Jebus Christ Superstar: My Response to Jesus Walks by Sandra (The Holy Blogle)

In Sandra’s post on Kanye West’s Jesus Walks, from his debut album The College Dropout, I agree with her point that the song effectively presents the Christian message that the everlasting presence of Jesus Christ lies within every human being. Furthermore, I appreciate the seeming irony in the fact that Kanye made a song about Christ, despite his frequent brash, arrogant and frequently “non-Christian” behaviour. However, I disagree with the fact this irony is due to the fact the West misrepresents what it means to be Christian. In my opinion, Kanye West didn’t make this song with the intention of giving the impression to his listeners that he accurately portrays what it means to be Christian. In one of the lines of the song he even says:

And I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs/

(Jesus Walks with me)

I want to talk to God but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long/

I think that Kanye makes it clear that he, and most of society, by definition, are in fact poor Christians, yet despite our flaws, Jesus will forgive us for them. He focuses on the internal struggle that the many modern Christians face in a society filled with racism, violence, drugs and poverty, as highlighted in the lines:

To the hustlas, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers/

To the victims of Welfare for we living in hell here hell yeah/

If Jesus Walks was a song about changing ones life in order to life guided by the light of God, then I definitely would agree that Kanye West would be an inappropriate person to be singing the song and the link to Michael and the rest of the Corleone Family justified. However, this song is about the sins Christians commit and that Jesus will ultimately forgive us for, perhaps making “Kane” the best person to sing this song.

Kanye Behaving Badly:

Exhibit A: Kanye West claiming President George W. Bush is a Racist on live television: