This is not a joke post, but darned if it doesn’t start like one. I’m listening to the radio the other day, and they told a story of a Texas inner-city preacher that after having been mugged, decided that his mission was to bring the Lord to the inner city youth of today. Apparently, the preacher turned to his bible for guidance on the subject, and came to an interesting conclusion: The bible was really long and difficult to read.
No huge mystery there, padre. It was written and re-written at least a thousand years ago (no, I don’t need the exact date... It’s not integral to the point of this story) and our language has changed since quill met papyrus. Inspired by this bit of divine obviousness, the preacher has decided to do something about it.
He is writing a Hip-Hop translation of the bible.
To quote psalm 23: “Yo, check it…even tho I’s walkin thru an evil hood, I got no fear… cause God got my back. Though them Gangstas try to bring a playa down, I got no worries, cause my homey… the Lord… is with me.”
Now, I understand the time honored tradition of translating the bible into another tounge to convert the unbelievers. If you want a populace to get the message, they need to be able to read it. This still seems like a stupid idea to me… Gangstas so inclined to pick up a bible won’t care if it’s in hip-hop or not, will they? I just don’t understand how this will not directly contribute and encourage the decline of the English language. Why bother to learn the finer points of our language if we’re gonna translate everything into our slang anyway?
So says the fat white guy of course, so I’d be interested in hearing any dissenting opinion.
1 comment:
I would find it interesting reading.
Language is continually evolving, not necessarily in ways we like, but I do believe that that Hip Hop culture is strong..and who knows, in 200 years hip-hop-the-language may be as separate from english as afrikaans is from dutch :)
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