizes shoes. The company took 666 pairs of Nike Air Max 97s and retrofitted them with 60cc of red ink and a drop of human blood in the soles. MSCHF also added a pentagram pendant on top of the laces and embroidered a reference to Luke 10:18 along the sides.
There’s no doubt the secular push has escalated to a shove in recent years.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many Americans’ only exposure to the pentagram came as school districts tried to prohibit the Satanic symbol from classrooms across the country. In mid-2000, a federal judge ruled the First Amendment protected the rights of two student teachers in Indianapolis who wanted to wear the Wiccan symbol while working.
Now it’s being promoted in mainstream culture.
As Christians, we know we can’t expect the unbelieving world to act as we do. We can and should, however, be grieved by the shift we’re witnessing — because it will come with consequences.
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The normalization of spiritual darkness isn’t happening innocently. Culture is in a serious moral drift, and there are evil spiritual forces taking advantage of it. That’s why the Apostle Paul urges believers to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) and Peter tells Christians to be “sober-minded” and “watchful” because “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Non-believers aren’t immune to God’s perfect standard; in fact, they are just as responsible for their sinful actions as Christians are for their own. One day, “every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God” (Romans 14:11). We are all subject to God’s law, as it’s defined in Scripture.
With humility, Christians must be alert and prepared to stand up for truth, unwilling to dismiss instances of our moral drift as insignificant or inescapable.
Sin is an illness cured only by faith in Jesus, without whom we are all lost. As Christians, we have a spiritual obligation to share the cure.
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