Humor is not my strong suit. I’ll be the first to admit it. So, whenever everyone else thinks something is funny, and I don’t, I tend to doubt myself. Watch this video. Tell me what you think.
This is the a cappella choir at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty is the largest evangelical Christian university in the world. It was founded by Jerry Falwell, and has close ties with Thomas Road Baptist Church, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Here’s the gist of the story behind the video. In Huntsville, Alabama, Antoine Dodson spoke to the local news station, WAFF-48, after an intruder broke into his sister’s bedroom window and tried to rape her. He was clearly upset at the time. He himself had fought the intruder after his sister screamed. The intruder escaped, leaving behind a room that showed considerable evidence of the struggle.
Antoine Dodson was angry. He was on high adrenaline. He was authentic and real in expressing his feelings. You can see the video of Antoine's original interview here.
With almost lyrical phrasing, and with plenty of emotion, Antoine says everyone should lock up their kids and wives because there’s a rapist loose in the projects. Then he tells the intruder “you are so dumb” (because they have his t-shirt and fingerprints), and he says “we’re going to find you. . . homeboy.”
The Gregory Brothers put Antoine’s interview to music as the “Bed Intruder Song,” and you can see that music-video here. It uses the original video of Antoine himself, and as I understand it, the Gregory Brothers split the proceeds 50/50 with Antoine.
The “Bed Intruder Song” went viral, and as of yesterday, it had received over 52,000,000 views on YouTube, which listed it as the most popular video of 2010.
Then, a week ago, Liberty University’s choir performed their own Christmas carol version of the “Bed Intruder Song,” and put it up on YouTube. They used Antoine’s own words, except they substituted the word “taking” for “raping.” I guess a Christmas song about “raping” wouldn’t have been festive?
But isn’t that exactly the problem? Raping isn’t festive and raping isn’t funny. Antoine’s own words were authentic and real, but there is nothing authentic about this Liberty University production of his words. It makes an attempted rape and the brother’s reaction into a Christmas comedy, and it does so without any apparent interest in or concern for the context.
But hey . . . that’s just me talking. If you look at the YouTube comments, it’s obvious that a whole heckuva lot of other people think it’s “hilarious” and “awesome.” In one week’s time, Liberty University’s video captured 430,000 views on YouTube and has brought a whole lot of media attention to the school.
University chancellor, Jerry Falwell, Jr., said “the video helps break a stereotype about Christians not being able to show a side of humor.”
“It’s great that the world is able to see that Christian young people can have fun just like everybody else,” he said.
A parody about an attempted rape in the projects is “fun”? This is how Christian young people at a private university show humor?
Well . . . I said from the get-go that humor is not my strong suit. So tell me what you think.
______________________
See also: "The humor in attempted rape is (nonexistent)," BaptistPlanet, 12/19/10
Another perspective: "Antoine Dodson's sister: On invisibility as violence," 8/20/10
A tangential 2010 Liberty U story: "Former Liberty University professor sentenced on sex charge," The News-Advance, 3/5/10
I think the Bed intruder Christmas Carol is HILARIOUS and creative.
ReplyDeleteI don't find it funny, and I have a good sense of humor. Call me crazy, but a bunch of middle class white college students from a denomination known for anti-feminism singing a song about the projects and hiding women and wives just strikes me as done in VERY poor taste.
ReplyDelete-From someone who attended a different Baptist college and has seen the silly fun that can happen that, while very lame, is at least funny and not triggering or offensive.
Jmho!
I don't get it either. Not funny. Not very well performed. Rather painful, actually.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I'd seen this floating around but hadn't watched it and didn't know the story behind it. Makes me sick.
ReplyDeleteHumor is not my strong suit either. Of all the subjects this college could have chosen to have fun with...why this one?
ReplyDeleteAppropriate? No way.
I wonder who came up with the idea? Talk about desensitizing and deflecting from a very serious situation...I'd like to expect more.
I think it is in poor taste, poorly done, crude, and arrogant...at the very least.
I couldn't watch the full thing. The first not quite two minutes was enough to make me sick.
ReplyDeleteI find Christmas songs like "The Twelve Pains of Christmas", Straight no Chaser's version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", Holiday Express's "Disco Santa" funny. Not this. I don't get why they would even do it.
And the fact they were even allowed to do it is, in my opinion, a black mark on Liberty University. Probably most the ones who say it's funny have some ties to Liberty and can't look at it with an objective eye.
