thoughts on rap and evangelical "social justice"

january 14- mid-afternoon

i just ate lunch with pastor john, who is basically the administrator for the provadenic program here in nicaragua. provadenic provides basic medical services to many of the extremely rural areas of nicaragua by training a local to perform the health services for the community on a regular basis. the program seems to be geared toward the right goals- empowering locals to take responsibility for their own health outcomes, and creating an environment whereby locals help eachother instead of random missionary trips helping at unpredictable intervals. pastor john's a really interesting guy- we had a discussion about whether or not rap music should be considered art, and he said "no, because i don't like the way the artists say women should be treated". hmmm. i don't think it's just rap that enables men to feel ok about treating women poorly. i'd agree that any form of music which degrades women isn't something i'd personally listen to or endorse, but i think it's still art. we have more to look and change at a society-wide level than rap music to blame for the maltreatment of women.
pastor john also brought up an interesting point- one which i'd never considered before. he was talking about how at his age (i'd assume mid to late fifties) many of his peers have forgotten their roots in social justice, have sort of sold out and become comfortable with their lives. in this comfort, they have forgotten how to care for the poor and disadvantaged... he told me that he thought "every person's a liberal until they recieve their first paycheck and mortgage payment." i don't know if i agree with that statement entirely, but it does bring up the point that having or not having money changes everything. he told me that in his experience of evangelical christians, and more specifically conservative evangelists. many of the people he's come into contact with think that their conquests against homosexual marriage and crusades for pro-life issues ARE in fact attempts at being involved with social justice. i had to let that sink in for a moment... i suppose i can see the reason behind the pro-life as a social justice issue. from a certain worldview, it would seem like the most important issue because we're dealing with those who quite literally cannot help themselves. however, the thought of using an anti-homosexual marriage stance as a social justice issue just blows my mind. it makes sense though, that from the truly conservative christian worldview, being anti-homosexual marriage in fact "saves" society from (what?) destruction? the downward spiral we're sure to enter the moment a gay couple is allowed the same rights as the rest of us? i thought we were fighting FOR human rights, for justice... not for the oppression and inequality homosexual couples currently endure throughout america and most of the world. it just doesn't make logical sense that fighting against another person's rights would be considered to be fighting for social justice. anyone out there who can enlighten me on this matter?
so, to those of us who've recently recieved our first big paycheck from the real world (myself, obviously not included) or had to pay our first mortgage payment... let's not forget our liberal roots. if we were ourselves as children again, would we be proud of our intentions and actions? hold tight to that "childish" optimistic voice inside of you, and try with all of your might to never let your optimism and idealism fade with the comforts of an "adult" life in america.