I’m late to the side hugging party but this makes me angry on every level.Yes…angry.
Level 1. The message: I got saved in side huggin’ youth church. (A mega side huggin youth church at 500 strong, but a side huggin one all the same) There the ideology of front huggin is sin because its not God’s best for your life. And the oft used “How long will you hold hot coals to your chest” verse was thrown around freely. uhhhh, front hugging is a sin? Really? Unless she’s got D cups or larger (and not a size 20 pants) or you’re a perv side huggin doesn’t matter. I knew all the side hugging student leaders that were banging the girls they were side hugging so IT DIDN’T MATTER! The side huggin sex is the sin not the side hug.
2. The music: GARBAGE!!!!!
3. The method: Now, this might seem a bit over the top but here me out. Everytime I see a white suburban church do homegrown hip-hop, I get nervous. Not because I think it won’t be good, but because since its not their culture and therefore will be goofy at best and pertuating racial and cultural stereotypes at worst. If you want to reach hispanics, you don’t get a white guy to speak in a spanish accent and put “o” at the end of every word and call it using the spanish culture to reach people, do you? Of course not. Why? Because its ignorant at best and racially insensitive if not flat out racist at worst. I see stuff like the Side Hug and see them with the bandanas, baggy clothes, silly “rap” movements, gun shots and hardcore mexicans standing in the background and I’m just ugggggggghhh about it. I think its VERY unintentional but VERY much like the black face comedy sketches of the early and mid 20th century. “That’s what we do boo” WHAT?!?!?! Who do you call boo in Napa Valley, CA (where this was filmed)
I know that’s a hardline to take after the whole Deadly Vipers thing but I’ve been seeing this FAILED attempt at contextualization and others like it and I just get mad.
I wonder if the follow up to this is “Gimme dat Christian Man Hug” because two armed hugs from men are homosexual….
7 Comments
OMG! Steve…*standing ovation*…you said exactly what I was thinking. Almost verbatim!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you for this post and your perspective.
Wow, you are completely right. While it might be :funny: for these people, it has no gospel context, thus should be left out of church- even youth church. Also- even though they are mocking it, the more you talk about something the more people will start to take it for real.
You do realize this was a spoof from a post on the SCL site right? http://stuffchristianslike.net/2008/04/106-the-side-hug/
At the top of his post he said it’s not related to the video but that means he didn’t put out the video.
Now if you were to have an objection to the spoof as if it where mocking the rap community I guess I could see your point. But on the whole both the original post and the rap video where done in jest and not to be taken seriously.
BILLY!!! How you doing man. I wish I could I’ve been in your church for the “Rhythm” message. Hope to connect with you guys in “Wistah”. LOL!
(On to the post)
I’m familiar with SCL, and yes that blog and (soon to be book)was done in jest. But make no mistake about it, if you’ve been in the settings like I have that made the SCL blog post relevant you’d know that this was a teaching opportunity. I’ve sat in youth services and been in church cultures that teach the side hug is the “holy” way to reach people. If you’ve been in those circles and you listen to the verbiage they use in the song, you’d notice this goes beyond satire in to an aspect of seriousness.
The element of seriousness is what makes Satire and sarcasm funny…
While i agree places that actually teach this stuff are crazy and dangerous the post and the rap are satires. and weren’t written or preformed in a way that they were hoping to be taken as serious.
Stupid…. i was more angered than entertained by that garbage.
That video is completely ridiculous. I truly despise it.