Pretty sure this is a joke. The "side hug" was a running joke at my university. The "band" does a lot of different stuff... parody is one of them.
It's not satire. This is from a youth ministry in California, and they're completely serious. The whole point is to make Christianity relevant to modern 'youth culture' (i.e. MTV watchers). Really, these neo-Christians seem almost completely incapable of satirizing themselves. That's why the rest of us have to do it for them.
It's a joke. I'm telling you. Sure, they'd rather (if someone has a lust problem) that they abstain from squeezing on each other... but the term "Christian side hug" is a joke. At least it was in the '90s. The clues are in the 2nd verse. It's satire, definitely. Most youth conferences and even campus visit days to Christian universities have organized shows, or "ice breaker" things built-in. This is purely a gimmick to get people to laugh and get loud, etc. Joke.
keep trying to tell yourself that, maybe you'll eventually convince yourself that it's a joke. While you're at it, start telling yourself that Santa is real, pink unicorns can be produced in the labs, and the Republican party can actually compete in an election.
Dude, I was a youth pastor for 7 years. I've seen many things that I guess you would also consider "serious" or something. That song, in it's concept toward purity or whatever, sure... that's serious, the delivery and music and drama and lyrics... total joke. It is a running joke. Trust me. Or don't, I don't care. I don't get it anyway why it even matters to you guys anyhow? It's like the opening gimmick skit on SNL or something. I've seen similar in many settings. To each his/her own. But if you really think that song and those lyrics are some earnestly sincere message song for young Christians everywhere to "live by" - you're sadly off.
I dunno IROCit, the fact that you said "sure (if someone has a lust problem) they would rather they abstain from squeezing on each other" leads me to believe that at least in some situations some people might be taking it seriously. Funny regardless.
It was my first guess. I thought I heard laughing too, but then read that they were doing this at a church.
I guess any trip to the Holy Land is out for them. All that male on male front hugging may cause them to blow a gasket. Somehow I have a feeling Jesus didn't have Victorian taboos about touching people.
Which proves my point. Most Christians don't either. They are laughing all through the song. Major Malcontent, I mean... seriously, we had a rule to the guys and girls that were all touchy feely in youth groups that they might need to not grope each other via "innocent" hugging. Funny thing is, at our university (where I met my wife of near 14 years), they even called it the "Southwestern Side Hug." But a joke... kinda like, "might as well just give her/him the Southwestern Side Hug to keep from falling in sin!" If you were attracted to the girl or guy, you know... practice restraint on campus at least. But I mean... I did more than "hug" my wife when we were dating. We definitely held hands and smooched. :grin: We're not all prudes as some would think. Read Song of Solomon for goodness' sake!
Yeah, I don’t understand the relevance of the siren that keeps going off. What exactly is that supposed to signify?
Until somebody finds somebody who was there or one of the ...rappers... saying that it was a joke, I'm going to assume it was genuine. The first verse says "These are the EG rules.." EG= Encounter Generation = http://egconference.org/ Another video from the vimeo account that christian side hug came from: <object width="400" height="220"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3507070&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3507070&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="220"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/3507070">Rules Rap Fina Mix</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1097918">The Fathers House</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> It's trying to be funny, yes, but they are delivering the actual rules of the conference and watch what they say about PDA: "don't be holding the hands and hugging...." The PDA stuff is doubly emphasized. It's not a joke, they are total prudes.