This shows what those at Liberty think of rape and Antoine's sister. I am ashamed this came from Christians and a Christian college.
ReplyDeleteWe condemn the world, but I have not seen one person from the world do this kind of low class parody.
Anonymous: It doesn't take a lot of courage to make a statement like yours and remain anonymous. Have the guts to sign your name and take ownership for your statement.
ReplyDeleteI know humor when I see it, and trust me, this was not humorous.
ReplyDeleteBrought to you by "Vision Ministries"? So what's the vision? "Snatchin' your people up?" Rape??? Oh, sorry, it was just attempted rape. Yeah, that's just hilarious... NOT!
But then this is the same university whose administration has continued to defend Ergun Caner's antics. Are we surprised?
The Liberty vid is no more offensive than the original Gregory brothers song. If you weren't offended by it, then your opinion about LU's very funny remix simply reveals your bias.
ReplyDeleteI think this is really disturbing. The original was disturbing, too, but I'm glad Antoine and Kelly were able to use it in some way to move past the trauma. (Seriously, a couple white guys making money from the attempted rape of a Black woman?)
ReplyDeleteThere's so much going on here. I can't say it better than they have:
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2010/10/19/rape-culture-usa-how-race-class-misogyny-and-homophobia-intersected-in-the-kelly-and-antoine-dodson-story/
http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/antoine-dodsons-sister-on-invisibility-as-violence/
Here is the Gregory Brothers music-video. Personally, though I'm no fan of the Gregory Bros version and have no interest in singing its praises, I do think there are significant differences between their version and the Liberty U version (such as the fact that the Gregory Bros version at least retains the context and uses the original video with Antoine's own expressions). (And I doubt that anyone ever imagined it would become such a hit.) However, whatever anyone may think of the Gregory Bros version, I don't think it can excuse what was done at Liberty University. Criticize me if you want, Anon, but at least you get to know who you're criticizing.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but wonder what people would say if a predominantly black choir, or black church, did a Christmas rap song whose origins rested in a story about the attempted rape of a white woman. Would people say it was hilarious and awesome?
Naomi: Thanks for the links, and you're right ... "there's so much going on here." When I first heard about this, I found it troubling on so many levels that I could hardly process it... and really, still haven't.
ReplyDeleteIn the first of your links, the statement is made that the "sister was written out of the story entirely." I couldn't help but think how much that resembles the story of Tamar in the Bible. Even in biblical days, the woman's own perception and experience was rendered irrelevant.
Very kitschy, tasteless and annoying. In other word, exactly what one would expect from LU.
ReplyDeleteWith this kind of mentality is it any wonder many pastors who have come out of Liberty, have been caught viewing PORN and doing other immoral acts?
ReplyDeleteLiberty clean up your act, or we will!
Wow. Attempted rape has now become entertainment. Should the police officers make a video about it now, sing about processing evidence?
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing from the beginning with the brother making a video is just messed up.
I can't figure out where the sister is coming from. There's something wrong with the brother. He's making a mockery of an assault on his sister? That's the way it hits me-that he's obviously not taking this too seriously.
It really serves to greatly minimize the seriousness of the crime. I mean if someone we love is truly harmed by another, do we break into song? I'd be very upset and crying-not singing.
And why Liberty would choose such an offensive thing to use to do a humorous song. I don't get it. And then for the chancellor to say it shows how Christians are fun people too? Surely he's cringing on the inside.
I am a Liberty University graduate. I lived in Lynchburg and received my masters degree in in one of their seminary programs.
ReplyDeleteI cannot fully express how sad, angry, and bewildered I feel over this video. I've watched it twice - the first time I couldn't get through it all the way. Both times, I literally felt nauseated.
Until LU posted this video, I was unaware of the Gregory Brothers song. I had only seen Antoine Dodson on the original news clip right after the assault. It was obvious that he was upset and traumatized about the crime, and I thought it was great that he was defending his sister and warning others that a rapist was still out there. Although Antoine was very animated and told his story in an interesting way, there was nothing that struck me as funny. I was concerned about his sister and his family and the fact the rapist hadn't been caught.
Personally, I think it was wrong to exploit black victims from the projects for the original Gregory Brothers song. I'm thrilled the family received some of the proceeds, but I still feel it was exploitive. HOWEVER, people in the secular world do those things - and at least the Dodson family has benefitted monetarily.
