Pulpit Fiction Soundtrack, where Robb and Eric review secular music with spiritual themes.
Same Love and Neon Cathedral by Macklemore and Lewis off of their new album, The Heist
More notes after the break!
Pulpit Fiction Soundtrack
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
Same Love
Neon Cathedral
Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (feat Mary Lambert)
- Pro-Gay HipHop?!?! WHAT?!? for more, check out Adair Lion
- “Playing God...America still fears what we don’t know”
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- Do not fear
- Fear as the anti-love - Yoda
- Do not fear
- “God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago”
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- paraphrase and biblical literalism
- we each read the bible with our own hermeneutic, but we need to be honest with it
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- Hermeneutic - a method or theory of interpretation
- Hermeneutic - a method or theory of interpretation
- “The Bible says it, I believe it, that’s it”
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- unacceptable to anyone who owns any property, wears poly/cotton blends, makes food on the Sabbath and hasn’t cut off their hand and ripped out their eyeball
- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 I a child is continually stubborn and rebellious children should be stoned to death.
- Luke 14:33 “[Jesus said,] So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
- unacceptable to anyone who owns any property, wears poly/cotton blends, makes food on the Sabbath and hasn’t cut off their hand and ripped out their eyeball
- paraphrase and biblical literalism
- “behind the keys of a message board”
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- anonymous hate, unable to openly discuss, simply to hide behind hate
- anonymous hate, unable to openly discuss, simply to hide behind hate
- “Gay is synonymous with the lesser”
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- Civil rights debate
- Something which someone has no control over is no basis for discrimination
- the “sinister” among us (sinister originally meant left-handed to mark those who were different)
- Civil rights debate
- “If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed, That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned”
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- Just because it is shrouded in religion does not mean it is holy
- Just because it is shrouded in religion does not mean it is holy
- “I might not be the same”
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- You do not have to be or understand what it is to be GLBT to love your neighbor
- You do not have to be or understand what it is to be GLBT to love your neighbor
- “And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all, But it's a damn good place to start”
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- Too many opponents see the equal marriage laws as the end- it isn’t any more than the civil rights acts of the 60s were the end of racism- we still have a long road...but it is a good place to start
- Too many opponents see the equal marriage laws as the end- it isn’t any more than the civil rights acts of the 60s were the end of racism- we still have a long road...but it is a good place to start
- “No law is gonna change us We have to change us” - change is with individuals, not laws- we need to be transformers and allow ourselves to change
- 1 Corinthians 13….awesome.
Lyrics:
When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k, trippin' "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up...
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind
Neon Cathedral by Macklemore and Ray Lewis (feat Allen Stone)
Youtube video of song with lyrics (uncut)
- Song of lamentation, mourning the loss of faith and community
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- Loss of community
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- People look to bars for their sense of community, but it is an empty community.
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- “Bartender that will pickpocket your heart… A jukebox that will steal your quarter”
- “Dependency has been a thief at night”
- “Bartender that will pickpocket your heart… A jukebox that will steal your quarter”
- People look to bars for their sense of community, but it is an empty community.
- Loss of relevancy for church amidst pain
- “I read the Bible, but forgot the verses. The liquor store is open later than the church is.”
- Loss of community
- Futility of searching for truth, healing in dependency.
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- Much of the pain around addiction is about shame. Addiction is a way to cover pain of shame.
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- “I got sins that scold like my throat when I hit the bottle And I'm sinking and that's why I keep on drinking I need a refill, far more than once every weekend Sweet Jesus, I'm getting amnesia.
- “Bushmills for a band-aid, the sweet taste of blood Then I might actually feel something if I don't cover it up”
- Guilt is, ‘I am someone who did something wrong.’ Shame is ‘Who I am is wrong.’
- “I got sins that scold like my throat when I hit the bottle And I'm sinking and that's why I keep on drinking I need a refill, far more than once every weekend Sweet Jesus, I'm getting amnesia.
- Replacing church with bar leads to:
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- “Closed the Bible a while ago, I need some shots for this sin”
- “And I'm sinking and that's why I keep on drinking. I need a refill, far more than once every weekend”
- “Closed the Bible a while ago, I need some shots for this sin”
- Much of the pain around addiction is about shame. Addiction is a way to cover pain of shame.
- Does the Church have an answer to this kind of pain? Does the Gospel have a balm for this kind of shame?
- Can we give more than lip service to recovery ministry
- Pub Theology
Lyrics
Verse 1: Macklemore
Round here they sing broken hymns
Their prayers flow better when they're soaked in gin
The amp's dusty and sits in the corner
By a bartender that'll pickpocket your heart
And a jukebox that'll steal your quarter
Bartender, please give me a confession
Exchange fear for courage in the form of a well drink
There's a heavy current, got a long way to swim
Closed the Bible a while ago, I need some shots for this sin
Hail Mary, come with me, feel like Pac when it hits
Got some fire in my belly and a riot in the gut
Bushmills for a band-aid, the sweet taste of blood
Then I might actually feel something if I don't cover it up
Watch their faces, familiar places
Even if they haven't left the vinyl booth that they stayed in
The motel next door, a sign that reads vacant
And a truth that's so strong I'd be a fool not to chase it
But yet, I'm a fool and I stay here
Hope these problems drown themselves, I die in wait here
One more, four more, fuck it a night cap
Service starts at 5 tomorrow and I'll be right back
[Hook: Allen Stone]
Underneath this fragile frame
Lives a battle between pride and shame
But I've misplaced that sense of fright
This crown of thorns is perched atop my spine
But listen closely as I testify
Dependency has been a thief at night
Thief at night, thief at night
[Verse 2: Macklemore]
I read the Bible, but I forgot the verses
The liquor store is open later than the church is
Pured by their imperfections, everything that's burning
To Hell with the confessions, all the "Lord Have Mercy's"
Blessed in holy water, listen, oh Holy Father
Have you ever smelled flesh that sweats out Monarch vodka?
11 AM in the morning and you can't get it off ya
Callin' to the preacher but it's like the pastor isn't talking
Until the store opens I can re-up on that doctrine
The people close to me say that I'm in need of a doctor
Think that I got a problem but these are not apostles
This is the drink of the Lord, that's according to my gospel
Open to interpretation, if you're judgin' I don't want it
I got sins that scold like my throat when I hit the bottle
And I'm sinking and that's why I keep on drinking
I need a refill, far more than once every weekend
Sweet Jesus, I'm getting amnesia
Shaking til I get a taste, my faith is having seizures
Every time I walk away and try to leave it
Every time I walk away and try to leave it
[Bridge: Macklemore]
Wouldn't miss it for the world
Baptized in my vices and the bar is my church
Traded my artist and I pawned off the easel
Spend it all searching for God at the Neon Cathedral
[Bridge: Macklemore]
Wouldn't miss it for the world
Baptized my vices and the bar is my church
Traded my artist and I pawned off the easel
Spend it all searching for God, Neon Cathedral
Neon Cathedral
[Hook: Allen Stone]
Underneath this fragile frame
Lives a battle between pride and shame
But I've misplaced that sense of fight
This crown of thorns is perched atop my spine
But listen closely as I testify
Dependency has been a thief at night
Thief at night, thief at night
Dependency has been a thief at night
Thief at night, thief at night
Dependency has been a thief at night
Thief at night, thief at night