Tag Archives: Carrie Underwood

The Westboro Baptist Church – America’s Main Hate Group: A Dark Mark on Christianity

Westboro Baptist Church

You’d think that in 2012, a group that champions itself to be a church would also champion acceptance and forgiveness. That might be true to most denominations of Christianity today – except the Westboro Baptist Church.

Do you know why, according to WBC, the children in Connecticut got murdered by Adam Lanza? Do you know what’s their theory behind Victoria Soto protecting her entire first grade class as she lost her life execution-style?

It’s because of Carrie Underwood supporting same-sex marriage.

Yes, you read that right. Underwood who declared her support for marriage equality earlier in 2012 has brought the wrath of God upon this small town in Connecticut. “She pimped fag marriage. Blood of dead school kids on her hands!” WBC spokesperson tweeted to Underwood who at her concert of the night of the shooting held a moment of silence to commemorate the victims. You could’ve heard a pin drop in a crowd of 10,000 people. She also gave all proceedings of that night’s concert to charity.

It doesn’t stop there. The Westboro Baptist Church likes to crash funerals of American soldiers who died for their country, which is unacceptable regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum regarding the military practices of the United States. They are also preparing for protests at the funeral of the children who were shot in Sandy Hook Elementary. They’re set to ruin the last memory of these children by linking their untimely death to some crazy reason of their choice. If there was ever a time for guns, it would be that. If I were a parent at that funeral, I’d have my gun ready. Just in case.

Westboro Baptist Church - 2

American students forming a human barricade against the WBC at a soldier's funeral.

American students forming a human barricade against the WBC at a soldier’s funeral.

The Westboro Baptist Church which spreads its venomous message to whoever would listen are media whores. They jump on anything that receives national media attention in order to spread out their message. Their protests have also been deemed legal by the US Supreme Court.

With them gaining traction, some sane Americans decided they won’t have it anymore. A petition was started online to officially recognize this church as a hate group which would remove their tax-exempt status and hopefully slowly lead them to their extinction. The petition gained over 50,000 signatures in only a few hours. You can sign it here. As a person who will be doing his medical residency program in the United States in a couple of years, I wouldn’t want to come across these people in any way whatsoever. I have, therefore, signed it.

What the Westboro *so called Baptist* Church seems to entirely miss is the fact that everything they do contradicts the teachings of their supposed savior Jesus Christ whose message about love and acceptance, even if you don’t believe in religion, is one that people should follow in their every day lives. This “Church’s” actions are nothing short of hate and bigotry. What they do is so nauseatingly bad that they’ve become a massive dark mark on Christianity in the United States and the world.

There’s a way to be against same-sex marriage. There’s a way to be against abortion. There’s a way to be against the mainstream media. And that way isn’t Westboro’s way.

I know firsthand that being a Christian person doesn’t mean being like them. But if being Christian means I’d be associated with those people in any way whatsoever, I’m tempted I’ll have to reconsider. Oh men of weak faith. But I’d rather they leave my religion because they’re the ones tarnishing it with every word they speak, with every “God hates the soldiers” poster they hold at one of those soldiers’ funerals and with every moment they exist.

If the Westboro Baptist Church had been a group in the Middle East, rest assured the United States would have bombed the hell out of the country in which they resided. It’s high time the American government take a stance against those so obviously practicing mental and cultural terrorism on its land.

Talking about them might give them exposure – but I think we need to talk about them now in order to stop them once and for all. Jesus to Westboro Baptist Church: I do not approve of you. Sign the petition.

Two Black Cadillacs (Single Review) – Carrie Underwood

 

Carrie Underwood’s new single, off her platinum selling album Blown Away and as a follow up to one of 2012’s biggest country hits Blown Away, is Two Black Cadillacs, a song which sets an ominous tone the moment the first note strikes.

Two black Cadillacs driving in a slow parade. Headlights shining bright in the middle of the day. One’s for his wife, the other for the woman who loved him at night, Underwood sings as a dramatic melody plays in the background. She immediately throws us into the setting of a funeral where a preacher man is saying the man being buried was a good man and his brother says he was a good friend.

But the two women in the black veils have a secret to hide. The story could very well serve to make a movie drama and Underwood delivers it effortlessly in a few minutes.

