wellbeyond said:

Suuure, I do. I must not be very subtle about it, huh?

AzureStar said:

No, actually you must be too subtle, since I never noticed...lol.. 8)

wellbeyond said:

Yeah. See. I agree!

AzureStar said:

LoL...

Prince is not forcing anything on anyone. In his early days when most of his songs or his dialogue on stage was about sex nobody was complaining about him forcing anything on anyone. Because you liked that. You are not interested in his current beliefs etc, etc so you consider it forcing things on you. Springteen ,U2, Madonna have all voiced their beliefs on stage as well (Whatever they are) and nobody complains.

Spats said:

That's what eye'm saying!

Oh my God! I totally understand a human being wanting to improve their lives and become closer to whatever GOD they choose. But when you start force feeding fans that come to your concerts - that's wrong in my eyes. I have loved PRINCE since 1977 and I will continue to love the man, but I truly DO NOT like him preaching to me. When I pay my money (and mind you his tickets are usually very expensive, but worth it) to see a artist in concert, I want to see and hear what the videos and cd's offer me.

I was SO disappointed with the One Nite Stand concerts. I wanted to see the Freaky, Nasty, Funky, Sexy man that I have come to love. Not a preacher or religious person. He came on stage in a suit for godsakes. A suit?, since when does Prince where regular clothes?

Somebody help me, I want the FREAKY, NASTY, FUNKY, SEXY, world's greatest entertainer back!

Alice in Aurora, IL

Entertainers are Like Politicians you Go ALong with Certain things they say&if you dig them you Buy what they are about or you pick somebody else.you can Dig them but don't always Subscribe to there Point of view but overall you Respect them at the End of the day.

ezorabush said:

That's all it took for you to not like the ONA concert??...and by the way, Prince wore a suit onstage during the "Parade" years...looked damn good in it, too...

ezorabush said:

Well, obviously.

Aerogram said:

??? Huh ???

Spats said:

ezora: "I want Prince to be controversial again!"
Prince: "I believe God's name is Jehovah"
ezora: "No, I want prince to be MY definition of controversial!"


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[This message was edited Thu Jul 11 17:14:50 PDT 2002 by Universaluv]

Saffireseven said:

Just say "sure" to Aero and give him a subtle eyeroll, Saffire..lol 8)

Anxiety said:

That's true, but Madonna never took a moment during her US Tour to try and convert the concertgoers to "agree" with what she's believing. This is what Prince is doing. She keeps it to herself, she doesn't force it on her fans.

My opinion is that people are misconstruing P "forcing" his belief system onto them. In actuality, what I believe is happening is that they are uncomfortable with the awkward feelings P's words evoke within them. It's easier to sorta play the victim and say someone "made" you feel bad or weird than it is to take a deep look inside and figure out why you're feeling that way.

Hmmm...

AnotherLoverHoleinYoHead said:

Hmmm, indeed... Great to see yet another interesting take on all this...

AnotherLoverHoleinYoHead said:

What AnotherLover said. Along with Anxiety, Wellbeyond, Universaluv, Vgallo...

wellbeyond said:

Oh, the "hmmm" part was just my vibrator...

Seriously, though, I think that hearing something which doesn't "go with" our own belief system can initially feel awkward. Someone brought up in a very traditional or very liberal home environment, for example, who then ventures into unknown territory and experiences something quite different than what they've been taught, often encounters some major cognitive dissonance. Shock, disbelief, anger are all typical defense mechanisms used to protect the belief system and keep the person feeling comfortable and in his/her element. Some of us, ahem , feel secure enough in our core values/beliefs that hearing alternate viewpoints might inspire annoyance, disagreement, discourse, etc., but hardly would cause us to feel threatened or "forced" into anything...

Poopy-woopy-doopy edit shmedit message!
[This message was edited Thu Jul 11 17:44:01 PDT 2002 by AnotherLoverHoleinYoHead]

Saffireseven said:

All you have to do is read how Azure handled WB...

AnotherLoverHoleinYoHead said:

What you said. While I wasn't at the Celebration, most of the reports I read also mentioned how the other performers at the Celebration were made a point of mentioning what their personal beliefs, be it God, Buddha, etc.

Let's say you go to a friend's house that you've known for years. You're having dinner at his house, maybe there's a piano there, and your friend (or maybe his kid plays a few notes for your entertaiment). You start talking about different subjects, and religion comes up. You share your beliefs, your friend shares his. Maybe your viewpoints are different, but he's not forcing it on you. You're having a dialogue about contrasting beliefs that might briefly get intense, but you're still friends and agree to disagree.
A joke might even be said to lighten the mood a little bit and enjoy the rest of the evening. That was the vibe I was getting from the reports that were posted about the celebration.

