Urban America's Latest Contradiction

When "Self-Destruction" came out, I think the general consensus was that finally [east coast] hip-hop had assumed it's share of responsibility and decided to take a musical stance on the wave of gun violence across the U.S.  And I think part of the reason it was well-received was because many of the MCs who participated in that Stop the Violence Movement didn't glorify violence in their records.  However, when the West Coast All-Stars put out "We're All in the Same Game", with the attempt to drive home the same anti-violence message, many were a little skeptical of the project.  Probably because most of those artists were recently-former or current gang-bangers, preached ultra-violence in their respective works, and had fresh murder tracks ready to be pressed, shipped, and sold as soon as they left the studio to talk peace.  One could argue that these movements point to the larger concern of black Baby Boomers not fully grasping hip-hop; because for them, the inconsistency of the messages were so blaring it was hard to take the art or the artist serious.

Your Conspiracy Theorist Is Useless

The moment you realize you just brought a human being into this.  I look at my daughters gleeful face; and instead of completely engulfing myself into my little girls' joy a part of me has to fight off the subconscious thoughts that can creep in after reviewing news information and data for several hours a day.  These battles help me understand feelings that some willful childless adults could have.  People may tag them as being selfish, but they can argue that we parents are just as selfish by creating life in a dying world.  We love our kids so much but we detest their environment, especially with us predicting it's going to get much worse.  Just this weekend when cleaning our home office, I was preparing to give away some old study materials.  I figured my children would be able to get the info on the Internet, but then I paused after I considered that if that form of communication becomes greatly disrupted; their learning could be tremendously hindered.  I mean, my wife and I are believing our kids will receive Christ at an early age so they can avoid Tribulation but....you just never know.

Religious Tolerance Masked As Religious Removal

To understand American Christianity, there are a few facts that must be recognized.  Today, I'll highlight the "God Bless America" concept.  With just a couple days of Bible study and review of some founding U.S. documents, it can be easily discovered that the same god isn't being discussed.  And while The Lord God revealed in the Bible is the Creator, the god promoted by American culture since 1776 is deliberately created with leftover ideologies from the Enlightenment Period; meaning that god is man-made, is influenced by demonic components, and truly doesn't exist.  So if any of you ever feel strange signing God Bless America, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, or singing the Star-Spangled Banner, that just means that you're not comfortable with idol worship...and that's alright.  After all, you are free to worship what you want in this country.