Update (3.19.17)
“Let’s face it. Hip-hop culture deadens the drive toward civility and legitimizes backwardness. It is high time the general public comes to terms with the social damage it perpetuates. If not, we can all count on yet another inner-city generation suffering from wasted potential.” – Jeffrey Hicks, member of national advisory council of the black leadership network Project 21.
When I wrote this blog I was used to a small readership, but since this post has gone viral I decide to add some additional citations for the destruction rap music causes to culture. I’ve added two here in the front and added links in the highlighted text. I have also added quotes from Prophet Benson’s 1971 General Conference talk “Satan’s Thrust.” These quotes are in bold lettering, otherwise I have left the text as it was originally published.
Geraldo Rivera: Hip-Hop Is ‘Very Destructive Culturally’
“Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years,” talk show host tells HuffPost Live
Rap and Hip Hop: A legitimate music genre or self destructive noise?
If you want to see the future of Mormonism look no further than the rapper James the Mormon. Just as inner city Chicago used to be full of hard working, Christian, Poles, Germans and Irish but is now overrun with black, ghetto culture, it seems Mormonism and Utah are the next target for cultural destruction and what’s worse, the Mormons themselves are welcoming it.
“The devil-inspired destructive forces are present in our literature, in our art, in the movies, on the radio, in our dress, in our dances, on the TV screen, and even in our modern, so-called popular music. Satan uses many tools to weaken and destroy the home and family and especially our young people. Today, as never before, it seems the devil’s thrust is directed at our youth.”
About a year or so ago I heard about this rapper James the Mormon. I heard he had put out a rap/hip hop album and that many famous Mormons, such as Al Fox, were featured in his video. While he is clear that he is not a religious singer, he does not sing about his faith, Mormons readily accepted James as if he were the Mormon version of Christian rock, only edgier. After being raised in a system which taught them that all things white and western were evil and boring, white Mormons were thrilled they could throw their hands in the air like they just don’t care and get their groove on to secular music with none of the guilt. Truly this would finally make white Mormons “cool” to all those non whites they desperately seek approval from.
This would certainly prove their street cred.
I only saw a preview of the video at first. I posted about it on Facebook, how we need to watch our cultural influences and while James may not cuss or rap about sex (at least not yet) it was promoting violent, inner city thug culture and it’s lack of traditional values. It was also erasing our strong Mormon musical culture. My friends insisted it was just for fun and no harm would come from it.
“Music creates atmosphere. Atmosphere creates environment. Environment influences behavior. What are the mechanics of this process?”
I wonder if inner city Chicago thought their first few thugs with sagging pants and rap music were “fun” and “colorful?”
Flash forward to last Sunday, I’m sitting in church when I notice a poster for an upcoming Mormon Youth event. Two church elders were scheduled to speak, that sounds right, but what was this? Performing at this conference was James the Mormon? Seriously? This had gone from fringe, Mormon, funzies to a church SPONSORED performer in less than a year? I was appalled.
“The Church must not compromise standards before popular demands.”
I asked my 13 year old if he had heard about this. He had been his usual dreamy self and not thought to register. “I don’t think you should go.” I cautioned. He agreed.
“All is not well in Zion. The inspired Book of Mormon prophets saw this day and, as watchmen on the towers, issued grave warnings. I quote:
“For behold, at that day shall he [the devil] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
“And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
“And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. …
“Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
“Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
“Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!” (2 Ne. 28:20–22, 24–26.)”
At this point I watched the full video. Oh my, it was worse than I ever imagined…
Later I decided to look this guy up. Did his influence go beyond rap music to promotion of bad ideas? Oh my, yes! A quick peak at his Twitter feed showed a man, whom while I believe him to be sincere in his faith, is a horrific influence for the Mormon community and youth.
“There must needs be opposition in all things. Freedom of choice is a God-given eternal principle. To escape Satan’s snares and booby traps by following the Lord is our assignment. It is not an easy one.”
He promotes Beyoncé to the youth saying she “runs the world” and “thank you for all that you do.” And what is it that Beyoncé does for our culture? She promotes this…
(Caution, these lyrics are dirty and unedited)
Who wants their child, or even adult for that matter, to idolize a rapper who idolizes this woman?
“Freedom, a word of noble tradition, is a favorite confuser. Riots, bombings, arson, and killings are committed in the name of freedom. Obscenities test the freedom of speech. Pornography, drugs, and immorality are claimed to be manifestations of personal freedom, along with miniskirts and nudity. License and anarchy are products of these false freedoms.”
He regularly retweets an account called Jack the Jew which takes cheap shots at the President, calling him dumb and incompetent. A very bad civic role model for youth.
He is pro refugee (actually, economic migrants) and regularly tweets in support of bringing more refugees into our country despite the increase in terrorism, crime, rape, murder and disease.
He regularly tweets about his support of lowering modesty standards for women in the church urging them to show more skin and for other people not to judge this even though Mormon modesty standards are specifically tied to what the Lord has directly asked of us and not to Mormon culture.
“Ridicule works well in collaboration with confusion. To confuse youth in its searching years, the cynic defends his degeneracy by ridiculing his critics with confusing metaphors.”
He promotes liberal sites like NPR who in turn promote illegal immigration and the changing of America’s demographics.
Here I think he was trying to say the right thing but his emotional, anti white, blind spot shows. He features a news story of a white man who was driving down the street, being pulled from his car by black people and beaten severely while they yelled racist, anti white remarks at him. James’ reaction to this story is “no side is innocent.” Really? What exactly did this man who was beaten do? I would honestly like to know how he was NOT innocent.
In addition he promotes Shaun King, shown in the tweet above. Shaun King is a white man who pretends to be black, who promotes the terrorist organization Black Lives Matter who are responsible for multiple attacks on whites around the country, for rioting, theft, and vandalism and for actually killing police officers. After a Mormon rap concert do you want your child going on James’ Twitter and being exposed to Shaun King tweets and ideologies that promote the killing of police?
At this point I had scrolled through his Twitter only a few months worth and I had had enough. It’s not that I don’t think that James is a faithful member of the church with the best intentions, he probably is, but the problem is he promotes degeneracy of western values, morals and culture. And why not? James, like most of us, was raised in an education system and culture which told us all cultures are valuable. Thug, ghetto, rap culture is held up as being perfectly equal with white, suburban culture. We are told there is no difference and to see a difference is racist but I’m sorry there IS a difference!
“The philosophy of relativism attacks the eternal principles of truth. The relativist will say, ‘If one sees filthy implications in a popular song, it is because he has a dirty mind.’ The logic of this philosophy finds its fallacy in the word implications. No filth is implied in many of the lyrics. It is proclaimed.”
Equality of cultures is a false God. What Beyoncé raps about is not morally equal to Amy Grant or Taylor Swift. Black Lives Matter isn’t just a group of black people with liberal opinions, it is a violent, terrorist organization who have carried out violent acts of murder. Modesty is better than immodesty, it simply is. Attacking the president personally and not on policy is not how civilized people behave.
All things are not equal and the culture and values promoted by James the Mormon do not reflect what is best for Mormon youth. He should not be given promotion within our homes or church.
“Yes, ‘There comes a time when the general defilement of a society becomes so great that the rising generation is put under undue pressure and cannot be said to have a fair choice between the Way of Light and the Way of Darkness.’
God grant that we as parents and leaders of youth may have the power and the good common sense to give them “a fair choice,” I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