What LU did was far more egregious. They made a sexual assault victim the subject of a CHRISTMAS CAROL, and neither Antoine nor Kelly was involved. At Christmas, our hearts should be turned toward Jesus and the reason we celebrate. Jesus would not find a Christmas carol about a rape victim funny. And yet, in the video, people are laughing, clapping, and cheering. The Dodsons have been made a spectacle.
Imagine being the one who woke up in the middle of the night to find a half-naked man in your bed trying to sexually assault you. (I assume he had begun touching her in some way or was on top of her, because Kelly said he was trying to rape her.) When you start screaming, your attacker pulls a mirrored headboard on top of you and THROWS you across the room. Your brother runs into the room and fights with the rapist, and he escapes.
How would YOU feel if you saw an upper middle class group of students, who profess to love Jesus, singing and laughing about your ordeal in a CHRISTMAS CAROL??
Kelly Dodson has never been given the time, space, or privacy to heal from her assault. Instead, she and her brother have been mocked and parodied. The world has used them for entertainment, instead of showing genuine concern for them.
Unlike the Gregory Brothers, Liberty University is held to a biblical standard. Did their choir show the love of Jesus to Kelly Dodson and her brother? No, they used them to make a Christmas carol about rape to show that "Christian young people can have fun" as Jerry Falwell, Jr. said. FUN at the expense of a sexual assault victim!
Kelly Dodson will always live with the fact that what happened to her was made into a joke and a CHRISTMAS CAROL by a Christian university. The crime committed against her was turned into ENTERTAINMENT for the world.
Making her ordeal and her brother's reaction a big joke destroys the true gravity of the crime and aftermath for the victim. It further perpetuates the misunderstanding and myths about sexual assault and sexual assault victims.
Not only will this impact Kelly spiritually and psychologically for the rest of her life, but what message did LU send to the world? It's interesting to read the comments on various websites. If you study them carefully, it's very obvious that LU has destroyed their witness for Jesus. They've put Jesus in a REALLY bad light.
Hi Lynn, I agree the song is very offensive. I don't think the Chancellor is cringing at all. He SHOULD be, but I think he's proud of the choir and happy that the video (and the university) has gotten so much publicity. All at the expense of a sexual assault victim.
ReplyDeleteIf you watch the original news clip in which Antoine spoke to his local news station, you can see that he wasn't joking. He was VERY serious and VERY upset. He sent a message to the rapist - you're "so dumb" (because he'd left behind his shirt and fingerprints) and we're going to find you. Antoine also warned people that a rapist was still out there. (He was speaking to a LOCAL news station.) He was very animated, but he wasn't joking. When he said "lock up your kids and your wives", he was trying to communicate that the rapist had caught them completely by surprise - sneaking in the apartment in the middle of the night through a window. In other words, he was saying that people need to be cautious and know that someone is still out there who could harm a loved one.
The other thing is remember is that Antoine rescued his sister. When she began screaming, Antoine rushed into her bedroom and starting fighting the attacker. He managed to get away from Antoine and escape. From Kelly's description of the ordeal, Antoine was punched by the attacker several times himself.
In the Gregory Brothers song, it DOES look like Antoine isn't taking the attack on sister very seriously. Unfortunately, that's what the Gregory Brothers were trying to do. They turned it into a parody. With the promise of monetary compensation, Antoine went along with it. That's a whole OTHER issue which involves exploitation.
The main issue here is that the largest Christian university in the world - people who say they love Jesus - turned it into an even bigger JOKE. They turned the ordeal of a sexual assault victim and her brother's sincere reaction into a CHRISTMAS CAROL that people are laughing about! I am STILL trying to wrap my mind around this.
Have you all seen any of Ergun Caner's humor which Liberty made merchandise of for years? It was not funny either. Very insulting. It always scared me how many "Christians" thought Caner's pedantic humor was funny. It revealed their hearts.
ReplyDeleteThis is what we have come to expect from Liberty.
Tasteless and classless. Of course, they do not recognize that. Those who have no class usually don't.
"Kelly Dodson will always live with the fact that what happened to her was made into a joke and a CHRISTMAS CAROL by a Christian university. The crime committed against her was turned into ENTERTAINMENT for the world."
ReplyDeleteYeah but she is only a woman to Liberty. And she can only clean behind the pulpit according to Caner.
It is stunning how many SBC pastors think this stuff is funny.
They could care less about Kelly Dobson's heart and soul.
"I mean if someone we love is truly harmed by another, do we break into song?"
