Should The Government Stop The 50 Cents Concert?

Why?

Do they have the right?

Let us know what you think!

The Government should not stop 50cent or the other antisipated artisits from coming or performing. Even if they do would they even have a valid reason? We have denied your request for a liscence bacause the christian coucil does not approve of you. Or We have denied your liscence because we dont think our people should'nt be listening to your lirics? I think the reasons for opposing the consert goes far more that lirics, background and moral issues. I think it's also because some people don't like how artists from the U.S. and the Carribbean can come in, get full support of young audiences and leave hundreds of thousands of dollars richer. And then some Bahamian artists rolls and and don't evn recieve a handclap.

It's seems to me that the christian council is alowed to rule the affairs of this country and the government is their puppet. It's like the council has this hold over government's actions. First its the easter beach party, then halloween, then harry potter ( which is a perfectly harmless movie about magic and seems impossible to possess children's minds into thinking they can do that stuff) and now they want to stop every rapper that wants to perform live. The decicion of the council should only be taken as an opinion and not as the supreem and final word. Especially in a democratic country that provides freedom of choice, speech, religion and opinion.

The government should be able to pass and enforce laws free of any religious opinion, whether its christian, islamic, or jewish. Preventing him or any artists from coming will not help anything or prevent anything other than a traffic jam and garbage pollotion. 50cent, G-unit and the rest are already here, he is on the radio, tv, on peoples shelves, in cd players, the lirics are in peoples heads and is recited openly and freely in public without ridicule and without permission of the christian council.

I guess pastor Cedric Moss and the Christian Council have become our Reverand Jerry Fallwel with their moral majority crusades. Let me say this once again for the benefit of those individuals who may not have heard it before. NEVER allow the church and state to institute moral laws for our bahamaland. It just does not work in practice. That incestuous amalgamation of power and influence have proven to be a volatile and an oppressive mix at best throughout history and also an impediment to modern values and ideas. Parents ought to decide if their children will see 50 Cents concert, not the state and definitely not that unelected group call the Christian Council. The very name 'Christian Council' implies discrimination and intolerance not to mention their utterances in public so why should any one listen to them anyway. Governments should not be pandering to the wishes of a few repressed old men pretending to serve the good of society when in fact they are merely looking out for their own survival.

50 Cents is a threat to people like Cedric Moss and the Christian Council. 50 Cent threatens their power base, the young and the impressionable. He is a direct threat to their popular influence over the masses. 50 cents is an assault on the establishment they have erected in their honor. The very ideals these men of the cloth cherish, he tramples upon with his lewd lyrics so they want him kept away, as if his physical absence will lessen the effect of his music and their mental torture. 50 Cents should be hidden far away from these ideal island shores never again listened to or look upon, in fear that he might awaken in the Christian Council minds the reality that it is but a short time before their inevitable demise. The Christian Council is not afraid of 50 cents because he might corrupt our youth, they are afraid that he might awaken in our kids the desires left unfulfilled by a useless institution called the church.

Let each man work out his own salvation!:angel:

My 50 cents

I’ll have to agree with the Christian council on the matter of denying rapper 50 cent the opportunity to have a concert here in the Bahamas. Actually though, forget about the Christian council for a second, this is MY opinion.

The problem with the black race is that we have slowly but surely allowed ignorance to prevail, as long as we are making money from it. In my opinion the promoters of this concert should seriously evaluate the psychological damage that they are exposing our community to. 50 cent is known to have a reputation of being associated with the very things that plague our young men – violence, lack of education, disrespect for our beautiful black women and a general short-sightedness towards the future progress of our race.

Before the “Uncle Tom” comments begin, and claims of "sellout" ring throughout the air, let me clarify who the real sellouts are. Making money from a concert is all good, but this race must realize that a similar situation occurred centuries ago in Africa on a slightly different level. Our people at that time were more than willing to sacrifice and sell each other for the sole purpose of filling their pockets with gold. (GREED has always been the downfall of the black race – we sell our souls so easily to the highest bidder) Today our rap stars and their promoters are allowed to parade around like idiots on stages, spitting repetitive words that do not make much sense and hypocritically using bass and drum lines that represent the heartbeat of the African people - all at the expense of hammering nonsensical ideas into the minds of our youth. Overall this objection is not about security and safety, this is about what we are exposing our people's minds to.

Our kids look up to these so-called gangsters as their role models – in some cases these “stars” get more respect than the parents of these children. Do we want our little boys growing up thinking that we should be violent against our own people or our little girls believing that all they have to do is wear a weave and show off their breasts and asses to get some attention and be popular?

