Music Lyrics Do Not Promote Violence - 1697 Words

Music Lyrics being NON-VIOLENT Rap music can be considered a style of art, and a way for the artists to express feelings through their words on paper. However, there are quite a few rap artists that get criticized for their lyrics. In my essay, I want to discuss why rappers use certain lyrics in their music and why people shouldn’t believe that it causes violence among the younger generations. People shouldn’t censor the music just because of violent, vulgar and abusive messages it promotes to the world. I believe in my own mind, that there is a reason for these types of lyrics that rap artists use and I will simply explain those reasons in this essay. Rap has been called one of the most important music forces to emerge in two decades.†¦show more content†¦Another reason why rappers shouldn’t be criticized is because the world was violent long before rap was invented, and it is not rap music that is making the world more violent then it is already. I str ongly believe that people have the freedom of choice to listen to rap music and if you don’t like what rap artists talk about, then you do not have to listen to the music. If people didn’t have a choice that would be one thing, but as long as people have a choice to do or not to do something then they shouldn’t try to criticize it. To me, rap music is more than a strain. It is the reflection of horrible suffering, struggle and pain of the ghetto life. I feel that art reflects life, so I ask myself why aren’t the National Black leaders like Delores Tucker, more concerned about where the source of rap music exists than the work denuding these types of harsh conditions(SIRS 1993). â€Å" I think that kids know the difference between right and wrong, music and reality. They know it’s not right to go kill somebody and if there driven to that, that’s not the fault of the music,† says Jon Shecter, editor of The Source, a rap magazine(SIRS 19 93). If the people throughout the world that criticize gangster rap music would begin to really care then they would try to find and fix the conditions that this art of music comes from and stop criticizing the artist. In otherShow MoreRelatedRegulating Children And Teen s Music Choice1343 Words   |  6 PagesRegulate Children and Teen’s Music Choice Music is prevalent and can be heard in a plethora of places such as, grocery stores, on the radio, and even on commercials. There are thousands of different genres of music that all serve the same purpose. Music varies all over the world and it is undeniable that it is very influential. It has the power to bring people together, put people in a good mood, bring back memories and inspire. Although music can be a positive influence by triggering happiness andRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Hot Nigga Essay1590 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"coolness.† They played the song for me and as I paid attention to the lyrics, I noted its constant mention of violence and I wondered if they did as well. While I initially found the lyrics of the song â€Å"Hot Nigga† disturbing, very quickly I realized that although my cousins proclaimed their love for this â€Å"cool† song and repeated the phrase â€Å"About a week ago† with reckless abandonment, they seemed to lack awareness of the rest of the lyrics. This became evident when I asked them to sing it, and the onlyRead MoreNegative Effects Of Pop Music1706 Words   |  7 Pages What makes children abusive ? Is it the lyrics of the music ? Is music really the target for children and teen behavior ? In my opinion , yes . Lyrics today in popular music glorifies the wrong thing to promote the selling of their music . In the society we live in today kids and teens are being influenced and guided by the wrong path of the choices of music they listen to such as hard core rap for example. Artists of popular music doesn’t put their focus on younger children , their focus isRead More Pop-Music - Beating and Killing Women Essay976 Words   |  4 PagesPop-Music - Beating and Killing Women nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;What would happen if you found out that a certain type of food was bad for you; would you stop eating it? Similarly, if you found out a certain type of music was bad for you; would you stop listening to it? Wouldn’t you need proof before you make a decision? John Hamerlinck, a freelance writer in St. Cloud, Minnesota uses this article, â€Å"Killing Women: A Pop-Music Tradition†, to make his major point of how popular music is theRead MoreEssay about Negative Effects of Music on the Mind1093 Words   |  5 PagesToday many people believe that violent music has aggressive and hostile reactions in children, because those who listen to aggressive music often act aggressively too. Brad Bushman, Professor of Psychology and Communication Studies at the University of Michigan, in his article Media violence and the American public in American Psychologist for 2001 says, that measuring such correlation (between agressive music and its consequences in re al life) in laboratory studies would clearly be unethical,Read MoreRaps Extremely Powerful Influence Essay1163 Words   |  5 PagesRaps Extremely Powerful Influence Rap music has been a part of this world since the 1960’s, and it has gone through hundreds of different stages in its time. However, the number one thing that people think of when they hear rap music is crime, violence, alcohol, drugs and other negative influences. Despite these common beliefes on what rap music is about, it can be an extremely positive influence. Educating the youth and community about the bad things happening around us and how they’re affectingRead MoreRap and Moral Character Essay741 Words   |  3 Pagescritics have railed against the alleged harms of rap music. It is