ReplyDeleteLet me try to clarify what I understand as some of the history on this. The woman's brother, Antoine, talked with a local news reporter immediately after the crime. He was very emotional and upset, and he spoke with directness and urgency. The Gregory Brothers heard the musical quality in Antoine's words and voice. They put an instrumental track with Antoine's voice, and used the original video, so as to essentially make the news video into a music video. (So, because it included the news video footage, its context showed the anger of Antoine and also showed the short statement of the sister.) Probably much to their own surprise, the Gregory Brothers' music-video took off and had huge success. That’s when they decided to share 50 percent of its proceeds with Antoine and the Dodson family. So . . . it wasn’t Antoine himself who made the music-video.
The Gregory Bros video, and the huge public response to it, was also criticized, and Baratunde Thurston offered
some illuminating comments. “As the remix took off,” he said, “I became increasingly uncomfortable with its separation from the underlying situation. A woman was sexually assaulted and her brother was rightfully upset. People online seemed to be laughing at him and not with him (because he wasn't laughing)…. Watching the wider Web jump on this meme, all but forgetting why Dodson was upset, seemed like a form of ‘class tourism.’ Folks with no exposure to the projects could dip their toes into YouTube and get a taste.” Baratunda continued by stating: “What mitigates my fears of people minimizing the gravity of the situation is how Antoine himself has responded and taken charge of his own meme.”
I think Thurston’s comments get at some of what it is in all of this that I myself find troubling. The further removed this gets from the original context – from the assault and from Antoine’s own original emotional expression – the more troubling it becomes. And the production that was done at Liberty U. – a production by predominantly white students at an expensive, private university and with virtually none of the original context incorporated – is a production that is very detached and distant. And I think that serves to desensitize people to the horror of the original assault and to sexual assault in general.
I like funny stuff. I laugh easily, particularly at the ridiculous or at satire. However, this video does not seem to fit either of those categories. If I were unaware of the context (the Rape of Antoine Dodson's sister) the silliness of the video might have been funny. However, that is precisely the point, this video has a context: a violent home invasion and rape, and a young man's attempt to protect his family. I believe one of two disturbing issues is at hand here: these nice kids are so naive and unaware that they just "don't get it," or they are so detached from the world around them that they "don't care." I can ascertain no other reason for such an ill-conceived video, no matter how many "hits" it gets on U-Tube.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that serves to desensitize people to the horror of the original assault and to sexual assault in general.
ReplyDeleteDecember 20, 2010 10:38 AM
I think it was meant to. That is how hard people's hearts are. And "Christians" join right in because they have been taught that women are secondary. Even many Christian women believe this about themselves. They do not think the Cross delivered them in the same way it delievered men.
This young woman has been ill used by many. Let us all pray for her fervently.
Remember, Liberty can have an honor code with fines but their president can be a liar on stages for 9 years until the public outcry is so loud they "demote" him. They are hypocrites and cannot see it.
Wendy and Christa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarifications on the process. I do understand better now.
I'm wondering how the Liberty crowd would view this if the whole thing were reversed, and a black choral group did the song, and their audience found it so humorous?
I'd love to hear from the students who had the idea or those who performed it, to see how they viewed what they were doing. Was it meant to be edgy? With this and with Ergun Caner, Liberty seems to have a great need to show how very hip they are. (Or whatever the modern word for "hip" is.)
I was offended by the original song, so I didn't even bother with this one, which would be MORE offensive, since you'd think Bible college kids would be sober minded about such things.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry I watched this on Christmas Eve. I will be troubled all day. Shame on our world today.
ReplyDeleteLauren said:
ReplyDeleteI think people posting need to lighten up. If you haven't noticed, Antoine has been LOVING the attention hes been getting from this, and is even exploiting it a little. There was even an interview done asking him how he felt about people making light about of this subject, and he said "we're not the type of people who want sympathy." so obviously he doesn't take this as seriously as everyone seems to on this blog.. . . . .
So my opinion is everyone needs to take a chill pill. If something truely bad happened and his sister actually got raped then of course it would be terrible to make light of this. But that didnt happen, and Antoine doesnt mind, so i thought the song was hilarious and very creative. Also, being a non-catholic Christian myself, i agree that it breaks a stereotype of Christians not being able to have fun. But of course, Christians can never win, or get credit when they do something funny that's not stupid or corny. I didn't see anyone get upset when the original, auto-tuned song was made. Also, i would like to point out to Laura, that the girl directing had a MOHAWK, tattoo, and wore mens clothing, so it doesnt seem like the school is oppressing women, or trying to put them in a little box. That is all.
