Ke$ha, the Anti-Christ? You decide.

*Disclaimer #1: This post contains discussion about Ke$ha and her lyrics. If you are a Ke$ha fan, well...I'm sorry for you. In many ways.

*Disclaimer #2: You may wonder why I chose Ke$ha's lyrics to pick on and criticize, when the reality is that there are no doubt thousands of artists that could've been chosen instead. I understand that. But I am only one person, who has only one blog, with a limited amount of time to explore such a huge topic.

Plus, she uses a money symbol in place of an "S". And that's just annoying.

This is Ke$ha:

She hit the scene pretty strong about this time last year with her first single "Tik-Tok". Honestly, I actually remember some of my friends and even former students complaining about her on facebook, acknowledging the vulgarity in her lyrics and musing at how nobody really seemed to think that those lyrics were a big deal. Again, to reiterate, she is certainly not the only artist out there with less-than-pure messages in her songs. In fact, while I'm on the topic, I'll mention that I was horrified this summer when I learned that a friend of mine loved to watch her 5-year-old daughter dance to Katy Perry's "California Girls" video, a video which includes a scantily-clad Katy singing things like:

"Sex on the beach, we don't mind sand in our stilettos
we freak in the jeep, Snoop Doggy-Dog on the stereo...
Sun-kissed skin, so hot, we'll melt your popsicle."

Sure, a 5-year-old probably doesn't know what the word "freak" means in this context, but why open that door so early?

Before I go any further, let me share with you bits and pieces of Ke$ha's hit songs that are played on the radio. For discussion's sake, I'm not going to edit any of this, because the radio only edits very little.

"Blah Blah Blah"
Coming out your mouth with your blah blah blah
Zip your lips like a padlock
And meet me in the back with the jack and the jukebox
I dont really care where you live at
Just turn around boy and let me hit that
Don't be a little bitch with your chit chat
Just show me where your dick's at...

Stop ta-ta-talking that
Blah blah blah
Think you'll be getting this?
Nah nah nah
Not in the back of my
Ca-a-ar
If you keep talking that
Blah blah blah blah blah

Boy come on get your rocks off
Come put a little love in my glove box
Wanna dance with no pants on?
(Holler)
Meet me in the back with the jack and the jukebox
So cut to the chase kid
'Cause I know you don't care what my middle name is
I wanna be naked
And you're wasted..."

"Take it Off"
And now we lookin' like pimps
In my gold Trans-Am.
Got a water bottle full of whiskey
In my handbag.
Got my drunk text on
I'll regret it in the mornin'
But tonight
I don't give a
I don't give a
I don't give a

There's a place downtown,
Where the freaks all come around.
It's a hole in the wall.
It's a dirty free for all.

N-now we're getting so smashed.
Knocking over trash cans.
Eurbody breakin' bottles
It's a filthy hot mess.
Gonna get faded
I'm not the designated
Driver so
I don't give a..."

But here, in her song "We are Who we Are", is what realllllly got me.

"Hot and dangerous
If you're one of us, then roll with us
'Cause we make the hipsters fall in love
And we've got hot-pants on enough
And yes of course we does we're running this town just like a club
And no, you don't wanna mess with us
Got Jesus on my necklace-ess

I've got that glitter on my eyes
Stockings ripped all up the side
Looking sick and sexy-fied
So let's go-o-o (Let's go!).."

Now, those lyrics are actually pretty mild. But when I heard this song on the radio and heard her quip about having Jesus on her necklace, I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. I wanted to somehow reach through my radio and slap Ke$ha around a bit.

But why?

My initial reaction was: Wait, Ke$ha, you can't talk about Jesus like that; it's blasphemy. In my mind, Jesus was hurt by being thrown into this song just like another vulgarity. I felt that because her lyrics are so terribly distasteful, that Jesus wouldn't possibly want to be associated with her or her songs.

Since when did I become so self-righteous that it was up to me to determine who and what Jesus wants to be associated with?

Christopher and I have a subscription to Relevant Magazine, a liberal but Christian-based magazine that explores both Christian and secular issues, music, books, artists, etc. In this month's issue, Dan Haseltine, lead singer of Christian band Jars of Clay, has an article entitled "Can Offensive Art Be Christian?" (I've posted a link below that will take you to the magazine's website and directly to the current issue. Simply scroll through the issue until you come to pages 34-35.)



In this article, Haseltine explores the mindsets of Christians who are easily offended by anything vulgar. He uses Insane Clown Posse, a notoriously obscene band pictured below, as an example.

"Earlier this year, they proclaimed their allegiance to God and Jesus in a song called "Miracles", which included lyrics like F***ing magnets, how do they work?
The knee-jerk reaction from most of the faith community was to simply dismiss ICP as absurd. However, in the messy realm of thoughtful critique, I was compelled to look more closely. The mere fact that something so crass and unabashedly twisted was being corralled under the banner of Christian exangelism had me thinking. It was almost as if God was saying: 'You think you know me? You think you understand how far I will go to pursue my people? You think you know who I can and cannot use or what language I will or won't redeem? Check this out!'"

Haseltine continues:

"We have come so far from reflecting the rebel Jesus in our art and cultural engagement that we do not recognize Him when He surfaces. I still wrestle with the fact that Jesus hung out with prostitutes not simply to tell them what they were doing wrong, but to love them where they were...if ever there was an arrogance perpetuated in the Church, our art is to blame. Our art describes the world where we live. We don't spend enough time with prostitutes and outlaws, drunks and addicts. We don't write about lust and fear and greed and obesity and broken things. We relegate our art to the way we wish the world should be and not how it actually is. We are only offended because we forget the kinds of depravity we could reach if not for God's grace...the only thing that should offend us is art that lies."

Shew. That's tough for me to swallow. Growing up as a Southern Baptist in the Bible belt, I was taught that there is no room for anyting "un-pure" in my Christian walk. Admittedly, I've always carried a sense of guilt when I listen to music or watch movies that most certainly aren't perceived in the community as "Christian". My favorite secular band, Third Eye Blind, write and sing mostly about sex and drugs. Granted, they do so in a way that couldn't be more different from Ke$ha or Lil Wayne, but none the less, they explore both subjects. Who am I to say that Third Eye Blind sings about sex in a "beautiful, artistic manner" but Ke$ha does not? Obviously, as a Chrisian, I know I have to take in secular art with a filter, firmly acknowledging what can be harmful to my own relationship with God and what can lead to further sinful temptations. God does instruct us to strive to dwell in things that are pure. Philippian 4:8 says:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

God may not love the content of Ke$ha's songs, but He does love Ke$ha.



And I won't pretend that I don't roll my eyes when I reluctantly admit that since God loves Ke$ha, I do too.


But just a little.