Faith Philosophy & Religion
Rhymefest: Don’t Hide Behind God
I read Rhymefest’s thoughts today and although we come from different backgrounds and faiths, I agree with his sentiments regarding religious misrepresention among celebrities.
Below is a copy of the text along with my thoughts:
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Don’t Hide Behind God ….
On a recent Saturday night, I was watching SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO, and, during the amateur talent show segment, I noticed that some of the artists understood that if they came out and sang a gospel song, their chances of being booed were clearly reduced, whether they could sing or not. I began to wonder, do we hide behind God’s name in order to shield ourselves from public criticism? Think about it. Why does it seem as though artists like Michele Williams and Tweet were totally satisfied singing about being “Bootylicious” and touching themselves (”Oops”), respectively, yet with the stroke of a pen, they flip-flop and praise the Lord in the name of gospel music and potential unit sales? I’m not suggesting that these particular young ladies didn’t experience some life-altering rebirth or change; however, it did seem a bit bizarre to see Michele Williams return to Destiny’s Child to sing secular music after her change already occurred. And, I had the opportunity to be on a music panel with Tweet where every other word out of her mouth was “Praise Jesus.”
You and I know that the power of gospel music consumers is solid and far-reaching, but it goes further than that. Even rappers are jumping in on the “use God as a shield” act. Or is it really an act? It doesn’t seem as though rappers are concerned with appealing to that religious audience yet one of DMX’s last singles was “Lord Give Me A Sign.” Yes, this thing reaches further than any specific denomination, when even Lupe Fiasco proudly proclaims his Muslim faith as part of the reason for his unique outlook on music and culture. Don’t get it twisted: in no way am I dissing any artist who announces their faith in their music and lifestyle. For even I use my co-authoring of “Jesus Walks” as part of the advertisement for Rhymefest as an artist. And like Lupe, I have publicly embraced my Islamic faith. Although, I personally have a difficult time calling myself a Muslim (one who submits his will to God) because I’m still striving to totally submit myself to God. So let’s make this clear, sum it up and ask the questions:
1) Clarity: We’re not talking about partial submission to God or using God’s name as a marketing tool. We’re talking about totally submitting our lives to the idea of a power greater than record sales, saving face in lieu of criticism or even our own physical lives.
2) Sum It Up: It seems as though every artist finds their spiritual enlightenment until shit gets poppin’ again, from Pastor Ma$e to Gorilla Unit, from R. Kelly’s “Feelin’ On Yo Booty” to “U Saved Me” back to “Hit It Til The Mornin (ft. Do Or Die & Twista)” and many more to come.
3) Questions:
a) Is this honestly just a natural part of human spiritual progression, exposed to the public eye?
b) How do you think God feels about us using him a shield for our personal inadequacies?
c) Is it okay to invoke God’s name, even if only once, if that message truly helps someone? Even if it’s just once?
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My Thoughts
i like that. thoughtful. however, some may interpret the alternative to “not hiding behind god” to equal “just be yourself and let it all hang out without regard to a god, if any”. but i know that wasn’t your intention.
- a) A natural part of human progression? Well, from a completely naturalistic point of view, that’s impossible to answer. Because who’s to say they know enough about the past, present and future of human progression to answer such a question?
I believe that the hypocrisy, misunderstanding and misuse of religion and deities is definitely a part of being human. Our nature is to do things our own way, totally disregarding or ignoring a God, if any. When public figures irrationally misuse, misunderstand, misinterpret, or mock religions or deities, it affects thousands if not millions of people. Because there are so many people’s lives founded on these things, you can seriously affecting them psychologically which bleeds over to their personal, financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical relationships.
Some people may be strong enough in their faith to see a pseudo-religious person mess up and diss their faith, but there are so many who are wishy-washy, and may actually be negatively affected by the misinterpretation and misuse by the public figure. Because people usually grow up with a certain set of religious beliefs and morals, it’s a part of them. They’re faith may be weak, but a religion is still a part of them. So the consequences of public hypocrites can be very detrimental.
- b) I’m not sure exactly what God would think. Also, the “God” is not specified here. If it is the judaeo-christian God of the hebrew people, and the same God of the christians, then we can only assume, based on the Bible, that he does not like it. He is also somewhat saddened by it. Because his love and grace are misunderstood, misrepresented, misinterpreted, and misused.
Now, this may perturb some, but the God of Islam, Allah, is not the same. And we can only base our assumptions of what Allah would think based upon what Mohammed and his followers thought God said — in the Koran, the Hadith and a few other official sacred texts of the Muslim faith. However, we can assume that Allah would definitely not be pleased. His followers who claim allegiance to him are misrepresenting him. Similar to the judaeochristian God, Allah definitely wouldn’t approve of the vulgarity and immodesty of celebrity culture.
- c) The word “helped” could be very relative. Because being “helped” might mean ‘encouragement’, when really, within the context of juddaism, christianity or islam, it should mean ‘progression in relationship with God’ or ’salvation’. And this progression cannot be based on a personal feeling or assumption. It must be based on the only sources we have to go by: Scripture or sacred texts. Not fellow believers, leaders, friends, ‘feelings’, or intuitions. Even if you have a feeling, notion, intuition, or advice from someone, it needs to be confirmed with the Book.
So yes, it can help someone, but it’s not the best way to be done. This is referring to a person who speaks one way, but lives another. the main thing is the speaker — this person should be consistent and honest. For some reason, hypocrisy speaks louder than consistency, so we need to be careful. Especially public figures: they have so much influence over masses that their actions could do more harm than good.
Discussion
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