The Risk of "Jesus Walks" and Lack of Religious Themes in Today's Music

  In “radio music” today, the main topic is hardly religion.  The main themes are about partying, significant others, and lack a general meaning behind them.  Outside of Christian hip-hop, there is hardly much mention of Jesus.  That would change in 2004, when rapper Kanye West released the hip-hop song “Jesus Walks” to the radio.  The song was featured on his debut album “The College Dropout”, and proved to be a big risk decision as he was an up and coming rapper with something to prove.  Considering the fact most rappers do not talk about religion, this was something hardly anyone saw coming.  The song divided many people, some praising it highly and admiring West’s risk-taking skills. Others did not feel a song about Jesus should be played on the radio, especially coming from a rapper, who is viewed much differently than other musicians.

            The song, in which West proudly embraces his faith in Jesus, received mostly positive reviews.  A song like this had never really hit airwaves, and would cause some controversy over the subject matter. Not many artists around 2004 released songs about Jesus to the radio, and this would cause an uproar to radio stations, who deemed it unfit for airplay.  One of the most famous lines is “They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus/That means guns, sex, lies, videotapes, but if I talk about God my record won’t get played?”  West said this because some radio stations denied playing this song over the radio due to the subject matter.  Radio will play songs about sex, money, girls, and other topics but not religion.    

            I brought this up because I am curious as to why more songs like this are not released.  West was making his debut album at this time, and if an up and coming rapper released a record like this, why don’t other established musicians release songs like it? The same topics are constantly played over the radio, with most “musicians” asking for a simple beat that is catchy.  Then they add a few simple lyrics with a catchy hook and the song is complete.  Lyricism in today’s music is strongly lacking compared to past years, and it is a shame to call some of the songs released “music.”

Some artists (like West) push the envelope, but not as much in today’s music. Most are likely afraid of the public’s response, and the fact that they may lose some of the fans of their fan base.  But, everyone is entitled to his or her own religion. So why not take the risk (like West) and maybe release a single to the radio that is about their religion?  I understand the nervousness one would have, but many musicians have a devoted fan base.  I do not think one song would turn so many fans away that it would alter their career. Heck, the song may even boost their fan base and establish their credibility as an artist that is willing to take risks.

            Adele is a singer that dominates the radio today, with the majority of her songs focused on themes about love.  She has been considered one of the musicians today that does not focus on trends that are common among others.  With an extremely large fan base and established credibility, releasing a song about her love for her religion would be great for music. For example, if she released that song it would cause massive media attention and possibly bring religious themes into the musical spotlight.

            Personally I used to disapprove of religious songs, as I thought they were slow or boring, even though I agreed with the theme. However, after a friend showed me Christian hip-hop I have enjoyed listening to Christian music.  I know “Jesus Walks” is not a Christian song, but its themes are focused on Christianity.  I would like to see more songs about Jesus on the radio (beside Christian radio stations), because it will spread more information about Jesus, and could introduce more people to the Christian religion.

            I uploaded the video to not only show the song, but also the second version of the music video.  West cared so much about the song’s meaning that he made three versions of the video, the second and third’s budget coming right out of his pocket.  He really strove to have this song connect to the audience and spread his message about Jesus.  This type of behavior is rarely seen today, and shows the great lengths Christians will go to in order to praise the Lord.  It is great to see Christian musicians display their profound faith in Jesus Christ in the songs they make. If artists on the radio make songs about their religion, the quality of music will greatly improve and religion will be strengthened among people. 

Frans de Waal: Moral Behavior in Animals

The Vatican's Apostolic Visitation of Institutions of Women Religious

As someone who attended a Catholic high school where some of the classes were taught by Sisters, I thought this article was interesting. The Vatican is conducting a “Doctrinal Investigation” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents the vast majority of women’s religious orders (sisters and nuns) in the United States. According to this article from USA Today, the Vatican didn’t feel that the LCWR takes a strong enough stance against controversial issues like abortion, gay marriage, and women’s ordination to the priesthood. The article also mentions that the LCWR supported Obama’s Health Care bill when most US Bishops did not. The Vatican launched an “Apostolic Visitation of Institutions of Women Religious” in 2009 (which it has a website devoted to, in case anyone is interested) to investigate the leadership of Women Religious institutions in the United States.

