Ron Moses
2012-07-21 18:35:35 UTC
I sincerely apologize to the group. I do. But I have to go on a rant now, so here's your fair warning; no hard feelings if you prefer to bail. I actually post this against my better judgment, knowing I'm likely to regret it about five minutes from now. But this one lyric is ruining the entire fucking album for me and I have to get this out of my system before I rage-quit the album entirely.
What's the difference 'tween a Taliban
And a preacher down in Birmingham
Shave 'em both and find an anchorman
If you already know the difference, and can understand how suggesting they are in any way equivalent might be deeply offensive to a thinking person, you can stop reading here. Thanks, and enjoy your day.
For the rest of us, let's examine, using real-world examples, the difference between a Taliban and a preacher down in Birmingham. If at the end you feel I'm being ridiculous, I'm prepared to take the blows.
===========================
First let's take a look at the Taliban. I'd like to introduce you to an Afghan woman whose name I unfortunately don't know. Shall we all join together in watching the final moments of her life? Come on, don't be shy; this is a learning exercise.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/47144.aspx
The Retuers report goes on to say that Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture and then kill her to settle a dispute between them.
She is only one of the countless victims of the Taliban's brutal oppression of women. Such as these 120 school girls the Taliban poisoned in an effort to "discourage" the education of females (which was banned entirely when the Taliban was officially in power):
http://digitaljournal.com/article/325445
Such attacks on girls' schools in Afghanistan have fallen off somewhat after the Afghan government struck a deal with the Taliban to end the insurgents' attacks on state schools in return for a more conservative religious curriculum and the hiring of Taliban-approved mullahs as teachers
In Pakistan, the Taliban has gone so far as to bomb girls' schools to rubble.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-pakistan-taliban-schools-idUSTRE7AF0GP20111116
For the sake of brevity, I will encourage you to read more about the Taliban's brutal oppression of women and other human rights violations here:
http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm
==============================
Now I'd like to introduce you to Pastor John Henry Williams, Jr. of the Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham AL.
http://www.greaterstjohnonline.org/pages/the-pastor/
He has been pastor of Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church since 2000, and Assistant Professor of Religion at Selma University since 2005. He holds a number of post-graduate degrees in both history and theological studies. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first black, inter-collegiate, Greek-lettered fraternity. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were Missionary Baptist pastors and preachers.
Each year since 2001, under Pastor Williams's leadership, Greater St. John's has awarded the Perry-Williams Scholarship to help young men and women in the Birmingham community pursue their educational goals.
http://www.greaterstjohnonline.org/pages/perry-williams-scholarship/
Greater St. John's has also established Project 35211 with the purpose of seeking resources from beyond the Church in order to facilitate ministry in the wider world. Its proposed projects are:
1. Community Childcare
2. Youth Development
3. Senior Citizen Care
4. Community Re-building
5. Civic Rights & Responsibility
6. Quality of Life Issues for Powderly & Beyond (Powderly is a section of Birmingham -rm)
7. Kingdom & Community – The Separation & Cooperation of Church & State
In the spirit of fairness, I tried to find a video of a member of Pastor Williams's congregation shooting a woman in the head. Unfortunately I failed to find one, but perhaps they were just smart enough not to tape it.
=============================
So... What have we learned about the difference 'tween a Taliban and a preacher down in Birmingham? To summarize: one spreads his faith through violent oppression, rape, and mass murder. The other spreads his faith through prayer, community outreach, and the promotion of education. Of course one may not agree with all the tenets of either's faith; I certainly don't. But if one must ask the difference between them, then either one lacks the basic intellect to identify it, or more likely one is too blinded by bigotry and religious intolerance for any such difference to matter.
This all academic, of course. I think it's fair to infer that the question is meant to be rhetorical, given the next line in which it is suggested that we "shave 'em both and find an anchorman." From the point of view of the lyric, there is no moral difference between the Taliban who proudly murdered that unnamed woman and Pastor Williams; and in fact they are both deserving of the same fate. As to the nature of said fate... I am sincerely hoping that the reference to an anchorman is a literal one, and not an oblique suggestion that they both should suffer execution by drowning. Were that the case I would have a hard time avoiding the mental image of Pastor Williams's bloated corpse lynched at the bottom of the sea every time I hear that lyric, which I think would be rarely. I will offer the benefit of the doubt until I'm told otherwise (though I'm admittedly finding it difficult to make sense of the more literal interpretation).
