I watched a documentary once about Native Americans feeling that the New Age community in the South West US were stealing their culture through their use of various Native American ideas and concepts. The New Age individuals saw their use of these ideas as honoring and continuing the tradition of the Native Americans and for the most part were hurt and confused about the reaction from the Native Americans. I erred more on the side of the Native Americans in that they had centuries of tradition behind them were as the New Age community used the these ideas and practices as personal tools for seeking some kind of enlightenment or for personal profit through the publication of books or sale of crystals, dream catchers etc. Cultural theft I think like most of human terminology is a tricky thing and really irrelevant unless concrete proof existence of harm can be proven. Interesting video of an African American woman accusing a white man of cultural theft for wearing dread locks. I find it silly as dreads apparantly originated in India or rather it is their first appearance in art etc. [sfgate.com]

I've always said the best ideas are those stolen and are in some way reappropriated but I see your point. I feel like there is a point where culture is kind of stolen from many though, as in the case of dying languages, Native America, or through the Harlem renaissance to name just a smidgen. I find though that culture is most often stolen through the division and restructuring of the spaces in which they developed by outside interests.

No. There is learning from other cultures. There is also cultural subversion.

By the way, @Matias, I think you meant 'cultural appropriation,' as opposed to 'theft' ... am I right?

The appropriation is when thee is profit involved.
Let's say that you have a community (in general not from the average upper class ethnicity) that developed an interesting way to make shoes, it is beautiful, comfortable and very characteristic.
Then people start liking it, tourists buy it, you eve teach people how to make it.
Then Some big company industrialize the process and start making money using your cultural piece, without giving anything back to the community and without even telling about the origin of it, basically taking just the design and even using people from other ethnicity on the adds.
So they simple washed your people out of this cultural piece, this is theft/appropriation.

American wine makers can use the champagne method of making wine, but they can't call it Champagne. Somewhat similar Italian Parmesan cheese must be from Italy based on EU law. Countries outside the EU can and do use the name as if it is a generic name for this type of cheese.

Sis the Christianity steal winter solstice, vernal equinox, a flood story, pagan holidays, and many other cultural ideas? Yes.

I have mixed feeling on this, but for the most part, I think that we have become so homogenized as human beings, that much of what people are now calling cultural appropriation is really just likes and preferences. True, some times the imagery and customs of other people are latched onto and misused, in order to further subjugate or humiliate - but I do not believe that is usually the case.

Sometimes, you just find things that click with your heart, even though you have no previous link to them. And there is no shame in that at all.

I rather hope there isn't but there are so many court cases at the moment about ownership of 'stuff' even individual words in songs etc. it seems weird. I'd love it if we just delighted each other with performances of all different kinds rather than everything being about money/royalties and all that .

There are a lot of instances were archeological sites were ripped off and antiques were shipped to private collections and museums in foreign countries , never to be seen by the natives again . And yes, some put great store in the histories that were stolen from them , particularly where their cultures and languages were supressed by invaders who dominated the original natives .