[Note from CB: I moderated this comment to delete a portion in which Lauren went well over the line in slurring and libeling Antoine. But I left the rest.]
"If something truely bad had happened ..."
ReplyDeleteI think Lauren's comment illustrates a big part of the problem: By allowing the students to do this, Liberty U effectively works to desensitize them, and others, to the reality of what happened. Anyone who would think that a home-break-in, attempted rape, and physical struggle with an unknown intruder wasn't already something "truely bad" is someone who has been desensitized to the reality of violence.
And Lauren ... I doubt that it will mean anything to you, but I want you to know how offended I was by what you said about Antoine -- and especially by the part that I deleted. I have no reason to believe that you know diddly-squat about Antoine or about what he thinks and does. In my view, your words were ignorant, mean and bigoted.
I go to Liberty University and I just want to clear some things up.
ReplyDeleteThis piece was at Christmas Coffeehouse by a group of students called Vision Team who go out in the city of Lynchburg to work with people in the area and help out. They were riding in the car back to Liberty from one of their days out in the community one day and one of them had the original song on their ipod but in the middle of the song, the ipod died so one kid started singing it like a choir and then they all added harmonies to it for a joke. They then decided it would be fun to enter in Christmas Coffeehouse, which is a talent show that happens every year at Liberty. The students in this group in no way meant to desensitize the reality of this issue. They even said "take" instead of "rape" because they know in an audience that large, there has to be a large number of people who were effected by rape either directly or indirectly. That shows they never meant to desensitize the issue. I understand what everyone is saying and how this is a big issue because i strongly believe rape is a big issue and i'm sure she is hurting. But these students never meant for this video to even be a youtube hit. They never even thought it would make it to youtube. I know some of the students in the group, one of them lives on my dorm and they honestly never meant for it to be this big of a hit.
Rape is a huge issue, but if they were so upset about it, they never would have let those guys make a song about it because that just makes her relive it every day. If you don't like that Liberty did this, then you should also have a problem with the original video. I'm not saying this video is right or acceptable, but i'm just trying to give you the perspective from a Liberty student. We do love Jesus and not all of us are hypocrites. But there are students here who are not christians and make bad choices, but don't stereotype all of us. That's like going to a church, meeting someone who says a curse word, and thinking the entire church curses. I hope you know I completely respect your opinions and I do agree with you, but there are always two sides to every story and I think we should be a little hesitant to judge Liberty University as a whole.
"But there are students here who are not christians and make bad choices, but don't stereotype all of us."
ReplyDeleteWhether the students are Christian or non-Christian, I think it's the conduct that is being discussed. And I don't think the fact that some people call themselves "Christian" should ever serve to make their actual conduct any less subject to scrutiny than it would be for anyone else.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI am an LU graduate. I'm sure it troubles you that the conduct of a group from LU is being scrutinized. It hits really close to home, and I understand that.
As an LU grad, it troubles me that the group did this in the first place. It puts responsible Christians, like Christa Brown, in a position of trying to shed light on this issue.
I'm aware of how Vision Team came up with the idea. I had read about it before. My first thought was "why did this choir member have the original song on his ipod?" As a Christian, I simply can't understand how this song would be something you'd want to listen to over and over.
You stated that, when the ipod died, they began harmonizing as a "joke". As stated in Christa's blog and in these comments, it simply isn't a joke.
What the Gregory Brothers chose to do with Antoine Dodson's original interview is their choice. Unfortunately, their song began this desensitization of Kelly Dodson's assault. Also, what Antoine chose to do with his original comments and with his newfound fame is his choice. But what Liberty University, an institution who respresents Jesus Christ to the world, chose to do with this song is an entirely different matter.
Substituting "take" for "rape" doesn't make any difference whatsoever. The message is exactly the same. The choir sang a Christmas carol about a violent crime and the victim's initial reaction to it. Kelly's physical assault and attempted rape took place in front of her toddler daughter who, as I understand it, was sleeping in the room with her. It isn't something to joke about, particularly from a university who represents Jesus and is supposed to be a light in the world.
You mentioned that, when Vision Team came up with this idea, they'd been out serving in the community. That leaves me wondering what eternal significance their Christian service truly has. When a group of Christians and an entire Christian university thinks it's fun and humorous to sing a carol about sexual assault, what does any of it really mean? What good is their service?
Jesus said "whatever you do to the least of the these, you do to me". I just can't see Jesus singing a Christmas carol about assault and attempted rape, and I can't see him laughing at this one.