misogynistic and promotes violence (especially toward women), crass materialism, and street crime. Virtually all of the arguments about rap focus on its alleged effects—harmful or, occasionally, beneficial. Yet such arguments are difficult to prove. While not suggesting we abandon approaches like this, the focus on effects ignores another important moral argument—rap music is both a sign of and contributes to a form of corruptionRead MoreThe Music Of The Hip Hop1673 Words   |  7 Pagesin the United States popular and around the world. â€Å"Love, love me do, you know I love you, I’ll always be true, so please, love me do, whoa, love me do† The Beatles. â€Å"Love Me Do† was recorded in 1962 by The Beatles. â€Å"Love Me Do† a favorite for the lovers of oldies music. The writing of this â€Å"great philosophical song† Paul McCartney states, he writes about his then girlfriend. The difference from both â€Å"Rappers Delight† and â€Å"Love Me Do† Sugarhill Gang was much more of a freestyle poetry and The BeatlesRead MoreThe Start Of Hip Hop1094 Words   |  5 PagesThe start of hip hop began as creative lyrics. Young urban youth expressing themselves creatively through rhymes spoken to music. A time when groups gathered and had a good time with no fear of violence erupting. However as hip hop evolved, the lyri cs changed and it began to take a turn for the worse. The lyrics are no longer a positive outlet to express the problems the youth face, it is no longer â€Å"a compelling distraction from the turmoil of inner-city life† (Green 47). Rap has a huge followingRead MoreThe Impact Of Rap Music On Today s Society867 Words   |  4 PagesThe impact of rap music in today’s society is extremely substantial. Many Americans listen to rap music, even though different rap artist discuss various issues in their songs, it may influences their fans to do the same. A large amount of rap music contains explicit lyrics that describe illegal activities, aggression, and sexual content. Researchers from Iowa State University and the Texas Department of Human Services found that aggressive music lyrics increase aggressive thought and feelings, might

The Importance Of Religious Differences - 1524 Words

After an overnight flight and a six hour time shift, our Calvary Church delegation received warm greetings at Lyon Saint-Exupery Airport in France, a seventy minute flight southeast of Paris and a sixty minute drive to our home-base city of Grenoble. Later that afternoon we were in the heart of Historical Grenoble on a historical city tour. Sometime afterward, Missionary Roy asked how many Muslims did you see in town? I answered, Not very many. We saw a lot more last year. About 50% of those you saw today, were Muslims, he countered. Roy was teaching us to observe people as a missionary. Most of them were wearing western clothing but last visit, closer to the beginning of Ramadan, many more followed the Islamic dress code. I†¦show more content†¦This youth camp seeks to minister to French youth families throughout the summer. Many hands make light work. With our group we finished some simple work projects saving the staff a lot of time and received some training about Islam from our ministry partner. In the afternoon we climbed, by SUVs, the rest of the way up the mountains to a ski resort town, Les Deux Alps (The Two Alps) [elevation 5,400 ft]. Someone erected a cross at the other end of town which overlooks the snow capped mountains [elevation 11,800 ft] in the background. Back in Grenoble for the rest of the week we were beginning our primary ministry, prayer walking. Before doing ministry in any area we surrounded the area in prayer one or more days in advance. We prayer walked in three areas. First, in a poorer immigrant Islamic neighborhood of apartment buildings where drug dealers hang out. There is a ministry which Roy participates in which holds a kids club during the school year. At the end of the year a carnival is put on for the kids and a big barbeque for them and their parents. A couple of days after the prayer walk we formed groups of three, two Americans plus one translator, went to the doors of families whose children participate in the club and passed out invitations. One group was invited in. WhileShow MoreRelatedIsrael And Palestine Conflict Between Judaism And Islam1568 Words   |  7 PagesIsrael and Palestine The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is largely a religious conflict. Even though religion, ethnicity, territory, and politics are inextricably interwoven, the conflict is largely fueled and driven on by the religious rift between Judaism and Islam. Without the religious component of a Jewish state and the religious identity of the Palestinians clashing against one another, perhaps the conflict would still have emerged out of territorial or nationalistic disputesRead MoreA Study On The s Las Meninas ( The Maids Of Honor )1595 Words   |  7 Pagessubject matter similarities and differences worth making note of, most specifically the presence of duality in focus within the paintings. The first painting is 17th century art from India, Bichitr’s piece depicts Jahangiri being seated among an hourglass shape, giving a book to the Sufi Shaikh, a religious figure, while those below him are the Ottoman Sultant and King James I of England. The piece exhibits the choice by Jahangir to give the book to the religious figure rather than the politicalRead MoreReligion and Spirituality in the Workplace Essay1680 Words   |  7 PagesToday there are over 900 religious employee resource groups, according to the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries (Caà ±as Sondak, 2010). These affinity groups can help encourage religious understanding by offering panel discussions that educate employees on their beliefs. By allowing open discussion, answering