Good Moral Art
Lupe's call to conscience, Wright's "little gods" & a reading round-up
There are three creative works I’ve found fascinating of late: Lupe Fiasco’s Drill Music in Zion (cover below), Richard Wright’s The Outsider, and Amazon’s The Rings of Power.
Each offering is driven by a discernible moral compass and pressing ethical questions. Lupe’s album—which I’ve written on here—functions like a call to conscience for listeners of a genre plagued by violence. It’s a return to form for the living legend and a call to ethical listening for lovers of hip-hop.
Wright’s novel, which he wrote during his final years in Paris, traces the descent into violence and death that accompanies a world in which each person lives unmoored from morality and instead seeks the will to power to operate as “little gods.”
The Rings of Power showcases how sin and evil never yield and are always on the prowl (1 Peter 5). Even those fighting against evil can end up affected by the darkness, as Arad tells Galadriel.
Together these texts each explore a crucial angle of living a good and just existence in a world that seems irreparably bent toward futility.
Wright’s work catalyzes the philosophical imagination, not as ivory tower speculation but as a fundamental necessity incumbent upon all who navigate the global concrete jungle in which humans live. What are we living for? How are fear, loneliness, and desire driving us into darkness rather than life? How are you using others or being used by others?
Lupe — especially on the song “On Faux Nem” — demands listeners cultivate a moral imagination and subsequent action. Will we act and take responsibility for the culture of death that surrounds us, especially as listeners of a genre (hip-hop) where our artists continue die?
Rings of Power, especially the comment above to Galadriel, reminds me of Origen’s statement that we must “seek justice justly.”
Art that pushes us to consider these sort of moral angles and themes without sacrificing their quality in the name of ideology are indeed good things.
Podcasts: LOTR, The Scandal of Reading, and Reading Black Books
I had a great time discussing LOTR and The Rings of Power on the Think Christian podcast with Sarah Welch-Larson and Josh Larsen (YouTube | Apple Podcasts). We discuss Galadriel, sin, Philippians 1, and our favorite LOTR films.
AND cool news: You can find Austin Carty and I on Jessica Hooten Wilson’s Scandal of Reading podcast as co-hosts for season 1 of the pod. Austin and I will lead a podcast discussion on James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain in a few months. Check out Jessica, Austin, and I discuss how and why we read and the main questions people ask about reading literature.
A Generous Review/Interview of Reading Black Books
Aarik Danielsen wrote a beautiful and generous piece on Reading Black Books for Fathom Mag. His kind and perceptive words made my day.
Reading Round-Up
I recently finished Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. Harlem makes for a great primary setting/character. This book is an ideal summer read from a remarkably versatile writer — if you like crime stories.
I’ve picked up Crime and Punishment for the first time since high senior. Following Wright with Dovosteocky is fitting even if the order is reversed.
I’m enjoying Marty Folsom’s guide to Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics entitled Church Dogmatics For Everyone Vol. 1. I have several Barth guides and really like the offering from Keith Johnson since it gets readers engaging Barth directly. Folsom’s work is much more guided while being helpful for new and familiar readers of Barth’s work.
Blessings,
Claude