Sad, too, since it's the best song on the album. Okay, that's my rant... open fire.
ron
What's the difference 'tween a Taliban
And a preacher down in Birmingham
Shave 'em both and find an anchorman
If you already know the difference, and can understand how suggesting they are in any way equivalent might be deeply offensive to a thinking person, you can stop reading here. Thanks, and enjoy your day.
For the rest of us, let's examine, using real-world examples, the difference between a Taliban and a preacher down in Birmingham. If at the end you feel I'm being ridiculous, I'm prepared to take the blows.
===========================
First let's take a look at the Taliban. I'd like to introduce you to an Afghan woman whose name I unfortunately don't know. Shall we all join together in watching the final moments of her life? Come on, don't be shy; this is a learning exercise.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/47144.aspx
The Retuers report goes on to say that Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture and then kill her to settle a dispute between them.
She is only one of the countless victims of the Taliban's brutal oppression of women. Such as these 120 school girls the Taliban poisoned in an effort to "discourage" the education of females (which was banned entirely when the Taliban was officially in power):
http://digitaljournal.com/article/325445
Such attacks on girls' schools in Afghanistan have fallen off somewhat after the Afghan government struck a deal with the Taliban to end the insurgents' attacks on state schools in return for a more conservative religious curriculum and the hiring of Taliban-approved mullahs as teachers
In Pakistan, the Taliban has gone so far as to bomb girls' schools to rubble.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-pakistan-taliban-schools-idUSTRE7AF0GP20111116
For the sake of brevity, I will encourage you to read more about the Taliban's brutal oppression of women and other human rights violations here:
http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm
==============================
Now I'd like to introduce you to Pastor John Henry Williams, Jr. of the Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Birmingham AL.
http://www.greaterstjohnonline.org/pages/the-pastor/
He has been pastor of Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church since 2000, and Assistant Professor of Religion at Selma University since 2005. He holds a number of post-graduate degrees in both history and theological studies. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first black, inter-collegiate, Greek-lettered fraternity. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were Missionary Baptist pastors and preachers.
Each year since 2001, under Pastor Williams's leadership, Greater St. John's has awarded the Perry-Williams Scholarship to help young men and women in the Birmingham community pursue their educational goals.
http://www.greaterstjohnonline.org/pages/perry-williams-scholarship/
Greater St. John's has also established Project 35211 with the purpose of seeking resources from beyond the Church in order to facilitate ministry in the wider world. Its proposed projects are:
1. Community Childcare
2. Youth Development
3. Senior Citizen Care
4. Community Re-building
5. Civic Rights & Responsibility
6. Quality of Life Issues for Powderly & Beyond (Powderly is a section of Birmingham -rm)
7. Kingdom & Community – The Separation & Cooperation of Church & State
In the spirit of fairness, I tried to find a video of a member of Pastor Williams's congregation shooting a woman in the head. Unfortunately I failed to find one, but perhaps they were just smart enough not to tape it.
=============================
So... What have we learned about the difference 'tween a Taliban and a preacher down in Birmingham? To summarize: one spreads his faith through violent oppression, rape, and mass murder. The other spreads his faith through prayer, community outreach, and the promotion of education. Of course one may not agree with all the tenets of either's faith; I certainly don't. But if one must ask the difference between them, then either one lacks the basic intellect to identify it, or more likely one is too blinded by bigotry and religious intolerance for any such difference to matter.
This all academic, of course. I think it's fair to infer that the question is meant to be rhetorical, given the next line in which it is suggested that we "shave 'em both and find an anchorman." From the point of view of the lyric, there is no moral difference between the Taliban who proudly murdered that unnamed woman and Pastor Williams; and in fact they are both deserving of the same fate. As to the nature of said fate... I am sincerely hoping that the reference to an anchorman is a literal one, and not an oblique suggestion that they both should suffer execution by drowning. Were that the case I would have a hard time avoiding the mental image of Pastor Williams's bloated corpse lynched at the bottom of the sea every time I hear that lyric, which I think would be rarely. I will offer the benefit of the doubt until I'm told otherwise (though I'm admittedly finding it difficult to make sense of the more literal interpretation).
Sad, too, since it's the best song on the album. Okay, that's my rant... open fire.
ron