07/31/2021
In a new interview with Forbes, music icon and fashion designer Kanye West discussed the role the Bible played in the creation of his new clothing line.
“A lot of my creative friends, I tell them, like, the Bible is better than Pinterest. You can bring something into space and time we exist in, while reflecting thousands of years of truth,” West told the interviewer. He then referenced a line from Leviticus which warns against wearing a garment made from two kinds of material.
West continued: “And I tell my apparel team that the clothes that we’re using are of a single material. I remember sending a manager I used to work with a really rude email about how every time he wore this wool jacket with leather sleeves, he set culture back by ten years.”
Many faith groups today consider the lessons of Leviticus in the Old Testament to be overbearing, outdated, and unrealistic. In fact, Leviticus is often mocked for some of its ridiculous demands. Among dozens of other things, Leviticus prohibits (often punishable by death or God's wrath on the world):
-Getting tattoos
-Touching hooved animals that don't chew cud
-Having unkempt hair
-Tearing your clothes
-Having gay s*x (maybe?)
-Standing in the presence of an elderly person
-Eating ocean-dwelling creatures without fins or scales
-Holding a grudge
-Mistreating foreigners
-Eating owls (a few specific types of owls at least)
-Touching 4-legged flying bugs (unless those legs are jointed, then OK!)
-Going to church within 33 days of having a son (66 for girls)
-Touching geckos
-Holding an employee's wages overnight
-Trimming your beard
-Picking up grapes that have fallen in your vineyard
-Burning honey
However head-scratching some of these laws seem, West’s comments show that cherry-picked beliefs of the Old Testament do continue to resonate within the mainstream. Your thoughts?
