POLL-Do you want this tartan?

[Detroitpete]

For me, this would be a "no" for many of the same reasons that Tobus list above, plus a few of my own personal reasons.

[MacLowlife]

I have seen/ heard a piper explain to children that God's Tartan is the pattern of the sea of humanity's faces, which is a nice idea.

I can think of a couple of drawbacks to the idea of a Christian tartan, the most troubling being that it is not likely to become well-known, even among Christian kilt wearers as being The Christian Tartan.

But my biggest concern ( not to say criticism) is an echo of Tobus' comments, sort of: How many affiliations do I need to display or affirm through my kilt? As an American, I can wear any of them with little or no trouble. So I can wear any clan I choose or feel close to, any district tartan, including Irish ones, assorted regional/ state tartans, colleges, schools, etc.

Think about cars and stickers for a minute. Some people put a lot of stickers on their cars. Some put none. Some will put one on for a political campaign and will then either leave it on well past the election, or will eventually remove it. I am pretty sure that a part of the message of having ten different stickers on one's car is "I have ten different stickers on my car."

I expect a person who wants to wear a kilt every day and doesn't want to wear out the only one he has might be more interested in a Christian tartan than, say the guy who wears his kilt once a month or less. I could be wrong. I do not want to break any forum rules, but I am one of those people who believes his religion and the part that says "This is the one true religion- others are mistaken" and yet I do not think I would choose a religious-affiliated tartan even if I were to own and wear a dozen kilts.

Let's return to the cars and stickers for a moment. If I see three different political stickers on the same car, I do not expect them to be for competing candidates. Similarly, if I see one that says "Honk if you love *****" I do not expect to see another one that says "***** is a waste of resources." But at the same time, I might not be surprised to see stickers that describe assorted aspects that all work together in a single mindset: recycling, solar power, environmental conservation, National Parks, and NPR, for example. And what this means is that people have decided that stickers can connote all kinds of affiliations, not just sports teams, politics, colleges and vacation spots.

And we are verging on that with kilts and tartans- not just clans, but districts, sports teams, states and countries, etc.

But would we "understand" if we asked someone "What tartan is that?" and he replied "It is the country music tartan" or "This is the Nixon-Agnew tartan" or even "This is the Ducks Unlimited tartan"? How about the "Spamalot" tartan?

I am not attempting to equate Christianity or any religion with bumper stickers, but I just don't see enough people understanding and subscribing to the idea of a Christian tartan to make it work. And isn't universal recognition and distinction part of the idea? Even people who think of themselves first and foremost as Christians might choose to display some lesser affinity in their choice of tartan. Like their favorite Broadway musical...

[kennethrmc]

Although I am a Christian and a pastor I vote "no" because of finances, and also because I've already invested in a Clergy tartan kilt that I'm very pleased with. It's a nice idea if enough folks wish to invest in it.

[ForresterModern]

Just a suggestion, but you might wish to adjust the title of this thread----either capitalize the "h" in "his" or put a "t" in front of it to make it "this". My choice would be the latter.

[biblemonkey]

Just a suggestion, but you might wish to adjust the title of this thread----either capitalize the "h" in "his" or put a "t" in front of it to make it "this". My choice would be the latter.

My apologies. It was supposed to be "this". I'll let the moderators know.

Thanks,
Hugh

[McClef]

Title amended as requested.

My view is that it would be difficult to get universal agreement for one particular tartan as being THE TARTAN to represent any faith whether Christian or otherwise. We have seen others being nominated to be Rabbinical or Clergy or Masonic or whatever and indeed they may truly have significance for their wearers who will no doubt have seen the result before deciding to support the tartan as being suitable.

It's even harder when the tartan has not been designed and viewed and those who think the idea is good could well not like the proposed result of a design.

I regret that I can not vote for either option on those grounds.

[Chas]

A simple crucifix has been more than enough for 2000 years, is there, therefore, a need for a tartan which will be recognised by no one? I voted no.

Regards

Chas

[OC Richard]

I agree with many of the posts above. I couldn't commit to a vote either way without seeing the tartan, and though I'm a Christian my decision to buy would be based mainly on the tartan's appearance.

Likewise, though from West Virginia I'm not interested in the WV tartan, and though of Cornish ancestry I wouldn't touch any of the Cornish tartans I've seen with a ten foot pole.

I have no connexion to the Isle of Skye but I wear that tartan because it's lovely.

In short, what a tartan happens to be called means little to me.

[Mr.Charles Anthony]

I would vote Nay- both because I am not an X-tian & the cost & problems. I would recommend a different choice- at less cost- that I saw a Physician use at the Maine Highland Games. He wore his Clann Bruce wee kilt, with a very pricey sporran,on the flap of which was a tooled leather image of the Caddusses(the Dr. Symbol of Snake on a Pole) and then worked in gold leaf. For the X-tian you could use a metal, tooled leather &tc. symbol of your faith: the Shield do-dad of the Espicolipans, the Angle Moroni of the Mormons, the Rooster of the Catholic Church(the Catholic Churchs for long centurys had a cock(rooster)on theirchurch spires, only in recent history did they use a Cross-the rooster being for St.Peter & assorted misc. religious reasons) and on and on. I assume a Buddist could put a prayer wheel on there as well.
I would hazard to guess that you might include the St.Andrews cross on the sporran body, just to finish the 'theme'
Now hows that for off the wall!

[Gryphon noir]

This is certainly an interesting and rather noble idea, but I am a bit uncomfortable with it.

For most people, the term "Christian" no longer refers to those whose faith might be stated in the Nicene Creed, but rather, to a populist religion with some decidedly divergent beliefs and values. This could cause some confusion and quite possibly some offense to others when trying to explain it: many who identify themselves as "Christian" would not see me as one.

Perhaps a way of avoiding potential conflict might be to name the tartan more specifically--for example, call it the "Nicene Tartan" or the "Apostolic Tartan." Otherwise, perhaps design a tartan for a particular saint, using colours historically associated with that person.

I could see myself buying into a Nicene Tartan. Aesthetics would be important: the design and colour would require a great deal of thought, so I don't think I would subscribe before seeing the design.