It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
According to an interview with the artist, the image is intended to be “reverent.”
This album is my prayer for America," he explained of the artwork, which shows the rapper kneeling on a U.S. flag in a Muslim prayer pose.
"Unless you are absolutely convinced that all of Islam is against you as an American, you should only see it as me treating the flag reverently."
Brother Ali is, without a doubt, one of the country’s pre-eminent Caucasian Muslim rappers, and I’m in no position to pass judgment on his work. The last rap tune I bought was “The Humpty Dance.” Ali has made appearances for the local Occupy movement when they protested evictions, and spoken out against antigay lyrics in rap. (Good for him, although it reminds me again that while I see rainbow flags outside half the churches in my progressive neighborhood, I wonder how many you see fluttering outside of mosques.) I may disagree with his politics and opinions, but it sounds as if he has overcome personal chaos with the strength of faith. You could say it's all show, an attempt to stand out in a crowded field, but there's not that many guys from Wisconsin who decide to go to Mecca as a career move.
But. That album cover. Two points.
Point #1 Do his intentions matter?
While listening to the BBC today I heard an interview with a California church singled out by the Southern Poverty Law Center - “an organization that monitors hate groups,” and thus utterly neutral and trustworthy, of course; the very act of dedicating yourself to the task proves you’re on the side of the angels. The interviewer, having been informed that the church endorsed the "Innocence of Muslims" YouTube video, badgered the pastor about supporting hate, sounding as though he had a film of sour jam around his teeth as he spoke. The pastor asked the interviewer to explain how the film was inaccurate. There wasn’t any response to that, but the earnestness of the pastor and all that JEEESUS talk was supposed to say it all.
Then the Southern Poverty Law Center spokesperson said that the church wasn’t violent, but such extremism, combined with easy access to firearms, made for a worrisome situation.
The impetus for the story, just to recap, was a video that supposedly made people on the other side of the world rise up in murderous rage, which had nothing to do with the church in the profile, except that they endorsed its sentiments. They do not believe that Mohammed was a prophet. I suspect the interviewer didn’t, either, but of course he said “The prophet Mohammed” whenever the subject arose.
It’s just easier all around that way. You get less mail.
Anyway. The video was intended to offend, so that’s one of the reasons to justify whatever befalls its makers - and, by extension, to tar those who don’t denounce it. This only applies if the offended group has an established predisposition to burn things and hurt people; the artist should have been aware of this, and hence tempered his speech accordingly.
If something is not intended to offend, should we accept the artist’s intentions above our own reactions?
If something is created with the knowledge that it will probably be misinterpreted and cause offense, is the artist responsible for the reaction to the misinterpretation?
The old whipping-horse Piss Christ is back in the news, for example. It’s a lovely work. It really is. The artist has stated it’s not anti-religious, but intended to deplore “commercializing or cheapening of Christian icons in contemporary culture.” No one thinks of that, of course, because he gave it a cheap gaudy name that pulled a big McLuhan: the medium is literally the message, and the sensationalist title swamps any discussion of its aesthetics, its intention, or the artist’s expressed intention to use bodily fluids as a means of combining the sacred and the physical. (Or so he says.)
Intentions, in other words, are just one element we should bring to our understanding of a piece of art. They might not assuage our objections, but at least we grasp the full spectrum of complexity that surrounds contentious ideas in a free society.
That’s one point. Let me now turn off my Art History college-minor brain.
Point #2: Oh, to hell with all that. Dear Brother Ali: the flag is not a prayer rug. Stand up and fold it right and go to a VFW hall where they’ll tell you what should be done with a flag that’s been treated like that.
Shame on you.
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Comments:
Jul '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
So...does this mean it's "understandable" for us to riot and burn stuff now?
Isn't that how this works?
Jul '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
"Unless you are absolutely convinced that all of Islam is against you as an American, you should only see it as me treating the flag reverently."
If I kneel on the rapper's throat, unless he's convinced that I'm against him as an American, he should only see it as me treating him reverently.
Laughable. The core of all of this is: He sells records for a living, and this helps him sell more records.
But the larger double-standard issue still stands: I am now waiting for apologies from the Barry Administration and the State Department for the inflammatory icons put forth by this artist, and I await his being hauled off to jail in the middle of the night by 30 sheriffs.
May '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Forward!
Nov '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
"Brother Ali is, without a doubt, one of the country’s pre-eminent Caucasian Muslim rappers . . . ." Wonderful.
Nov '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
My patriotic feelings have been hurt. Someone better make with the apologizing before I go to Wal-Mart and buy another "These Colors Don't Run" bumper sticker, or some other heinous act.
Jul '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
I'll take point 2.
May '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
I'll also take point 2. But I'm inclined to give the good brother the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was never a Boy Scout, nor learned the proper treatment of the flag in public school.
