ARCHIVE - "Hokey Pokey" a Religious Hate Song

Archive: Tue Jan 6 16:16:16 2009
Title: "Hokey Pokey" a Religious Hate Song
Mood: confused
Music: Trance Tuesday #017 - track 3-Tranceportal.org
Here's a curious item I picked up from the fine folks at the Dogma Free America Podcast; seems some Catholics in Scotland think singing the Hokey Pokey may constitute an act of religious hatred.

A spokesman for the leader of the church in Scotland said the song had disturbing origins.

Critics claim that Puritans composed the song in the 18th century in an attempt to mock the actions and language of priests leading the Latin mass.

I searched around and found a wikipedia article and a second reference, but it seems this interpretation of the history of the song is in dispute.

I think the idea that the Hokey Pokey originated as a mockery of the Catholic Church is a fascinating and funny idea. I enjoy mocking religion, and the thought that some groups hundreds of years ago were mocking each others rituals is just funnee.

Regardless of the origins of the song, clearly the modern singing of the song has nothing to do with what some 18th century shaker thought about the church.

This sounds like another case of the Streisand Effect. Now that they've brought up the idea that it pisses off Catholics then sure people will start to do it to piss off the Catholics whereas before it was just a silly song to sing to your football rivals.

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