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Thursday, January 26, 2006
How Many People Is He Trying to Anger????
Before I get into the story... let's get everyone's blood pressure good and raised... take a look at the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone. 
Just how many things are wrong with it? Really, just one... Kanye West isn't Jesus. Not even close. He's not even playing Jesus in a play or movie or anything... he's just being inflamatory.
Well, of course, Christians are just a *little* upset. My buddy Charmaine (here is her post on the cover) was quoted in this news piece:
The Bible tells us that we will be persecuted for our faith. I'm not entirely sure that this is what God had in mind when He inspired those particular verses. This isn't persecution. If we don't stand up for what we believe, we can't expect anyone to take us seriously. After all, we're not taking it seriously- why should anyone else?
There is a difference between Kanye's photo and a photo of James Caviezel from The Passion of the Christ. Caviezel was playing a role, not mocking a religion. (And... interesting side note... Howard Stern presented a similar photo of himself to Rolling Stone in the 90s... and they rejected it. What changed?)
When the early Christians were being thrown to the lions, something interesting happened. Their willing sacrifice (calmly facing their death, knowing that they remained true to their faith) made those in the crowd take notice. Christianity actually spread by the deaths of the early Believers.
No, I'm not saying that we should throw ourselves into a lion's den, for goodness sake. I'm saying that if we just blow stuff like this off, saying "it's just today's culture," when we refuse to take a stand, we turn our backs on our faith... we turn our backs on God. And, no, it's not enough for Charmaine or Tim Wildmon (American Family Association) or Bill Donahue (the Catholic League) to do it. At some point, we each have to take a stand.
Personally, I've never purchased an issue of Rolling Stone. And I've never heard a Kanye West song. Never will. But, this does make me wonder if there are other things that I've become accustomed to that bring Christianity down.
The outspoken rapper defends his brash attitude inside the magazine's pages, on newsstands Friday. He is also pictured posing as Muhammad Ali.Huh? So... because everyone wants you to be great, it's ok to equate yourself with Jesus? And then there's the whole "The Passion of Kanye West." Oh, yeah... makes sense to me. Not.
"In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts," he says. "You want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?"
Well, of course, Christians are just a *little* upset. My buddy Charmaine (here is her post on the cover) was quoted in this news piece:
Christian activists are outraged by a Rolling Stone magazine cover that depicts rapper Kanye West as a Christ figure with a crown of thorns atop his head.She has a point. Christianity, for some reason, is always fair game. We don't have our own version of CAIR or ADL (well, we do have the FRC). As Christians, we're just too darn nice.
...Christian groups are outraged, and have called the cover image "sacrilegious" and an insult to Christians.
..."I think Kanye West is a distraction from the real story," Charmaine Yoest, vice president of the Family Research Council, told NewsMax.
"The real story is Rolling Stone mocking millions of Christians in this country and worldwide who believe in Jesus Christ.
"Let's just imagine they did this with Mohammed or one of the world's other major religions. There would be a huge outcry. But not with Christianity. They think they can attack Christianity with impunity.
"This is an issue of corporate responsibility."
The Bible tells us that we will be persecuted for our faith. I'm not entirely sure that this is what God had in mind when He inspired those particular verses. This isn't persecution. If we don't stand up for what we believe, we can't expect anyone to take us seriously. After all, we're not taking it seriously- why should anyone else?
There is a difference between Kanye's photo and a photo of James Caviezel from The Passion of the Christ. Caviezel was playing a role, not mocking a religion. (And... interesting side note... Howard Stern presented a similar photo of himself to Rolling Stone in the 90s... and they rejected it. What changed?)
When the early Christians were being thrown to the lions, something interesting happened. Their willing sacrifice (calmly facing their death, knowing that they remained true to their faith) made those in the crowd take notice. Christianity actually spread by the deaths of the early Believers.
No, I'm not saying that we should throw ourselves into a lion's den, for goodness sake. I'm saying that if we just blow stuff like this off, saying "it's just today's culture," when we refuse to take a stand, we turn our backs on our faith... we turn our backs on God. And, no, it's not enough for Charmaine or Tim Wildmon (American Family Association) or Bill Donahue (the Catholic League) to do it. At some point, we each have to take a stand.
Personally, I've never purchased an issue of Rolling Stone. And I've never heard a Kanye West song. Never will. But, this does make me wonder if there are other things that I've become accustomed to that bring Christianity down.