Do we want the primary role models of our youth to be ignorant persons that do not realize the damage that they are doing to their own race? What can be termed as the typical slave mentality continues to be PROMOTED, not by whips and chains, but by our greed for dollars and gold chains. Life is short, but we have to look towards promoting the stable success of future generations. We must teach our kids respect, love and the benefits of gaining knowledge that will allow them to run WORLD empires, not rap ones. Until we realize this we will always be a lost race that ignores the signs of our vast failures as long as our pockets are filled with money. Some of these rappers are selfish, short-term successes that unfortunately have a long term affect on the culture of this struggling race. Why can’t black people see how they are being controlled and manipulated towards failure? Ignorance on the part of some of these rappers is being rewarded only because it keeps all of us in the same situation that we started from. Wake up people. Please, wake up.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds” – Bob Marley

Now this is a black issues! When you teach your kids to look for role models in complete strangers, rappers, movies stars, athletes etc. and failure results don't blame the stars, blame the parents of these troubled kids. Parents are responsible for instilling moral values within their kids not some suped-up rapper. The black race is not a lost race because we produce people like 50 cents and Ludacris no more so than the white race is lost when they produce people like Hitler, Stalin or Ossie Osbourne. We only become lost when we willing relinquish our personal responsibilties for our kids to others who may not share our ideals or values.

Millions of people have listened to, attended concerts, gotten personal autographs by these stars and have not gone on to become miserable lots in life. People have managed to make the distinction between fantasy/entertainment and the real world something the christian council and their ilk have seemingly been unable to.

I say blame all of us.

It takes a community to raise a child"

And yes it is a "black" issue. Our boys are busy robbing and killing up one other (as well as the rest of us) and you claim that it isnt a black issue?

When you look at photos in the newspaper of criminals being taken to our courts for violent crimes, what race are they from?

Can you not agree that perhaps the artificial visions of luxury and affluence that these young people see in these rap videos have an influence on what they desire and what they view as 'normal'?

You as an adult may be able to resolve that money doesn't grow on trees and that you have to work for what you earn in life, but the basic philosophy of a lot of kids nowadays is that they will do whatever is needed to get what they want. They worry about consequences later.

"We only become lost when we willing relinquish our personal responsibilties for our kids to others who may not share our ideals or values. " A near-perfect statement -especially when a lot of parents are too busy with bills and other concerns to properly raise their kids, who turn to television and other distractions in their progress towards development. This means that artists like 50 cent tend to be largely responsible for what are kids are emulating.

Do you have a sister, a mother, and female relatives? How would you like someone referring to them as objects only to be pimped out and used sexually?

Have you even been robbed, shot or shot at? Such is the life of a gangster. It isn't fun to live your life with that constant fear of having to watch your back. That fear is reality - not fantasy. It also happens to be what 50 cent is all about (which is why he wears a bulletproof vest on stage). So now I guess that we should allow our kids to be in the company of such folk.

That is quite an interesting concept.

By your argument, if I were to raise well behave, morally upright children of my own and my neighbour's children turned out to be rotten scoundrels, I along with the remaining members of my community are just as responsible for these terrible kids. There is a fallacy in that argument when you consider the kind of social and legal environment in which we live. The premise 'it takes a village to raise a child' may be true in tribal villages in Africa but our modern communities are fraught with many dangers eg. sexual predators, kidnappers, drug abuser and physically and emotionally violent persons. Now would you feel safe allowing this type of 'village' to raise your kids. I think not. Some things sound good in theory but in fact are not very practical. In addition people use different means of disciplining children eg. some use belts or physical punishment others use timeout. How is a person in a community going to determine what is appropriate for each child. I am at this time having a difficult time convincing my kids' preschool teachers not to use spanking as a means of disciplining. I could take them elsewhere but not surprisingly, this type of mentality seems to be the default position for the majority of our preschool educators.

I still believe it is the resposibility of the parents and the parents alone to instill in the minds of their children the proper values and morality provided these teachings don't conflict with laws of the land or infringe upon other people rights. I like 50 cents songs but I nor my kids are going to attend his concert, not because the christian council say so, but because I chose not to.

By the way who made or elected the christian council the Bahamas' 'Moral Gatekeepers? I know I did not! Let 50 Cents come in and perform for those who personally chose to attend. That's my .02 cents.

You sound like a responsible parent and that's the way it's supposed to be.

However there is a growing number of parents that are basically kids themselves that have no guidance on how to educate and take care of their kids (much less themselves). These are the persons that I'm worried about.

Yes, you can be held responsible because you can call social services if you see that those kids next door weren't being properly taken care of. Through community efforts you can assist those less fortunate persons in the neighborhood to know that they are valued and not looked down upon. You can even vote for gov't representatives that truly take action in developing your neighborhood into a better community. There are a multitude of things that we can do for each other in this little country to help make things better for each other. So in effect we can all be held responsible in some way.

