"[Prince discriminates] between black and white folks, between colored and white folks, between religious and non religious folks, between JW's with "accurate knowledge of God and His law" and non JW's with unaccurate knowledge, between fams and fans, between Jews and African Americans, between Moors and white European "barbarians", who lived ages ago..."

As was written on t'other thread. And it's true.

"[Prince discriminates] between black and white folks, between colored and white folks, between religious and non religious folks, between JW's with "accurate knowledge of God and His law" and non JW's with unaccurate knowledge, between fams and fans, between Jews and African Americans, between Moors and white European "barbarians", who lived ages ago..."

As was written on t'other thread. And it's true.

Dammit, I told y'all I didn't want to get up, but...
I have no choice.

read this thread again, s'ilvous plait.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Stop reading my mind!

Prince getting people to sit in different seats in a gig according to their beliefs is creating a division, is it not?

And he is doing the same thing in his songs and his preaching.

Please don't patronize me.

Prince getting people to sit in different seats in a gig according to their beliefs is creating a division, is it not?

And he is doing the same thing in his songs and his preaching.

DIVISIVE: Creating dissension or discord.

DISCORD: Lack of agreement among persons, groups or things. Tension or strife resulting from a lack of agreement; dissension.

***

I constantly hear Prince referred to as "divisive" when it comes to spiritual or racial topics. But obviously any "lack of agreement" there may be amongst his diverse fanbase exists already, it's just not readily discussed b/c most often we're collectively wrapped up in the bliss of a song, the anticipation of a tour, a funky utopia where nothing matters but the music. I suppose that's fair - it's what we know of him, what we've come to expect, what we love about the way his music makes us feel... but how many of us realize that feeling of unity via the funk is indeed momentary? An illusion? That you can cling to it if you want but something WILL inevitably (@ least momentarily) shake you out of it?

Instead of blaming Prince for that shake, we need to look @ ourselves. Prince is NOT divisive. The divisions are already there among people who disagree despite any unawareness of disagreement. And agreement will never occur w/o the presence of truth, the ability to look @ truth, & ulitmately the acceptance of truth. Now PLEASE hear this - I'm not saying Prince knows "the truth" about religion or race history. But I am saying it's wrong to fault him b/c of your inability to discuss issues that are very real in the world (even if it's not your world). It's wrong to hold him responsible for your illusion, i.e. "we were fine before he said this, this & that... why can't we just dance?"

Everything is not fine & has never been. And just as you are allowed (encouraged even) to grow & learn all you can, so can he - why hold him to a lesser standard? Should he never feel free to bring something else to the table? To speak his mind? Anything more than skimming the surface of race or religion is extremely hard for some to even consider, let alone discuss rationally. He gets nailed w/ terms like "racist" & "divisive" when he's only doing what he's always done by speaking his mind & sharing what's on his heart. Yet that practice isn't appreciated on the whole, only when it suits our individual needs - how fair is that?

I think some people feel betrayed when Prince does anything other than promote that cozy utopia, make you feel sexy & compliment the veil you're wearing. How dare he even have a thought that might actually make you lift that thing, let alone share it. And let me repeat, I ain't sayin he knows the way & to digest his version of "truth" word for word. Find the truth for yourself, just don't be mad @ him b/c he's exercising his right as a thinking being w/ a pen & paper.

It's appauling the way folks want nothing more than to shut him down as quickly as possible if he dares to ponder something different from what your ear is ready to hear. Prince is a grown-ass man, not a puppet. As much as I'd like him to sing Red House instead of Purple House, he's gonna do it the way he wants (LOL). As much as some don't want so much religion in his music (me being one of them) or worship of any particular slant, he's gonna inject as much as he wants of whatever variety he wants. As much as some don't wanna think about his race, he's gonna throw out a reminder every now & again for those that forget. He does what he feels - it's his life, his path. He's not divisive, but the feelings WE have about certain topics are. Point the finger where it belongs - stop glaring @ him for a moment & take a good look @ yourself...



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[This message was edited Thu May 22 8:13:21 PDT 2003 by CalhounSq]

Or are you just wildly flinging your around to see where it sticks?

I know that this is just an online fan community but I feel great sadness in my heart for what has transpired over these last couple of days.

stymie said:

That was a very articulate piece Calhoun, thank you.

I must say that just because we all like Prince's music, that doesn't mean we all have to share the same ideology.

I'm a huge believer in people being individuals, and having different opinions and ideas about the world around them - but with that notion comes the huge responsibility of tollerance.

Without individualism, there is no need for tollerance, but I would rather take the burden of tollerance than lose my individuality.

I know that this is just an online fan community but I feel great sadness in my heart for what has transpired over these last couple of days.

stymie said:

then u must have been asleep..GD forum has had this atmosphere for many months.

VelvetSplash said:

blah blah blah yappity yap...propaHahndist

"[Prince discriminates] between black and white folks, between colored and white folks, between religious and non religious folks, between JW's with "accurate knowledge of God and His law" and non JW's with unaccurate knowledge, between fams and fans, between Jews and African Americans, between Moors and white European "barbarians", who lived ages ago..."

As was written on t'other thread. And it's true.