Converse, an American shoe company, has collaborated with fashion designer Rick Owens on a new collection of shoes that features, of all things, a satanic pentagram.
"The aesthetic is all about disrupting formality-embracing traditional structure and then blowing it up," Converse said for their limited-edition announcement. As of August 2, the shoes were reportedly sold out.
"Rick Owens crafts a Chuck 70 unlike any other. And it's only the beginning for Converse x DRKSHDW," the statement added.
In a same vein, Owens said in an Instagram post, "I've been using this pentagram for a long time because obviously, it has adolescent occult associations."
He referred to the geometric diagrams as the "culture's grasp for control," and "a way to organize thoughts and systems."
"I like the fact that it refers to an alternative system," he added. "And that suggests openness and empathy. It suggests the pursuit of pleasure, this pursuit of sensation. But one of the main things that I think it suggests is empathy and a consideration of systems of living that might not be standard. So that leads us to be more accepting and tolerant of other systems, which I think is a good thing."
According to the Christian Post, many Americans are disappointed and angry with the sports shoe company Converse.
The outlet quoted several unhappy people's comments on social media.
"This is sad, I grew up wearing Converse but seeing that satanic marketing through your shoes, I won't be buying into this. God help you!" reads one of the comments
Following that, another fan said that Converse had just exposed its "real side."
However, this is hardly the first-time controversy has emerged for financial gain.
Just this year, a group called MSCHF headquartered in Brooklyn launched a line of "Satan shoes" Air Max 97s. Similarly to the Converse with the pentagram logo, the demonic-looking shoes were also quickly sold out online.
These shoes contained droplets of "blood and ink" and then placed in an "air bubble." It was also claimed to include a pentagram pendant and a Bible reference from Luke 10:18, which reads, "And He said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.'"
Unlike the Converse Chuck Taylors with pentagrams on them, the Air Max 97s that MSCHF modified were not supported by or authorized by Nike, who actually denounced the shoes and filed a lawsuit against the designer and Lil Nas X, who MSCHF worked with, over the disgusting footwear. MSCHF eventually decided to buy back the shoes.
Lil Nas X's song "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and its music video came out simultaneously with the shoes' debut. In the video, Lil Nas X participated in a number of dubious behaviors, including dancing on a stripper pole and doing a lap dance for Satan, which attracted the ire of conservative leaders and critics.
Also angering MSCHF's demonic shoes critics is the fact that the music video and the shoes were released before Palm Sunday, a holy day for Christians.
Unmistakable phenomena and how Christians may respond
This recent secularization of dark spirituality isn't occurring by chance, Christian news media CBN said. It also noted that there is a severe moral decay in the society, and powerful spiritual powers are exploiting it.
"Non-believers," the Christian news source asserted, "aren't immune to God's perfect standard; in fact, they are just as responsible for their sinful actions as Christians are for their own."
According to CBN, many Americans first saw the pentagram in the late 1990s and early 2000s when school districts attempted to ban the satanic emblem from schools throughout the nation. In mid-2000, a federal court in Indianapolis decided that the First Amendment protected the rights of two student instructors who wanted to wear the Wiccan sign while on the job. Now, it's being given a thumbs up through popular culture.
Thus, CBN urged Christians to remain vigilant and be ready to do battle for the moral values they believe in.