religious questions and creating an open, welcoming religious environment in the workplace employees can better relate to one another through shared religious principles (Caà ±as SondakRead MoreEthics And Standards Fo r Professional Psychology1264 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ethics Behind a Spiritual and Religious Use in a Therapeutic Setting Ophelia Lee Kaplan University Ethics and Standards for Professional Psychology Professor Peter Lenz May 4, 2015 This paper addresses the complexity of spirituality and religion in a therapeutic setting. This paper includes examples and information regarding upholding the Ethics Code while using religion and spiritual reasoning in psychology. It addresses the issues of a multi-faith setting, information and researchRead MoreAssess the Reasons Why Young People Seem to Participate in Religious Activity Less Than Older Generations923 Words   |  4 PagesShown in recent statistics, is that younger people, who are over 15 (as children under this age are usually forced by parents), do not participate in religious activity as much as the older generation – excluding the over 65s group, this is usually because they cannot get to church easily due to ill-health and disabilities. Brierley supports the idea of an older generation by showing that the average age of church goers in 1979 was 37 which increased to 49 in 2005, clearly showing a trend towardsRead More A Guard on Religious Freedom Essay 765 Words   |  4 Pages Persuasive Essay #1 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;A Guard on Religious Freedom In the eyes of our founding fathers, few things seemed as important as the separation of church and state. The first amendment grants all Americans the freedom to subscribe to any religion they wish and promises that the government will not promote any religion above any other. Although the separation of church and state and the freedom of religion are firmlyRead MoreTaking Advantage of Diversity to Strenthen a Business907 Words   |  4 Pagesencompasses acceptance and respect, it means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple toleranceRead MoreHan China vs. Mauryan/Gupta India Essay1132 Words   |  5 PagesAnalyze similarities and differences in methods of political control in the following empires in the classical period. Han China (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) Mauryan/Gupta India (320 B.C.E.-550 C.E.) During the Classical period, Han China and Mauryan/Gupta India developed many methods of political control. Although these empires were located in different geographic regions, they both used social hierarchy, language, bureaucracy, and religion as a means of political control. Many of ClassicalRead MoreThe Old Testament1235 Words   |  5 Pageswere desperate to know the truth, and the teachings of the God and hence prophets aided these longings of theirs. Religious ritualism, social injustice, and idolatry were the three areas in which the prophets emphasized in their preaching and filled the hearts and minds of their believers with it. Prophets were enlightened and blessed beings that had much knowledge about the religious matters and their teachings are of still very significant and valid. The Bible instructs numerous cases of the SocialRead MoreImportance Of Christian Ecumenical Movements And Interfaith Dialogue1573 Words   |  7 Pages The importance of Christian ecumenical movements and interfaith dialogue in Australia post World War II is of great significance to the broader Australian society. It plays a great role in uniting and celebrating the differences and recognising the similarities of the religions, as well as appreciating the uniqueness of the various religions. Ecumenism and interfaith dialogue have been an important feature due to a range of reasons including the abolishment of the White Australia Policy, the arrival

The Limited Omnipotence in Dr. Faustus free essay sample

When an audience looks at Christopher Marlowe as a writer in Doctor Faustus, they might believe the play is a discussion on religion. The discussion in Faustus is the decision of what to believe in, whether it may be a polytheistic or monotheistic religion. Dr. Faustus represents mans discontent with being human and the struggle of accepting the lack of omnipotence and omniscience. In Faustus, he is repeatedly questioned on his belief in his knowledge of magic, good, and evil. Faustus wants all this power and ability but to achieve this he must have knowledge in the power or religion. However, Faustus’s downfall is not his power but his knowledge in the power he possesses which is in the end limited. As one can see in Stephen Orgel’s Essay Magic and Power in Doctor Faustus, Orgel points out that Faustus did not really bargain much in his deal with the devil and he really did not know what to ask for in the end. He has all this great knowledge but he is not ambitious enough to really embrace the power he has just been given. In this brilliant play by Marlowe, he challenges the audience to look within and choose whether having great knowledge leads to a fulfilling destiny. In the beginning of the play, the audience finds Faustus in his study, going over logic, medicine, law, religion, and magic. In the play, he only studies these subjects half way thinking he understands what he is reading by receiving all the knowledge but not really grasping the whole picture. For example, when looking at religion Faustus reads in the Bible from Romans 6:23 â€Å"The wages of sin is Death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Faustus stops in the middle of the verse and concludes that when we sin we must die an everlasting death. However the rest of the verse goes â€Å" †¦but the gift of God is eternal life,† Faustus knows that studying leads to knowledge of the truth, but