According to some reports, Derek Webb is in hot water with his record label about his new album, Stockholm Syndrome. The controversy is apparently over one of the songs on the album that includes the word "sh*t."
Knowing what little I know about Webb, my guess is that the use of a curse word isn't for shock value. (Although some of you reading this will faint, even though I didn't actually use the whole word.)
Webb is notorious for speaking his mind, regardless of who he offends, and he often tries to challenge the church with his lyrics. While I'm not exactly certain what the fuss is this time, it apparently has something to do with that song.
Then again ... is there really a problem with the new album?
I went to his website, and found it down, with just two emails from Webb on there talking about the problems between he and his label. The first was in some sort of code, with underscores scattered throughout the text. I went to his new Twitter account and found some cryptic posts about artifacts and clues. Ah, so is this some Lost-style scavenger hunt!!
A little more searching and I found a great article at the Christian Post that says, "A closer look revealed that the letters after each mark together spelled out 'paradiseisaparkinglot' - the .com domain of a website that appears to be part of an elaborate treasure hunt in which pieces of a song have been scattered and hidden as 'artifacts' across the nation."
Looks like maybe this is all just a publicity stunt. In fact, if you go to DerekWebb.net, you'll see a blog with all of the info.
Although, while I was at GMA in April, I heard a rumor that Derek Webb was starting something my source called the "Give A Sh*t" club. (It reminded me of that quote by Tony Campolo: "50,000 people around the world died of hunger today. That's bad, but what's worse is that most of us don't give a damn. But what's even worse is that for many of us it is more bothersome that I just said the word 'damn' than that I said 50,000 children of God died of hunger.") So if the whole pre-release publicity stunt ends up still offending most Christians, I wouldn't be surprised. Leave it to Derek Webb to come up with a creative, engaging way to draw us in and then rub our nose in the truth of our own hypocrisy or spiritual blindness.
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Jeff, define cursing. I once said the word "dang" in front of a Christian mom and her homeschooled children and she blanched. "You can't say that because we know what you really meant to say," she said. I replied, "Oh rats." :) I'd been with a group of devoutly Christian southerners on a mission trip and they said dang the whole week. If you're around folks from the UK, the word "bloody" is a serious curse word.
While I agree cursing like a sailor can definitely give the wrong impression, we have to remember that our language is a cultural thing and we give the words their meaning. If he can't say sh*t can he say shoot, and what's the difference if he meant the same thing?
It's a good discussion.
Joanne
host of the GS blog
Adam, thanks for that info! I wondered what the motivation was behind it. I had a feeling it was tied into a serious service project or something designed to really get people movitated to do something.
Thanks!
Joanne
host of the GS blog
"define cursing"..well, that seems to be in the eye (ears) of the beholder; like I said, perception is reality. I'm not saying that you don't want to do anything to offend anyone, because we all know that someone is going to be offended by something, no matter what.
I don't have a problem with him using the word, my only point is that he's turning off the people he is trying to reach. I do not think it is effective. His fans and those that understand where he's coming from (Adam, for instance) might get it 100%, but they are not the ones that need to change.
Adam, while I "obviously don't listen to his music", (I do, seen him in concert a few times with his wife, Sandra) I'm still allowed to have an opinion, after all, that's what comment sections are for!!
Jeff, that makes sense and is a very good point.
Thanks!
Joanne
host of the GS blog
Jeff I believe that is the point. We don't always need to preach to the lost sometimes we need to preach to the Churched. I believe that is all Derek is really trying to do is "wake up" the believers.
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