Take Me To Church Essay

In today’s society, music controls the way we live our lives. The influence that music has on society has broadened throughout the years and with social media being one of the world’s top priority, the fan base and spectrum for music in general has expanded significantly. Music is used to express feelings, moods, circumstances, experiences, knowledge, and so much more. With this being the case, the lyrics of any song can be interpreted differently by each and every listener. Many song lyrics give positive messages, promoting well-being, whiles others give negative messages, promoting violence, criminal behaviors, sexual contents, and disrespect towards others. With this being said, music reflects what the public demands, and in many cases the negative messages are often times what sells more than those music giving positive messages.

During this call to action, people had different ideas on how to respond to the events surrounding the bombing on 16th street Baptist church. The response ranged from marching, protests, and most importantly, music. During the Civil Rights movement, music allowed artists to express their dissent through a medium in which their message could reach a plethora of peoples. Music during this time was also akin to the music effect of “work songs” sang during slavery as well as songs such as “we shall overcome” which draws parallels to songs sang as slaves attempted to escape to the north. Music also helped those involved in the civil

Finally, the last way the music video argues for the rights of homosexuals is through logos. Logos refers to persuasion by means of logical appeal or reason. The video uses logic to show that the main characters do not deserve the treatment they receive. They are shown in the video doing nothing that would cause their house to be destroyed or beat up. It is only logical that people should treat others the way they want to be treated.

With the release of their newest CD, Watch the Throne, many of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s most exclusive tracks have come under scrutiny. One particular song containing debatable yet obvious theological symbolism is “No Church in the Wild.” Citing and exclaiming their religious and social beliefs, as well as their activities in today’s society in this new song, Kanye West and Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) show deep symbolism of today’s culture, the influence of Plato and Socrates on them, as well as their controversial lifestyles. Also, containing a featured chorus by Frank Ocean and a bridge by The-Dream, these parts

Furthermore, the goal of the music video is to inspire the LGBT community to be proud of who they are, promote the gay right movement not only in America but globally and to make a change toward all of humanity with speaking his belief. Macklemore’s “Same love” targets teenagers, adults, any race, any gender, in efforts, to raise awareness and stop discrimination, support equality and gay marriage. To begin he starts by targeting adolescents who are suffering from feeling different from the norm of society, then proceeds through the life span of a homosexual stressing the need for expectance. The older generations are a little more old school and have a harder time accepting changes in today’s society, such as, homosexuality for this reason some do not believe in equality like gay rights. The strictly religious communities follow what they were taught in the bible resulting in not believing in gay rights because God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Bob.

Chances are if you grew up in the south, then you most likely have been to a church service before. I remember as a kid getting the wakeup call every Sunday morning from my mom, “Get up and get dressed for church!” Even if I did not feel like going, she would drag me out of bed and make me go. Anne Lamott writes about the same thing in her essay “Why I Make Sam Go to Church.” Lamott wrote “Why I Make Sam Go to Church” in 1999 as part of a collection of autobiographical essays in a book called Traveling Mercies. My main reaction to this work was a positive one. I thought the essay was eye opening in a sense and it shows that everyone needs guidance and help from others sometimes.

In the music video "Same Love", Macklemore used pathos, history, and symbolism to emphasize on gay marriage, marriage equality, and homophobia in hip-hop. It follows a storyline of how a boy started to feel like he was gay in the 3rd grade, but his mom reassured him that it was just a phase. Throughout his life, he still had that strange feeling that he could not shake. He was even pressured by his peers to play a game called seven minutes in heaven. He became very uncomfortable which caused him to leave to another party. One day, he decided to bring his partner to his parents' house for dinner and disclosed that they were getting married. As usual, the parents are surprised to hear that their child likes the same sex. Towards the end of the story, the two men get married and by their sides were their families supporting them in every way. Finally, they were happy with a child

This song implies that individual’s are violating the norms and values of society. They start the song with a verse that expresses

Macklemore’s song, “Same Love,” with Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert, tells the younger generation about discrimination against gays, homophobia, and inequality. The song calls out people who want freedom, where our country came from, and what are religion says to show how if we don’t accept gays, there is a lot we can never have. Macklemore is disappointed with the way hip hop and rap talk about gay people without realizing how difficult they are making gay’s lives. It is also great when Macklemore practically asks religious people how exactly they do not support gay rights, and why they believe it is wrong because God is supposed to love everyone. Macklemore gives his honest opinion on how he feels everyone should be equal, and there are no “buts” or “ifs.” I stand by his opinion about love being love no matter what. Macklemore’s song, “Same Love,” he talks about societies false ideas of gays, the way the term “gay” is used in hip hop music, and that we are not equal until we allow gay rights with a huge change at heart.

Once during a passionate sermon at church, my pastor had made a vivid statement about incorporation of sin in law. Pastor Smith stated, “the world has developed loopholes to maintain its dignity by incorporating sin into the law, and as long as we are operating under the law, our actions are perceived as being justified”(Smith). Reflecting on his theory has brought me to the realization that the United Stated has established a profitable industry, governed by the creation and the manipulation of laws. Although, it’s ideal to believe that the standards of laws were truly orchestrated with the foundation of equality, justice, and freedom. It is imperative to be informed of historical events that has transpired through the history of the black race each operating under the ordinance of law. Beginning with the development of slavery, to the alarming rate of black men behind bars. I am compelled to present the clause of injustice that has labeled the United States as the home of 25% of the world 's prisoners ().

Synagogue worship heavily influenced emerging Christian music (Foley, 1992:35, 50) as seen throughout the New Testament (Martin, 1967:17). We could add Eph. 15:9 (White, 1993, 1996), and Heb. 2:12 where Jesus quotes Ps. 22:22, applying it to the early church.

I decided to go to a Baptist Church here in Miami. The reason that I chose Coral Park Baptist Church was because most Baptist Churches that I called here in Miami had the service in Spanish but Coral Park Baptist had an English service as well. I went to the eleven o’clock service on Sunday. The whole church itself was pretty big. There is the main temple that has the regular service in Spanish and then there is a whole other building that has separate classrooms where the English service is held and other Sunday school type classes are held.

The Chinese Christian church in the United States often has ethnic characteristics, but different Chinese churches often have special concentration in the composition of the congregation, which reflects the tide of Chinese immigrants in different stages. For example, descendants of early immigrants from southern China usually have their fixed church. International students from the mainland of China have the church which they set up together. And other "informal immigrants" also formed Christian organizations. According to Aihui Lee, she divides American Chinese Christianity into four categories.

Christianity is the religion based on the life, death and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, also known as the Christ or Messiah. Jesus was a Jewish teacher and prophet who lived in Palestine in the first century CE. He revealed himself to be the Son of God in fulfillment of Hebrew scripture, and taught that the Kingdom of God was imminent, bringing with it forgiveness and new life for all who believed. His claim to be the Messiah roused opposition from religious and political authorities and he was imprisoned and crucified. His followers believe that after his death, Jesus was resurrected before being taken up to heaven.

I entered into the worship service, unaware of what to expect. I was not familiar with this church, it was a non-denominational church, but the pastor had his roots in the A.M.E. Zion Church and branched out to establish his own church. I walked into the sanctuary prepared to participate in the Sunday School. I found a seat and readied myself to engage in some meaningful discussion. After sitting for several minutes, I asked one of the gentlemen who was standing at the front of the church if they had already started and where was the lesson coming from. He looked at his watch and indicated that he didn’t know if we had time for Sunday School. A puzzled look came over my face and I couldn’t help but express my confusion as I looked at