This isn't a Christian council issue, but an issue for this nation as a whole. Quite a number of persons are going to take the oppposite end of this matter simply because the Christian council was the first to move on it.

The question is: should a person that promotes gun violence, degrades women and sells music that dumbs down the minds of our youth be allowed to have a concert here.

I say no.

You know what we need, we need to have mentors in our society. Our children are being mislead, unfortunately by some of our own parents who has not yet matured and has not come to the reality about life. They are not thaught morals or how to handle certian situations without violence. Most of these youth have broken families, some don't know where there fathers are. Without any true role modles in their family or in society, they turn to badrole modles like gangs and drug dealers. They build up anger and take it out on others, they cannot control their temper. Then they become high scholl drop outs and join gangs and drug empires- their heroes. a whole new breed of criminals and wanted fugitives to find.

Mentors can become the positive role modles that the youth need, the heroes to look up to, parent figures. Teens can visit them after school and share their day: let out their frustration, get moral and social advise, and help wih school work. Some of the greatest people in history have had mentors. I think we can change the direction of youth with mentoring.

Is Social Services capable of handling all the cases brought before it adequately? Is Social Services going to instill within these trouble kids the kind of values and morals our society can reasonable live with or are these kids destined to live a life of social dislocation and psychological unrest, passing through a bureaucratic system design to react only when the critical level has been breached? What happens to these kids when they become adults, unable to deal with the many stresses of life? Do these adults, freshly out of a failing state system, eventually go on to become the irresposible parents of tomorrow once again becoming a burden to society? What happens to the irresponsible parents of these troubled kids? How are they going to be reconstituted back into the community as responsible adults who are capable of caring for any additional offsprings or is the cycle repeated ad infinitum? Social Servives can play a meaningful role but first those parent and their kids need to be identified then isolated in special institutions geared towards teaching them necessary parenting and social skills for life . Maybe the many church buildings, overseen by the state, can be used as housing units for this purpose.

50 cents is not our problem but he can be use as a beacon to shine light on the many shortcomings in our society. Ultimately the deciding factor in producing healthy productive citizens remains the responsibility of parents because no state institution can adequately produce adults emotionally and physically prepared for life. If we are going to use mentors make absolutely certain they are persons above reproach with no hidden agendas.

I sincerely wish I had time to fully respond to those who feel that democracy in principle is really anarchy in practise.

But briefly, please note that ideas have consequences and not all ideas are equal. Those who think that the likes of Trina (actually worse than 50 Cent in my view), 50 Cent and Elephant Man are not preaching a message of criminality and anti-social behaviour are living in a fools paradise...ignorance.

How ludicrous to have police officers guarding Trina as she sings about high class prostitution (see her song "Hustling"), something they arrest people for?

How ludicrous to have police officers guarding 50 Cent as he sings about killing cops and criminality (see his song "Bump Dat Street Mix"), something they daily put their lives on the line to stop?

How ludicrous to have police officers guarding Elephant Man as he sings about drug trafficking through the United States (see his song "Bun It"), something they fight and sometime die for.

I am still praying and believing that this grade 5 Hurricane does not come here and I believe it will not!

To those who feel the recorded nonsense on low grade stations like BET and 100 Jamz is no different from live concerts, they have quite an imagination!

I have no doubt: The Minister of National Security is totally against the message of these three individuals and does not personally support them coming. However, I believe that if they do come, it would be a majority decision in Cabinet and she and a few others will be in the minority.

So I feel sorry for our dear DPM. In the remote event that these people come, perhaps when the Minister of National Security talks with the wayward boys as she normally does, she will be warmly greeted by them in their 50 Cent shirts and caps and sing "How to Rob" as their vote of thanks.

Perhaps when she talks to the young teenage mothers and those with AIDS, and they are asked to share who their heroes are, they will say Trina and sing her song "Da Baddest B***H" as their vote of thanks.

And perhaps, when we have our next Joint anti-drug trafficking force drug interdiction meeting with the United States, we should have the National Youth Choir to sing Elephant Man's song, "Bun It" to show them how serious we are about drug trafficking.

Sorry guys, I have a headache (something I very rarely get), have a meeting satrting in a few minutes and I've written far more than I had the time for...so I must go.

But for those who believe that ideas and messages do have consequences, please lift up your voices in prayer to Almighty God that those in authority will not pander to the irresponsible voices in our nation and do the right thing by denying permits to these three wayward ones, Trina, 50 Cent and Elephant Man.

