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Argumentative Essay On Colored Flags

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Historically, flags were utilized mainly in warfare. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, flags serve as identifiers of one’s sovereign state, community, organization, armed force, or office. Dance ministries in Black churches tend to use a range of colored flags which all invoke different feelings in worship. The color white in Christianity tends to signify purity, righteousness, and holiness (Gilyard). The largest version of the flag was the standard; because of its size, it was usually stationary and used to “mark the position of an important individual before a battle, during a siege, throughout a ceremony, or at a tournament” (Encyclopædia Britannica). In particular, the white flag is universally accepted as a symbol of truce or surrender. …show more content…

The atmosphere once again became electrically charged as the dancers frantically waved the rippling flags in figure eights around the sanctuary in improvisational worship in an effort to invite the all-powerful, pure and righteous Holy Spirit into the sanctuary. As pictured above, the dancers would hold the flags in the position of a standard, marking the presence of the Holy Spirit in the space. Natalie Curtis Burlin, a white ethnomusicologist, mentions experiencing a similar electric sensation after attending a prayer event: “Minutes passed, long minutes of strange intensity. The mutterings, the ejaculations, grew louder, more dramatic, till suddenly I felt the creative thrill dart through the people like an electric vibration, that same half-audible hum arose—emotion was gathering” (qtd. in Lincoln and Mamiya 348). Many people in the sanctuary swiftly stood to their feet with arms outstretched, waving their hands, shouting, praying, and crying—all in total surrender to the Holy Spirit. Towards the end of the song, as Cobbs sang “We stand in awe of You,” the dancers waved the white silk flags back and forth, reminiscent of a weaker party surrendering to a more powerful force during war—in this case, the powerful force is the Holy Spirit. The Bible says to “raise a standard against the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; post

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