Yesterday seemed like a cultural flashpoint for our country. I "watched" the Super Bowl with some of my best friends, who hold considerably different political views than I do. I'm proud to call them friends, and I truly appreciate having counterviews in my inner sphere of influence to ensure that I am constantly checking myself against possible echo chambers.
They were excited for the half time show. I was curious.
All the hype about this event seemed to be surrounded by this one part. Honestly, it seemed like the game itself, and even the commercials, were taking a back seat to the half time show. The left was hyping it up as a great American moment of progress, diversity, and cultural inclusivity, while the right was bemoaning it as a slap in the face to traditional American norms and values. Meanwhile, the right was responding to it by holding their own "All-American Half Time Show" with an alternative slate of performers. It seems a flashpoint, because I honestly don't know how we get back to being a unified country. So much of culture and politics seems finely divided along partisan lines. There's no longer room for centrist unity where we agree on somethings, disagree on others, but in the end we are still Americans. The message from both sides seems to be, "agree with us or get out."
This makes me sad.
Honestly, I watched both shows and like parts about both of them.
Bad Bunny's depiction of the plight and culture of Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens, was enlightening. It inspired me to learn more about the history of Puerto Rico and its history of inclusion inside the United States. I didn't know that it has a huge pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. It has lots of skilled labor in biomedical manufacturing. It supplies a lot of inputs into the American medical system. It also has a higher poverty rate than any American state. It has no voting congressional representation, residents pay no federal income tax, residents can freely move about and establish residency in other parts of the country. Puerto Ricans can vote in federal elections if they establish residency in a state.
But it also had it's flaws. It continued in the Super Bowl tradition of being highly sexualized and not appropriate for young viewers. Parents can be glad if they're kids don't speak Spanish. Much of Bad Bunny's music is highly explicit. In one song that was featured in the set, "Titi me Pregunto", he is talking to his auntie about all the girlfriends he has. It features lyrics like "Let the ones I already f----- smile" and "The one from Barcelona that came by plane And says that my d--- is fire." He goes on in the song about how he'd like to fall in love but can't. He says he doesn't trust himself and that he gets bored. He talks about how many girls want his "Baby gravy" and how he gets bored and wants a "Brand new a--."
Many of the songs he sings features similar themes. This isn't meant to call him out as unique, as this is par for the course when it comes to American pop music, but this also certainly isn't the kind of culture I want celebrated in our country and pushed on my children.
But let's also look to the other side.
TPUSA's Great American Half Time show featured a handful of Country music artists including Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert, and Gabby Barrett. The show opened with a guitar solo rendition of the national anthem and transitioned into a handful of well known country songs that speak to the themes of faith, family, rural country living and more. The verse added on to the song "Till you Can't" left me a bit emotional. It featured the following lyrics --
“There’s a book that is sitting in your house somewhere
That could use some dusting off
There’s a man that died for all our sins, hanging on the cross
You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance
‘Til you can’t”
But it also had it's faults.
Many of the songs contained lyrics that celebrated improper drug and alcohol use, specifically drinking while driving in the song Dirt Road Anthem. Honestly, as someone who grew up on a dirt road in rural West Michigan, I love that song. But I wrestle with the lyrics. I think to myself, would I want my children hearing these messages? Some of it yes, some of it no. Also I must add that Kid Rock's performance of "Bawitdaba" was just absolute trash.
This all might just sound like a conservative Christian clutching his pearls and trying to "both sides" the issues, and honestly that's exactly what this is. I am an unabashedly conservative in my politics, but I'm also very nuanced in how I view the world. There is no perfection or ideal in this country, and the division is hard to bear. I long for more unity in this country. Because it really is a great country when it comes down to it.
I recently watched a YouTube video from Gavin Ortlund, a Christian apologist, about how Christians need to stop trying to defend the indefensible. It really resonated with me. The video was specifically about him responding to the recent debacle of Trump's Truth Social account sharing a screenshot thumbnail depicting the Obamas' heads on top of the body of Apes. Just to get it out there, I absolutely agree with Ortlund that no matter the context or all of the nuance around this instance, that post should be condemned outright and not defended. But it also got me thinking about this cultural flashpoint in our society. What should we as Christians stop defending, stop celebrating, and most importantly start condemning? For one, any acts of sexual impropriety, whether that be lust, adultery, homosexuality, and so on should be rejected wholesale. Improper use of substances should also be rejected wholesale. But does that mean we can't appreciate culture? Surely not. There were positive things from both "Half Time" shows that Christians can celebrate without shame, whether it's cultural diversity, the plight of the poor and impoverished, or the love of country, faith and family.