For those who didn't enjoy Prince sharing his beliefs for the moments they were drained, it sounded like you still enjoyed the performance. You still retained your beliefs, and he made a joke to lighten the mood that he had 2 days to help you believe in God. That doesn't sound like a force-feeding.
Other artists share their beliefs momemtarily during performances and go on with the show. No one's obliged to agree with it. That's probably why he put the sticker TRC--
"the controversial new album from Prince"--because if anything, it's made people open up and discuss their belief, or non-belief, even if at times its been intense and emotional. Dialogue is better than none at all. My .02

SkletonKee said:

Yea man right on. And as he preaches more, the music he creates is less interesting. I'll take "The Cross" over "The Work" anyday!

Now if Prince tied up everyone in their chairs, made them listen to Tony M rapping for 3 hours straight and chanting, "jw, jw, jw, you will become jw..." that would be cruel and unusual punishment

No one should have any type of "belief" forced upon them at any juncture of their existence.

I understand that people evolve, and for Prince to embrace Jehovah or whatever is his decision by executing his "free will".

As for his music and his fans; well I feel NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO FORCE RELIGION OR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS ON ANYBODY. He should understand this, but on the other hand...if he wishes to pursue or make gospel music or religious music, sobeit! I cannot see him sustaining the loyal fan base with such a move, thus him making TRC transgression, but still leaving just a hint of sexuality in "The Mellow". He simply needs to make a decision as to whether he will make music for "Jehovah" or his fans. Either decision, he is "free" to make on his own, and just understand the consequences of the action or decision.

I don't embrace a "religion" for the simple fact that they are ALL "man-made" and for one to embrace a religion, they must first let go of there own minds and accept the perceptions of "another" and allow their thinking to supercede THEIR OWN. THAT makes absolutely no sense to me.

Peace2TheBeautiful 1's

DexMSR said:

I don't think he really "needs" to make such a choice. IMO, Sex and God aren't mutually exclusive. He's always mixed the Sexual and the Spiritual. Just now he's emphasizing the spiritual more.

Moreover, I think the "controversial" label he attached to TRC suggests that he does understand that there may be consequences to his views.

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[This message was edited Thu Jul 11 18:11:29 PDT 2002 by Universaluv]

LadyCabDriver said:

Good point. She just forced her GUITAR PLAYING on audiences. :-O

NPD313 said:

Really it's called freedom of speech, freedom of expression; in the same way, bands evoking a satanic worldview with imagery and beliefs and lyrics worshiping demon-craft would be offensive to others, but it's an artists right, and the consumer's choice to buy it.

Every individual does have free will to choose, as God intended, which is what our country was founded on.
I think it would be another case if Prince marched you into a Kingdom Hall at guitar-point making everyone kneel and pray. Really, though, his lyrics encouraging God have been going on for years. The reason he's so outspoken now, perhaps, is the effort of -- to proclaim the Good News of everlasting life to the masses, like the apostles. People weren't too keen on that then either. In fact, I recall one of them being crucified for it, well, that's another story...

What a nice mature discussion!
I certainly enjoyed everyone's views. (sigh)
So refreshing!

Aniexy said

"Good point. She just forced her GUITAR PLAYING on audiences'

(LOL) I bet that the guitar playing was more painful then Prince's preaching !!!


---

By the way people what is your definition of Preaching.
I have never heard Prince go into a 30 minute sermon at a concert.

All he has ever said is go with Christ or Happy Easter or Let Christ in your life.
I would hardly call that Preaching.Just because someone mentions a different belief is no reason to have a meltdown.

No one can force their beliefs on you.

People can get on this site and discuss Islam, Judism or Buddism and I am not going to flip out and never come to this site again. We do not have freedom of speech !!!

NPD313 said:

The JW/Watchtower-Society brainwashes its victims to live a life dedicated to attracting more victims into the organization's web ($$$). That's how cults operate. All the while indoctrinating its loyal drones with the belief that the organization is not a cult (nor a bottom-line driven enterprise) and anyone who actively and publicly criticizes the organization is an evil, lying agent of some satanic-like agenda of "disfellowshipped" former followers.
This sad behavior can be clearly observed here at prince.org by participating JW-apologists such as "Bibleteacher" and the like.

LeGrind said:

Yeah, plus they make you wear funny hats like in your avatar.