I find this whole issue very interesting as it really shows the difference in opinions and the conflicts that can arise within the Catholic Church.  I also find it very interesting that the Vatican is quoted as saying the LCWR supports conferences featuring “a prevalence of certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the catholic faith.”

For me, the issue raises a lot of questions. I don’t  understand why there can’t be debate within the Catholic Church. I understand why church doctrine is important, but on the other hand I think it’s important to have open conversations about controversial topics. As there has been a lot about women’s issues and women's rights in the news lately, I wonder what kind of effect this story will have on public opinion of the Vatican. Finally, one issue this article brushes on is ordination of women. I have really never understood why women can’t be ordained as priests in the Catholic Church, and no one has ever been able to give me a good answer to this question. 

Should health-care availability be an "option" for the poor?

            It's election year and one of the major topics surrounding this year's election is the notion towards a nationalized health-care system.  To further narrow into the dept of this subject and its importance, currently, it is estimated that nearly 50 million Americans cannot afford health insurance (CNN).  Now, as Christians, how do we come to respond or neglect the reality that terminally ill people everyday go without life-saving drugs to escape the realms of foreclosure or bankruptcy?

            This is the question that John Blake has set out to answer in his recent article for CNN, "Would Jesus Support Healthcare Reform?".  In the article, he clearly speaks of the division between the greater Christian communities and explains how our faith and understanding of our religion, can tackle this national debate.  For as in his words, "Many cite Jesus, but come up with completely different conclusions".

            In general, those that oppose Obamacare, i.e. a national health-care system, seem to be focused in on the fear on one central idea, providing our government with too much power.  For instance, one opposing practicing Lutheran, Tom Prichard, states, "Who do we trust- God or the government?".   Prichard proceeds to expand on his beliefs, and makes the assertion that churches and nonprofits should be the ones whom help cover these costs.  Is this notion, however, realistic?

            Can churches and nonprofits afford to cover the expenses of the rapidly, increasing costs of today's healthcare?  If so, how do we go about addressing the thousands of Americans who cannot even get accepted through an insurance plan due to a pre-existing condition?  Ultimately, this goes back to the unfortunate reality that people are dying everyday because they cannot afford their medical bills- we are not talking about a few thousand (there is a reason they are willing to risk death), but cancer treatments and other forms of disease containment that can easily allow hospital bills to climb into six-figures sums.  Therefore, it is hard to believe that this enormous burden would be something that the churches and community charity could compensate for alone. 

            Whether, Prichard and others with his viewpoint want to admit it, sooner, rather than later, the government will have no choice but to step in and regulate the health-care industries, holding large pharmaceutical companies reliable for their large profit margins. What I cannot seem to fathom, however, is how the Christian community can be so widely torn on an issue that goes directly towards its basic foundation of belief. 

            Now, nowhere in the Bible does it come to talk of terms such as, laissez-faire, or a command driven economy, so the real question is, indeed, how can we know what Jesus would do?  Well... It's actually quite simple, read the nearly 300-some parables in the Bible for which the verses speak of social justice and helping the poor.  Shall we drive into some of the verses, because if Jesus was running for President, I don't think anyone would argue that Jesus would say, "Screw the poor, lower our national debt".  

            More to the point, Jesus would advocate for a movement towards alleviating suffering in others, after all, this is the basis of Christian social ethics.  In fact, the first principle of social ethics explicitly deals with life and enriching it throughout the human lifetime.  This principle explicitly assumes that all humans have meaning, including the poor, and the right to the second principle of Christian social ethics, which is justice.

            Justice, or simply put, getting what one deserves, includes having an "option" for the poor.  Meaning that whatever we do as human beings, as Christians we must account for the poor.  So I am asking for your help to further my understanding as to why then so many Christians are against providing this "option" for the poor, pertaining to the implementation of a national health-care system?

