Before you get on that war wagon…
In light of the Imus situation, it appears that the momentum to expunge “anything that offends us” is now going towards the world of hip hop music. Like it or not, while hip hop is not responsible for all the social ills of society, it has done its share of glamorizing it. Hip hop of today is NOT a reflection of the poor and destitute in the country, it is nothing more than a hustle where decent morals would have willingly taken the back seat on the bus that Rosa Parks made famous.
As I said in my post yesterday, as long as there are folks out there who love this type of entertainment, there will always be individuals who are willing to do what it takes to be a part of this modern-day minstrel show. Don’t believe me? Look at the porn industry.
Here are the most recent statistics I could find.
If you didn’t feel like clicking on that link, I’ll summarize it for you. Despite all the protests over the years, the porn industry is STILL a growing multi-BILLION dollar industry. Even among the same group that has been the most vocal against it: Christians.
Christians, Pastors and Church Pornography Statistics
A 1996 Promise Keepers survey at one of their stadium events revealed that over 50% of the men in attendance were involved with pornography within one week of attending the event.
51% of pastors say cyber-porn is a possible temptation. 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, 12/2001).
Over half of evangelical pastors admits viewing pornography last year.
Roger Charman of Focus on the Family’s Pastoral Ministries reports that approximately 20 percent of the calls received on their Pastoral Care Line are for help with issues such as pornography and compulsive sexual behavior.
In a 2000 Christianity Today survey, 33% of clergy admitted to having visited a sexually explicit Web site. Of those who had visited a porn site, 53% had visited such sites “a few times†in the past year, and 18% visit sexually explicit sites between a couple of times a month and more than once a week.
29% of born again adults in the U.S. feel it is morally acceptable to view movies with explicit sexual behavior (The Barna Group).
57% of pastors say that addiction to pornography is the most sexually damaging issue to their congregation (Christians and Sex Leadership Journal Survey, March 2005). (source)
A couple of the panelist on the Oprah show yesterday suggested that we should mount a campaign where folks (executives and producers) loose their jobs over much of the mess you find in hip hop music. I totally disagree with that suggestion. Squelching the hip hop industry will not get rid of the social problems it glamorizes–it only buries it. And like the porn industry, it will adjust itself to feed the need so many folks have for this type of entertainment. Let’s be real here for a moment, getting rid of the likes of 50 cent, Snoop, Juvenile and others will not get rid of issues like sexual promiscuity, drug addiction, and crime…
…but for some, it sure will make them feel good for a minute.
Wanna change the culture? Start looking at the heart–your heart.
Related: Pornography: The new “burning cross†that our young men are embracing