if he only concludes on only half of the subject knowledge is nothing because of the truth he wants to believe. Faustus’ narrow-minded conception is his great downfall. As Orgel puts it, â€Å"Faustus himself is a hero and a clown because he has unbounded ambition and an insufficient imagination. † Faustus insufficient imagination is shown when he dives into magic. Magic deals with the body, the intellect, and the infatuation on material things; which is a retreat from reality and responsibility. This power has no rules it is a free will power to do whatever, whenever. Faustus’ greed for power to live in an indulgent life leads him astray to make the pact with the devil. When summoning Mephistopheles he expresses his desire to live a fulfilled life, to be the emperor of the world, to control nature and to obtain the full knowledge of the universe. Orgel states, â€Å"The fantasies of unlimited power are consistently scaled down in the play; until they finally seem to represent something that really ought to be obtainable do you have to make a pact with the devil just to get a decent job or someone to go to bed with? Orgel has a point because the unlimited power ends up having so many rules and regulations to follow. Faustus initial instincts in the beginning of the play when presented with the dark magic power are altruistic. Before Faustus makes his deal, he proclaims â€Å"I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass, / And make swift the Rhine, circle faire W ittenberg. / I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk,/ Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad. / I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,/And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,/ And rein sole king of all the provinces. The promise of restoration for the people of Germany, for the reclaiming of his homeland from an emperors and the church’s rule are all empty promises. Everyone one time or another wanted to do something great for someone else but it turns out to be something very different, which leads to a big disaster. Faustus has all great intentions however; his selfless ambitions eventually become selfish for his own personal enjoyments. One of Faustus’ ambitions is to become emperor freeing the people from the reign of Prince Parma. A heroic gesture at first until Faustus decides he does not want to be the emperor but be the emperor’s entertainer. After saving making a big fool of the pope and saving Bruno, the emperors pick for the next pope, Faustus’ uses this gesture as an inside invitation to get close to the emperor. Does he forget the power he has because he could be emperor in a blink of an eye then everyone would want to be on â€Å"Great Faustus† good side? However, Faustus uses his power for entertainment by conjuring the spirits of past great emperors like Alexander the Great, and the great emperor Darius. This allusion almost put the emperor into frenzy because he looks up to these great emperors. Faustus also plays a trick on Benvloio because he was in disbelief of Faustus’ magic. The emperor’s court believes that Faustus is doing all theses trick by himself but Mephistopheles is really the one doing all of these magical things according to Faustus desire. Because Faustus gave his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles does not care what Faustus does because after his contract is up, Faustus souls is Mephistopheles. Faustus greatest desire is not ruling the world its revenge, and sexual subversion from religion. Faustus eventually wants a wife but Mephistopheles will not allow that because marriage is a sacred (godly) thing. This is just one example of how Mephistopheles led Faustus astray from the real power and truth. Mephistopheles substitute for Faustus desire for a wife is a promise to bring a new girl everyday only for Faustus sexual pleasure. However, Faustus does not settle with a real women but a figure of a women. The figure of a woman meant a mere image that cannot be touched or loved just some image to admire. In Faustus final hours he requests to see Helen of Troy but he cannot touch her at all because she is a spirit in figure. If Faustus were smart, he would not let this rule stand in the way because he believes to have power over Mephistopheles so if Faustus wants Helen of Troy to sleep with he gets it. The audience can see Faustus ambitions being twisted to more ambitions that are not committed to a particular thing; he wants to fly, to go to Rome, to be invisible, to humiliate the pope, to be mischievous without consequences. Eventually all Faustus wants is to study the knowledge of the universe which Mephistopheles brings him all the books in the entire world to study. Faustus has a lack of imagination but maybe it is not imagination but his scholarly lack of originality. In the end does Faustus make a great bargain with the devil was it a waste of twenty-four years? Audiences can agree that Faustus becomes immature with his power so his bargain seems to be a waste of time. If it is true that, doctrinally, Faustus cannot repent, it is a doctrine that Faustus is either unaware of or denies. What he says, several times, is that he is afraid to repent, afraid that the devils will tear him to pieces if he does-as if this were worse than, or different from, being carried off to hell . In the final moment of frustration, seeing Christ’s blood stream in the firmament and convinced that ‘One drop would save my soul,’ Faustus calls out ‘I will leap up to my God: who pulls me down? The play is in this respect much more a temptation than a warning We see that we could do it better, make bargain and get away with it, have the world and have repentance too. The greatest danger is not damnation, its human envy. For all the play’ talks of power, its principle theme is survival.

