Hokey Pokey: Infamous Dance of Hatred

[Monte Smith]

This I did not know.


Hokey Pokey is ‘faith hate crime’
by Jason Allardyce
The Sunday Times

Senior Catholics in Scotland have warned that Protestants who sing the Hokey Pokey could fall foul of laws outlawing incitement of religious hatred.

They claim the song was originally written to mock the Catholic mass and that its derisive overtones have been revived by football fans.

Supporters of the largely Protestant Glasgow Rangers club have been banned from the once common practice of singing anti-Catholic songs at the club’s ground when it plays Celtic, which has Catholic roots. Now fans are discussing on websites the possibility of singing the Hokey Pokey to get around the rule.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Catholic church in Scotland, said: “This song, although apparently innocuous, was devised as an attack on and a parody of the Catholic mass.”

According to the church, the song’s title derives from “hocus pocus”. The phrase is said to be a Puritan satire on the Latin “hoc est enim corpus meum”, or “this is my body”, used by Catholic priests to accompany the transubstantiation during mass.

Murdo Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “I can’t believe Scottish children performing the Hokey Pokey are doing so in pursuit of any sort of anti-Catholic agenda.”


"Yes, by all means. Let's solemnize our nuptials with the dance of hate."

[Pete C]

So that's what it's all about.

[Uli]

[clinthopson]

Did you hear the the guy who wrote Hokey Pokey died?

The had a lot of trouble burying him because. . .

[Hudson Boy]

The fault lies with Bird for Now's the Time.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Hudson Boy

The fault lies with Bird for Now's the Time.

No, that's The Hucklebuck not The Hokey Pokey.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Did you hear the the guy who wrote Hokey Pokey died?

The had a lot of trouble burying him because. . .

Thanks for the chuckle, Clint.

[Hudson Boy]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

No, that's The Hucklebuck not The Hokey Pokey.

I stand corrected!

[Pete C]

Nobody does the Hucklebuck like Ralph Kramden.

[Monte Smith]

The crazy thing about this story is that I am sure that at soccer matches in Glasgow, the Hokey Pokey can be and is being used as a partisan incitement. Rangers v Celtic is a notorious derby that brings out the worst in some fans because it isn't just about football, it is about religion and the social divide. Now having said that, if I have to interfere at a child's party to stop the dance of hate, I won't hesitate. I've already got my censorious speech written. How dare they mock the Catholic Mass?

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Not only have I done thousand upon thousands of Hokey Pokeys, hundreds of them have been in churches, and dozens in Catholic churches. Probably translates into several thousand more years of Purgatory for me.

[shrugs]