{"id":11382,"date":"2012-02-14T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=11382"},"modified":"2012-02-14T11:16:10","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T17:16:10","slug":"nicki-minaj-a-grammy-performance-sacrilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/nicki-minaj-a-grammy-performance-sacrilege\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicki Minaj, A Grammy Performance & Sacrilege"},"content":{"rendered":"
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flickr.com\/macsurak<\/p><\/div>\n

This is not the first time a music entertainer has taken a low blow to the Catholic Church. There was Madonna, Sinead O’Connor’s ’92 SNL performance and just a year ago, Lady Gaga’s leaked release of her single “Judas” (about, you guessed it, Judas Iscariot) just seven days before the beginning of Holy Week. However, just because this has happened before doesn’t make it any less confusing, offensive or any less inappropriate.<\/p>\n

Without recapping what she specifically did, Ms. Minaj’s Grammy performance mocked Catholic traditions including Reconciliation and the Rite of Exorcism and also included among other things a choir singing “O Come All Ye Faithful” as a Bishop attempted to exorcise a demon from Ms. Minaj herself.<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, the reactions were just as you would expect them to be. These two are tweets from two popular Catholic artists, Matt Maher and Audrey Assad.<\/p>\n

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What frustrated me (besides her performance) was the comments on my Facebook and Twitter feeds saying that there was nothing wrong with Nicki Minaj’s performance. Some even went so far as to applaud her artistic expression. One individual wrote that they “understood why some people may have gotten offended by her performance” but seeing what Nicki’s new musical material is about they “applaud her for taking risks and going for a performance so unique”.<\/p>\n

Hold up, I’m sorry. There is nothing that deemed Nicki Minaj’s performance to be unique or risky. She simply mocked Catholics and Catholic traditions and tried to pass it off as art. Worst of all, she was allowed to do so by those who organized the Grammys.This performance was not an accident or a sneaky last minute change by the performer. It was methodically planned, rehearsed and executed all with the approval of the sponsoring organization, The Recording Academy. Would Nicki Minaj have been allowed to perform the same song if she was mocking Islamic or Judaic traditions?<\/p>\n

Aside from her performance, I can’t help but think of those teenagers and young girls who view Ms. Minaj as a role model. Recently on the Ellen Show,<\/a> Ellen featured two girls from London, aged 5 and 8, who performed a part of Nicki Minaj’s song “Super Bass”. These girls are jumping around in their pink tutus, princess crowns and pink glittered microphones singing word for word a song about men who do and sell drugs, drink and party. I even spotted these two little girls on the red carpet of the Grammy’s no doubt there to support the rap star.<\/p>\n

In a flurry of tweets by Catholic artists (like the ones above), blogger’s responses and numerous news articles in both secular and religious media, the Catholic League<\/a> and President Bill Donohue released a press release Monday morning entitled “Is Nicki Minaj Possessed?<\/a>” commenting on the Grammy performance.<\/p>\n

He writes,<\/p>\n

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It is bad enough that Catholics have to fight for their rights vis-a-vis a hostile administration in Washington without having to fend off attacks in the entertainment industry. The net effect, however, will only embolden Catholics as well as their friends in other faith communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He’s right. We Catholics have seemed to come under attack from all angles – the government infringing upon the rights of freedom of religion, the abortion rights debate and attacks from the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n

But, we have to remember, that this was just one performance of a young woman seeking attention in a music industry were drugs, sex, scantily clad women and alcohol seem to be the norm. Her songs, music videos and performances are riddled with indecency and immorality. It was a childish attempt by Ms. Minaj to shock and entertain her fans and it came of as ridiculous.<\/p>\n

In a small way, I feel sorry for Ms. Minaj, sorry that she feels the only way to gain attention and popularity is to take a stab at the Catholic Church, over one billion strong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is not the first time a music entertainer has taken a low blow to the Catholic Church. There was Madonna, Sinead O’Connor’s ’92 SNL performance and just a year ago, Lady Gaga’s leaked release of her single “Judas” (about, you guessed it, Judas Iscariot) just seven days before the beginning of Holy Week. However,… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[55,94,564,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-11382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-catholic-2","8":"tag-current-events","9":"tag-elizabeth","10":"tag-pop-culture","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26605,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/catholic-frenemies\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":0},"title":"Catholic Frenemies","author":"Rita Suva","date":"November 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Towards both God and others, at times we\u2019re like Peter, at other times like Paul, sometimes we\u2019re like John and even other times we\u2019re like (doubting) Thomas. But what worries me the most is when we\u2019re like Judas. Because when we\u2019re like Judas, we often act as a frenemy. Frenemies.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21064,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/funwithinfaith\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":1},"title":"Having Fun (and a Few Laughs) Within the Faith","author":"Rita Suva","date":"August 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As a Youth Ministry I have an eclectic set of things in my office at work. I have pens on the shelf next to softballs, I have Catholic Youth Bibles next to candles and a slew of board & card games next to paper. I have crosses on my walls,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/McKayla-and-Sistine-Chapel-236x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":31213,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/connecting-2012s-dots\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":2},"title":"Connecting 2012’s Dots","author":"Elizabeth","date":"December 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have this favorite quote from Steve Jobs. Now, before you accuse me of fangirling, just know that I try not to be one of those Apple users (you know, the ones that just won't stop talking about the newest i-whatever) but this particular quote from his 2005 commencement speech\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dots1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/dots1-300x120.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15310,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/animals-with-catholic-captions\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":3},"title":"Animals with Catholic Captions","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the best things about being Catholic is the hope and joy we have in our faith. Jesus Christ is truly Risen! He is risen indeed! Sometimes, we Catholics take ourselves too seriously. We live in a Good Friday world but we are an Easter people and alleluia is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/jumping-animal.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11160,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/two-guys-a-girl-and-a-catholic-podcast-episode-43-circle-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":4},"title":"Two Guys a Girl and a Catholic Podcast Episode 43 – Circle of Life!!","author":"2GGCP","date":"February 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Episode 43 [powerpress] Current Events: HHS story picking up steam in the MMS http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/3036789\/ns\/msnbc_tv-morning_joe\/#46294134 Tweet from Joe Scarborough @joenbc I'm not Catholic but I must say I am stunned by the open bigotry shown toward people of the Catholic faith. EWTN sues the U.S. government over the contraception mandate. http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/ewtn-sues-us-government-over-contraception-mandate\/\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/2guysagirl\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/2GGCP-LOGO2-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33007,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/01\/st-anthony-and-catholic-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":11382,"position":5},"title":"St Anthony and Catholic Animals","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"January 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the United States, we often celebrate St Francis of Assisi as the great friend of animals in october. There are ever many parishes that even have pet blessings, but many other cultures do this in January. January 17th was the feast of St Anthony the Abbot, and many places,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Young Adult"","block_context":{"text":"Young Adult","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/young-adult\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"StAnthony","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/StAnthony.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}