-- Interested in viewing the link?

--- Click here for the link! 

Why Social Justice Matters at SLU

The notion of social justice has become prevalent on Saint Louis University's campus during the past two years. Social Justice, in the form it takes, at Saint Louis University has taken a life of it's own, but stems from the original concept that was founded in regards to religion. The foundation of social justice focused on tolerance among religions. When individuals started to branch out from Christianity, people wondered, what is the point of talking to members of other religions? They figured all of their religions couldn't be correct. The idea of social justice has somewhat split into different types of social justice, as it did at Saint Louis University.

My freshman year at SLU, the racial tension of the university was horrible. There were several instances were racial slurs were directed towards African American students in direct and indirect fashion. After several town hall meetings and complaints, the university decided to make an effort to change the climate of the university. After all of these happenings, social justice became a priority to the university.

 This is not to mean that the university did not care about social justice, but the horrid events that were occurring somewhat made the university take a strong stance on social justice. The university had to bring the social inequalities that were occurring on the campus to the top of their priority list.
Prejudice driven social inequalities were not the only ones that occurred at the university, but they were the most prevalent, reported and talked about.

The question I now ask is, why social justice matters at SLU. Social justice is important to SLU, because in order for us to truly be men and women for others, we have to adhere by a code of social equality. As a Jesuit University, there are certain standards the university has and strives to adhere, and social justice is one of them. We must not only tolerate others different than ourselves, but treat them how we would like to be treated.

The university was seriously lacking this in previous years and still has not achieved it completely, but it has taken a step forward in the race to achieve it. It reaches beyond the original ideology that it was founded on and strives to make a comfortable environment and shape us into productive men and women for others. 

Nostra Aetate and Religious Tolerance

After reading the Nostra Aetate, I was pleased to see that a document like this existed and that Pope Paul VI placed so much emphasis on the inclusion and tolerance of other religions. It made me think about how ridiculous it is that people discriminate against each other based on religion. Some examples, such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, show that people get so worked up about the differences between religions, that they go to extremes to justify their beliefs. I do not understand why it matters so much.  Religion is a choice that people make, just like they choose what they are going to eat for breakfast or what clothes they are going to wear. Usually, people don’t get too upset if someone’s opinion about what the best color is differs from their own, but when someone’s opinion about what the best religion to follow differs, some people go ballistic. They try to shove their own religion and beliefs down the other person’s throat in order to convince them that their religion is wrong.  This is absurd. Do you honestly think that someone is going to convert to your religion when you are disregarding their opinions and bashing their own religion? Of course not. I think that we need to stop labeling people based on what religion they choose to practice and instead recognize the fact that we are all human and have more in common than religion.  A quote that stood out to me was, “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God”.  This is such a basic point that many people seem to miss.  If they would only stop and think about how their actions are completely contradictory to the beliefs they are trying to portray, then maybe they would realize how hypocritical they are acting. Instead of degrading followers of religions different from their own, they should accept that that person has different beliefs and get over it.

"Where do we go from here?" Gay is the New Witch: The Christian Persecution of Gay Americans

http://atheistoasis.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/gay-is-the-new-witch-the-christian-persecution-of-gay-americans/

First and foremost, anyone who reads the above link needs to understand the level of bias that is present in the article.  It comes from atheistoasis.com.  This article is by no means scholarly or meant to be a reflection of my own personal opinion.  However, I do believe this article adds some interesting topics of conversation to the question, "Where do we go from here?"
The Catholic Church has a history of persecution and mistakes.  From Galileo to witches, the church has had it's blunders where it wrongfully persecuted people.  However, the church eventually realized it's wrongdoing and changed.
The reason this applies to the future of christianity is because some wonder if LGBT's current standing in the catholic church will ever change.  Will the church always view these lifestyles as wrong, or will they eventually change their views and accept these lifestyles, and their dislike will be a thing of the past? Although not a perfect article, it certainly raises interesting questions about the future of the Catholic Church.