This "spoken-word" poem has been watched nearly 17 million times since it was posted a mere 17 days ago. That's a million viewings a day! It has also started a firestorm of comments, likes, shares, tweets, and video responses (both for and against).
This tells me a few things.
1) The relationship between religion, church, and Jesus is a VERY hot issue in this era.
2) A very well-crafted piece now has the potential to make a huge impact in a very short amount of time, without the benefit of old-school media outlets.
3) He speaks truth - uncomfortable truth.
This tells me a few things.
1) The relationship between religion, church, and Jesus is a VERY hot issue in this era.
2) A very well-crafted piece now has the potential to make a huge impact in a very short amount of time, without the benefit of old-school media outlets.
3) He speaks truth - uncomfortable truth.
2 comments:
Thanks for posting this video, Josh. I liked it too. It's definitely gone viral, because I've heard about it from friends in other circles! One of those friends also shared a link to an interesting NY Times Op-Ed article with me: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/opinion/brooks-how-to-fight-the-man.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general. It's about that video and the responses to it, but in a more general way... about contemporary movements of protest, encouraging them to be substantive and rooted in history and philosophy. That article, and the link within that article to a critique of the poem, are worth reading. It's all generated a very interesting discussion.
Thanks for the link, Nikki. I understand the criticism, and it is valid. However, I also think that there is a place for the emotional, explosive type of poetic dialog that this film represents. We need both the emotional plea of rebellion and the slow dogged logic of society building.
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