Those who think ideas and messages have no consequences...buy your tickets for you and your children....and perhaps a bullet proof vest is you have one. 50 Cent will wear his.

"50 cents is not our problem but he can be use as a beacon to shine light on the many shortcomings in our society." - Quote by Truthseeker

A beacon for what? Perhaps a beacon of showing our kids on how to hold a gun (see http://www.50cent.com). That definitely makes him our problem. I agree with you that parents are ultimately responsible for their kids, but many of today's parents are quite irresponsible. Thus the gov't must step in.

In any event this concert will probably still go on, regardless of all this ranting and raving. I must add though: Didn't we just have a Stop the Violence basketball tournament? And here we are about to bring a person into our society who is one of the worst examples of the violent and generally ignorant gansta rap culture.

It's too bad that many people think that this concert will be harmless fun. Is it worth a step backward in our progress towards a peaceful society? Tell that to the lives that could be potentially lost in the future due to our lackadaisical attitudes towards what we allow our youth to be influenced by.

While a kid with proper parental guidance will be able to differentiate between the pros and cons of gangster life, another kid with a messed up childhood and no positive influences will no doubt take 50 cent's messages to heart. Those are the kids that will end up robbing our society of its money and even worse its lives. This concert is not worth jeopardizing the life of anyone in this society. Believe that.

We are all fully aware of what we are allowing to take place in our society. It's simply a matter of whether we step up to the plate and do what has to be done. If stopping this concert begins to show promoters that we are serious about changing the values of our society to more positive, peaceful ones, then stop the concert. Otherwise they'll continue to just bring anyone into this country, pocket their money and leave us all to face the negative consequences later on.

You know, I could swear (oops, bad word choice?) that I am in the days of Christ himself and that I am observing a meeting of the religious leaders of the day. This entire 50 Cents hullabaloo is just that: hot air! Did we not have the same thing with Bob Marley in the 70's? What about the Revival a couple of months ago? All in all, I see this as nothing short of using these people and events as scapegoats for our own national and individual shortcomings and, worse yet, a terrible failure to deal with REAL and URGENT issues that are plaguing this land NOW. 50 Cents is a SYMTOM. He is by no way the problem.

I have brought my battle for justice from Royal Bank to the attention of every power that be in this land. At least half a dozen of the most popular, outspoken and active leaders of the clergy are well aware of it. How many of them have said or done anything publicly to support me or call for justice? I am in no way looking for blind support or sympathy but rather equality and justice in my own land, something only guaranteed in our Constitution. Could it be that, as I am but one person, the men of the cloth don't see me as being worth it? Mmm, I guess the idea of leaving the flock to help the sole lost sheep does not apply. Or, like many high-ranking government officials, compromised lawyers, cowardly journalists, etc., the clergy finds itself in the influence and at the mercy of Royal? Mmm, isn't there something in His word about not being able to serve two masters at once?

I use my plight not to draw attention thereto but merely as an example of how this whole 50 Cents issue, like the Bishop Green foolishness, means NOTHING to me as I sit in unemployment for 8 months and see no hope for me and my toddler son. Throughout our land are THOUSANDS of unemployed and underemployed men and women, fathers who are suffering the scourge of Parental Alienation Syndrome (read about it!), youths without direction or serious human role models to follow (which begs the clergy to take a long, hard, honest look in the mirror), etc., all while the "church" remains silent or focussed on easy issues to "fight". Like it is said "people don't care what you know until they know that you care".

So, in response to the original question as to whether the government should stop the said concert, my FIVE CENTS (which is all I can afford given the circumstances) is that the government should focus on safeguarding zealously and without hypocrisy our Constitutional rights and enforce its own labour policies. The "church" should practise what it preaches (or, better yet, what Jesus left us to do) ALL the time and in ALL things.

Hope it's hot air when you or someone you know happens to be looking down the barrel of a gun because some kid took these violent messages to heart.

To a kid sitting at home on the blocks these messages may be his pledge of allegiance. It has very little to do with religion and more with who a kid sees as his role models.

But then again, the decision makers do not have to worry about these problems because they have money for security and all the rest. Meanwhile the little man is getting robbed, shot and held up left and right.

We're not saying that 50 cent is the problem. He may be adding to a problem that the police and our communities are just beginning to win the battle of.

For the record, I have indeed looked down the barrel of a gun and even felt the cold steel on the back of my head. We are all responsible for our own actions or lack thereof and cannot blame others for the same. The whole issue of violence on TV, in music, etc., is a hot one in the U.S. and the world over. How far do we go up the scapegoat ladder before we deal with the real issues behind the ills we claim are caused by the likes of 50 Cents? Why is the kind on the blocks in the first place? That's all I was saying.