Two months ago his wife found the number on his phone, turns out he’d been lying to both of them for far too long. They decided then he’d never get away with doing this to them, Underwood lets the plot thicken. The women, taking turns in lying a rose down on the coffin and throwing dirt into the deep ground, also have a secret to hide. So they share a crimson smile and leave their secret with the man they killed, at the grave, to die with them.

Two Black Cadillacs is a hauntingly dark song by Underwood that serves as a one-two punch by the country star as she delivers her album’s most critically acclaimed tracks as back to back singles. The darkness with which her tone delivers this song would make you think she’s lived these events herself but it’s only telling of the caliber that Underwood has turned into as a performer. As she sings “bye bye” to signal the women biding farewell to the man who betrayed them both, you can feel her voice pierce through.

Two Black Cadillacs is a song where the musicians playing couldn’t stop after it was done so they kept playing and playing. Part of them jamming is found on the album track and will probably be cut with the radio edit. The song goes fifty shades deep and is Underwood’s darkest and most thought-provoking single release to date. From the haunting thumping melody that is reminiscent of a funeral march to the rich and multi-layered storytelling lyrics, Carrie Underwood delivers. Releasing a “softer” song may have been a safer bet. But Underwood is here to let her detractors know that Blown Away was just a storm warning. Bye bye, bye bye. 

A.

Can’t Stop Loving You – Aerosmith & Carrie Underwood

Rock band Aerosmith have released their first single off their upcoming album, Music From Another Dimension, and it’s a country-influenced track with Carrie Underwood on the track.

[Tyler:]

I fell from Holy Moses Mountain
Where love’s a slippery slope
And all the others I’ve been hangin’ with
Never gave me too much rope
Then one day she came to me

Love at first sight head to toes

I love her wild, a mountain child

And let me tell ya how she goes

And here she climbs

And I can’t stop loving you
Cause it’s all I wanna do
Yeah the world needs more of this
Tell me what you put into that kiss
Now keep it comin’ on
Let me hear my favorite song
Yeah you’re all I wanna do
Cause I can’t stop loving you

[Underwood:]
Got me a good old timey cowboy
He got my picture on his fridge
And the first time that he kissed me
We was high up on the ridge
And then we came down from that mountain
On a ride with mama kin
And for all it costs for getting lost
There ain’t no better sin
Here we go again

You know I can’t stop loving you
Cause it’s all I wanna do
Yeah the world needs more of this
Tell me what you put into that kiss
Now keep it comin’ on
Let me hear my favorite song
Yeah you’re all I wanna do
Cause I can’t stop loving you

[Underwood + Tyler]
When I wake up and see your face
All wrapped up in that pretty lace
In fact there’s nowhere else I would rather be
Than all tied up in this rhapsody in blue

Hey, I can’t stop loving you
Cause it’s all I wanna do
Yeah the world needs more of this
Tell me what you put into that kiss
Now keep it comin’ on
Let me hear my favorite song
Yeah you’re all I wanna do
Cause I can’t stop loving you

Quick review: Not a bad song. Carrie Underwood sounds quite sultry on it, which is a departure of what she usually delivers. The country influence can be easily heard, which makes this song countrier than the current Billboard Hot country song. The rock style of it i also not very current, with prominent 80’s rock influence. Fans of both artists will like it as it’s not a drastic departure from the sound that they both usually offer.

7/10

Blown Away (Music Video) – Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood has released the music video for her second single (review) off her album of the same title (review): Blown Away.

After a few months of waiting and increasing hype, which culminated in a competition for radio stations for the right to hold a premiere for the music video, the video is finally here.

A few comments:

  • The video is very well done. The build up is intense albeit the ending was a bit disappointing and too colorful for my taste. A shot of the destroyed house to the backdrop of retreating storm clouds would have been more dramatic than the current way the video ends.
  • The Wizard of Oz inferences are present throughout: be it the yellow brick road, the tornado, plaid shirt, red shoes, scarecrow in the cellar and Carrie’s own puppy as Todo.
  • The relationship with the dad could have been illustrated a notch more. Instead of a history homework problem at the beginning, why couldn’t they take it to where the song clearly says the relationship is? The father looks like a drunk in the video – not an abusive father. You need to make that jump through the song but the video could have easily illustrated that.
  • There were small hints throughout the video that tie in very well with the song such as the main character touching a grave and walking through a cemetery around the lines “mama was an angel in the ground.”

Overall, one of Carrie’s best. Some of the comments above are merely being nitpicky about the video. But it’s truly, really, well-done.