Knowledge, Power, Wisdom, Truth, And The Like Essays - Epistemology

Knowledge, Power, Wisdom, Truth, and The Like Everyone has heard the idiom ?knowledge is power.? In fact, it has become a clich? in our culture. But is this statement true? What exactly is the relationship between knowledge and power? Are the two independent of each other? Or are they mutually exclusive? Are there times when one must defer to the other, making one of them superior to the other? Or, perhaps, is wisdom a more important attribute than knowledge? Aside from the issue of knowledge and power is the issue of truth and power. Is there a difference between something being held as true and the actual truth? Is there only one truth, or are there many contradicting truths? In order for something to be true, must it be accepted by those in power? Conversely, must those in power acknowledge the truth in order to remain in power? No one knows for sure who first coined the phrase ?knowledge is power?, but one can suppose that it was someone who greatly valued education and learning. It can also be imagined that this person was a student of the world around him, as he noticed that although ignorant people came into power by bloodline or some other matter, it was intelligent people who would wrest the power away from the ignorant and be more likely to retain it. He noticed that the association between knowledge and power is very closely related. If one was to try to gain power by taking it from someone else, knowledge was a necessary tool. The person attempting to gain power must be knowledgeable of the circumstances surrounding him or her, and he or she must have the knowledge of how to correctly react to changes in the surrounding political environment. Shrewdness is often an essential element involved in a person wrenching power away from the leader. Since shrewdness is defined as being ?intelligent, worldly- wise and clever,? it is obviously ineffective without knowledge. Once power is obtained, knowledge is not cast aside. Rather, it must be improved upon constantly in order to retain the power. It can be said that one does not need much knowledge to posses power, however, it would be errant to state that one does not need knowledge in order to gain or retain power. Although the relationship between knowledge and power is so closely intertwined, are there circumstances in which either knowledge or power must defer to the other? Well, a look back at history serves as the best guide to this question. Throughout history there have been numerous occasions in which knowledge has deferred to power. This mainly occurs when the powers that be have an absolute control, as Machiavelli describes in his book The Prince. For example, when the Roman Catholic Church ruled the known world in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, they censored and suppressed knowledge constantly. They were able to do so because their power was all encompassing. They controlled the religious aspect of the people's lives, and they also ran every facet of the local governments. Because they controlled everything, they had the power to instill fear into the people. As a result of this unimpaired power, the people had nowhere to turn for justice. Although knowledge has succumbed to pow er on many an occasion, one would be hard pressed to find an instance of power giving in to knowledge. I know I sure had a terrible time trying to find an example of this. Then it occurred to me why I couldn't find such an occurrence: power will never be willingly relinquished because of knowledge; rather, it will only be surrendered to a more physically superior power. After all, if the point of power is to be in control, then the entity in power won't give up the desirable power unless physical harm is imminent. Ideas and knowledge are the beginning footsteps in overthrowing a power, but these alone are never enough. This notion of ideas and knowledge being used to obtain power brings up another very important concept. Is knowledge the only thing needed, or is it just the starting point? I believe that wisdom is just as, if not more important than the actual knowledge. The dictionary