Mar '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Re: the SPLC. Groups like this operate a kind of "soft fascism", where they declare your ideas... even your groups very existence... unacceptable, and then the media supports them, building pressure to legally ban your group and/or ideas. Keep in mind, the SPLC is the bunch that branded the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), a group that mainly consists of old ladies that put flowers and flags on old Confederate graves, as a "hate group".
I live in the Montgomery area, and you should see the SPLC headquarters building. The old one looked like just another ugly glass Mid-Mod building , the kind you saw going up like cheap gas stations in the 60's and 70's. But they turned that place into a "civil rights museum", and built a new HQ across the street. It looks like Robocop HQ or something, Steel and reinforced concrete, with parts angled and shaped to prevent assault . It just screams "Fortress Mentality", especially surrounded by all the beautiful old buildings. It looks like some conquering alien race landed and put their military HQ right in the middle of the old civilization.
Jul '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
"Treating the flag reverently"? He's not praying to the flag, he's using it as a barrier between himself and the unclean earth. In other words, he's treating it as a means, not an object of reverence.
Suppose I'm trying to reach a crucifix that happens to be on a high shelf. It's just out of my reach. I grab a nearby object to give me a boost; let's say it happens to be my copy of the Koran. I hop up, grab the crucifix, and go merrily on my way. Have I treated the Koran "reverently"?
(If I film myself doing it, will I get a phone call from the nice folks at the State Department?)
Edited on October 1, 2012 at 3:22pmApr '12
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Being an open minded fella, the fatwa I issue against Brother Ali is just for a partial stoning and a boot in the ass. He has sided with the enemy and at some point will pay the appropriate price. Choices have consequences. He has chosen poorly....
Sep '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Thanks, James. Your thoughts (and prose) are a good antidote to what ails our nation these days. Great way to start the week.
May '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
"Unless you are absolutely convinced that all of Islam is against you as an American, you should only see it as me treating the flag reverently."
Well, I'm not absolutely convinced, yet, I guess, but... I must admit I'm beginning to wonder...
And, if this guy has to tell me how to "see it," he hasn't done his job as an artist. Like a comedian who has to explain the joke.
A crass stunt to gin up sales. That's how I "see it."
Jul '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
I find the symbolism of the act offensive, both from a religious and a patriotic standpoint. If I'm staring at the Stars and Stripes while I pray, that's taking my attention away from something much, much more important; my relationship with God and the time I've taken out of my day to pray to him. Islam abhors such imagery, mixing the spiritual and sacred with the material and non-spiritual. All it does is increase what lies between you and God. And I agree with all statements above that this guy really needs to learn the proper respect for and treatment of the flag.
Apr '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Brilliant, Mr. Lileks; thank you.
I'll send this to my 88 year old father before he heads to the VFW tonight for his Monday night supper.
Nov '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Perhaps he should be more precise concerning what he means by "reverent". Does he mean that it's an homage to America?
It should be noted that he has provided a rather poignant image for Muslims. So the relevant question may be "what will this mean to a muslim?"
It should be noted that, in Islamic anti-American protests the two most common acts are (1) burning the flag; and (2) putting the flag underfoot to be tread upon. But what significance, specifically, can we draw from the prayer mat?
Images of people or animals must not appear on a prayer rug. So geometrical patterns and architectural images are most common. The U.S. flag is thus appropriate. The location of one's prayer is important because it is a sign of dominance. This is why, after conquest, Islamic societies take over churches and synagogues for mosques, making them waqf. Possession (by "Islam") and dominance (over other religions) are primary themes in Islam.
For the same reason Muslims wish to establish mosques in airports, hospitals and schools in the west, and hold mass prayers in Europeans streets, stopping traffic. It's "marking your territory".
Now ... the flag?
May '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Maybe it's like the Stations of the Cross, and America is the next station in global jihad.
James Lileks:
If something is not intended to offend, should we accept the artist’s intentions above our own reactions?
A good artist controls the range of reasonable interpretations.
Aug '12
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
My My My. An inconsequential YouTube video supposedly offends Muslims and they set the world on fire. Yet this guy performs an act that offends millions of Americans and we're supposed to be passive about.
Nov '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Not just supposed to be. We will be.
Jun '10
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
Wylee Coyote: So...does this mean it's "understandable" for us to riot and burn stuff now?
Isn't that how this works? · 6 hours ago
Where and when are we to meet with the torches and pitchforks?
Update: Sorry, that was a bit too much. I'm calm now. Perhaps we could write some really ticked-off letters to editors.
Edited on October 1, 2012 at 4:13pmDec '11
Re: It's Reverent. Your Objections are Misguided.
I know this is an odd thought. What would stop flag companies from putting a few Islamic verses in small print on the US flag? The print would be small enough not to anyway affect the design but larger enough to make burning or disrespecting an American flag an act of blasphemy. It certainly would take a lot out of the celebration if they knew they had broken one of the main tenet of Islam. Also I wonder how Ali would feel about photoshopping an Arab flag for his prayer rug. I think it would be more "edgy" and make him "popular" in the Arab world.