I'll end by saying, I hope everyone, no matter what side they're on, can reserve their judgment and love one another as Christ calls us to love.
They were excited for the half time show. I was curious.
All the hype about this event seemed to be surrounded by this one part. Honestly, it seemed like the game itself, and even the commercials, were taking a back seat to the half time show. The left was hyping it up as a great American moment of progress, diversity, and cultural inclusivity, while the right was bemoaning it as a slap in the face to traditional American norms and values. Meanwhile, the right was responding to it by holding their own "All-American Half Time Show" with an alternative slate of performers. It seems a flashpoint, because I honestly don't know how we get back to being a unified country. So much of culture and politics seems finely divided along partisan lines. There's no longer room for centrist unity where we agree on somethings, disagree on others, but in the end we are still Americans. The message from both sides seems to be, "agree with us or get out."
This makes me sad.
Honestly, I watched both shows and like parts about both of them.
Bad Bunny's depiction of the plight and culture of Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens, was enlightening. It inspired me to learn more about the history of Puerto Rico and its history of inclusion inside the United States. I didn't know that it has a huge pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. It has lots of skilled labor in biomedical manufacturing. It supplies a lot of inputs into the American medical system. It also has a higher poverty rate than any American state. It has no voting congressional representation, residents pay no federal income tax, residents can freely move about and establish residency in other parts of the country. Puerto Ricans can vote in federal elections if they establish residency in a state.
But it also had it's flaws. It continued in the Super Bowl tradition of being highly sexualized and not appropriate for young viewers. Parents can be glad if they're kids don't speak Spanish. Much of Bad Bunny's music is highly explicit. In one song that was featured in the set, "Titi me Pregunto", he is talking to his auntie about all the girlfriends he has. It features lyrics like "Let the ones I already f----- smile" and "The one from Barcelona that came by plane And says that my d--- is fire." He goes on in the song about how he'd like to fall in love but can't. He says he doesn't trust himself and that he gets bored. He talks about how many girls want his "Baby gravy" and how he gets bored and wants a "Brand new a--."
Many of the songs he sings features similar themes. This isn't meant to call him out as unique, as this is par for the course when it comes to American pop music, but this also certainly isn't the kind of culture I want celebrated in our country and pushed on my children.
But let's also look to the other side.
TPUSA's Great American Half Time show featured a handful of Country music artists including Kid Rock, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert, and Gabby Barrett. The show opened with a guitar solo rendition of the national anthem and transitioned into a handful of well known country songs that speak to the themes of faith, family, rural country living and more. The verse added on to the song "Till you Can't" left me a bit emotional. It featured the following lyrics --
“There’s a book that is sitting in your house somewhere
That could use some dusting off
There’s a man that died for all our sins, hanging on the cross
You can give your life to Jesus, and he’ll give you a second chance
‘Til you can’t”
But it also had it's faults.
Many of the songs contained lyrics that celebrated improper drug and alcohol use, specifically drinking while driving in the song Dirt Road Anthem. Honestly, as someone who grew up on a dirt road in rural West Michigan, I love that song. But I wrestle with the lyrics. I think to myself, would I want my children hearing these messages? Some of it yes, some of it no. Also I must add that Kid Rock's performance of "Bawitdaba" was just absolute trash.
This all might just sound like a conservative Christian clutching his pearls and trying to "both sides" the issues, and honestly that's exactly what this is. I am an unabashedly conservative in my politics, but I'm also very nuanced in how I view the world. There is no perfection or ideal in this country, and the division is hard to bear. I long for more unity in this country. Because it really is a great country when it comes down to it.
I recently watched a YouTube video from Gavin Ortlund, a Christian apologist, about how Christians need to stop trying to defend the indefensible. It really resonated with me. The video was specifically about him responding to the recent debacle of Trump's Truth Social account sharing a screenshot thumbnail depicting the Obamas' heads on top of the body of Apes. Just to get it out there, I absolutely agree with Ortlund that no matter the context or all of the nuance around this instance, that post should be condemned outright and not defended. But it also got me thinking about this cultural flashpoint in our society. What should we as Christians stop defending, stop celebrating, and most importantly start condemning? For one, any acts of sexual impropriety, whether that be lust, adultery, homosexuality, and so on should be rejected wholesale. Improper use of substances should also be rejected wholesale. But does that mean we can't appreciate culture? Surely not. There were positive things from both "Half Time" shows that Christians can celebrate without shame, whether it's cultural diversity, the plight of the poor and impoverished, or the love of country, faith and family.
I'll end by saying, I hope everyone, no matter what side they're on, can reserve their judgment and love one another as Christ calls us to love.