"I think we should be a little hesitant to judge Liberty University as a whole."
ReplyDeleteWhat people here have been discussing is the particular conduct of people connected to Liberty University. The choir is an authorized organization of Liberty U and so it represented the University with this production. More importantly, a high Liberty University official, Jerry Falwell, Jr., spoke about this production and described it as "fun" and as showing a "side of humor." When a high official of an institution speaks publicly, he speaks as a representative of the institution, and so it is appropriate to consider what message Liberty University sends with such statements.
I agree, Christa. We're discussing the conduct of Vision Ministries, representatives of Liberty University. But more importantly, we're discussing the conduct of Liberty University at large. This isn't just about what a few students did. This is what the university did.
ReplyDeleteThey made an administrative decision to post their video of the Christmas carol on YouTube. It had already been put up on YouTube by others, but the audio quality was lacking. Liberty wanted it to sound good!
Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. publicly praised the choir for their carol. On Liberty's website, he is quoted as saying, "It's great that the world is able to see that Christian young people can have fun just like everybody else.”
The problem is that Christian young people aren't supposed to be like everybody else. We're not supposed to have fun at a victim's expense.
:We're not supposed to have fun at a victim's expense."
ReplyDeleteHeck, I'm an atheist and I don't have fun at victim's expense. I think it's a human decency thing, not just a Christian one. I LOVE parodies. I have a very dry sense of humor, and even though I don't write humorously, in my everyday life, I laugh more than the average person. But I completely agree with EVERYTHING you've said, Wendy. Well stated.
And Lauren, physical appearances don't necessarily correlate to how conservative one is. A ministry often gets allowances for dressing like the people they are ministering to. In my Baptist college, I took a ministry class my final semester because I needed an easy extra elective that fit my schedule. I was SHOCKED that the ministry students at the school were EASILY the least compassionate/well-behaved. It was always the ministry students and the sports students in trouble where I attended. So maybe it's not a "chill pill" we need to take, but some sensitivity training some of these people need. And yes, Christians often win in my book. Wendy on here wins hard, to name one example. Even though I am no longer a Christian and speak very openly about my feelings toward the problems the Christian church faces, I still respect and admire quite a few people who are Christians. Don't mistake bad behavior for martyrdom.
I do understand what you all are saying. And I agree with most of you, but at the same time, I do not think this team meant to cause any harm with what they were doing. No, they shouldn't have done it in the first place, but I don't really think they actually thought about how this would make them look. And I know, that's not right at all and they should think before they act. Reading all these posts have made me rethink my approach on the video too and I originally did think it was just for fun, but i'm starting to rethink that.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I personally hate most about going to Liberty is their focus on getting more people to go to Liberty because they feel it will win more people to Christ. They focus so much on their athletics and making sure our campus looks "fun" to other perspective students and I feel like that's starting to get in the way of the character of the university if that makes sense? I feel like the reason Jerry Falwell Jr. or whoever chose to put the original video up on youtube chose to do so because they felt it would draw more people to Liberty by being considered Christians who can have "fun".. It might just be me but I feel as though they aren't exactly thinking through their actions anymore.
But what I don't understand is Antoine Dodson's take on the whole situation. If his sister is truly struggling (which I don't doubt she is) but if she truly is struggling, then why is he having a blast with his new fame? He even wrote a new song called "the chimney intruder" which is a Christmas version of the song. I don't really understand his actions either.
This post might be a little confusing because it was kind of all over the place. But I just want to say that I do believe that the actions the vision team chose was not a good decision but I do not think that they actually meant it to be taken and analyzed like it was. I'm not saying that's a good excuse either but I do know some of the people on that team and I do believe they are good people at heart.
OMG! I LOVE YOU !
ReplyDeleteYOU ARE SO BRAVE
I'm NOT brave! (well, I'm braver than most)
AND I AGREE
it is a cute song and cute that they can make a silly man in the news into classical music.
BUT IT IS SO OUT OF TASTE AND DOES PERPETUATE THE MINIMIZATION OF THE ACT OF RAPE
THANK YOU
THEY CALL THEMSELVES "CHRISTIANS"? OMG!
HOW do we ever tell them
THIS IS THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND I was "raped"!
I find it funny because it's not supposed to be focusing on the story behind the lyrics. That would have been rather depressing. Rather, it's an attempt to show that Liberty University is hip to the current internet trends and memes and isn't some stodgy old Christian university that can't laugh at anything.
ReplyDeleteYou're all taking it way too seriously. Lighten up.