Symbols & Sanctity

Symbols define what is sacred. One way to identify the sacred is to see where passions and priorities lay and the symbols that represent them, especially when those symbols are perceived to be under attack. The “sacredness” of whiteness (and the symbols that represent it) continue to emerge as a (if not the!) foundation of much of American civil, social, and religious life. The propping up of the lie of white supremacy (LOWS) has reached a fever pitch. The recent “controversy” over Cracker Barrel’s new logo reminds me just how fragile the Dagon of LOWS is and the lengths some people will go to prop it up.

In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines have conquered Israel and brought the (אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים)(“The Ark of God”) from Israel into Dagon’s house - allegedly symbolizing the superiority of Dagon over the God of Israel. Despite this symbolic removal, Dagon continues to show signs of defeat, destruction, and debasement in the presence of Israel’s God - a moment of holy trash-talk reminding all who the real God is.

The objections to Cracker Barrel illustrate how symbols connected to whiteness are sacred to so many. According to some reports, one conservative commentator noted the new logo “removed the cracker and the barrel.” In a barrage of familiar cliches touting the evils of “wokeism” and “DEI,” the proposed logo was framed as another attack on “American values” and “white culture.” I wonder if some of my more conservative, white brothers and sisters who were so outraged by this proposed logo are like the Philistines in 1 Samuel 5. Are they propping up a broken symbol of a declining empire built atop a LOWS foundation to preserve what was never (and should never be) sacred? The long arc of biblical traditions reminds us that the Truth, no matter how bruised or battered, remains undefeated and all lies, no matter how prevalent and apparently powerful, collapse.