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[Devling]

There were Nigerian janitors working at my office for a while who said they don't listen to music because they think it's the devil.

I know this was meant harmlessly, but this kind of reminds me of those stories racist white people would tell.

"Look at these savages, think the aeroplane is a bird!"

No offence meant, not calling you a racist/a liar.

[SalmonGod]

Yeah, it wasn't meant to be racist.  The talk of Africa being extremely religious conservative just reminded me of that.  They actually seemed like really nice guys.  A lot of my co-workers chatted with them when they were around and they were really friendly.  They were always smiling.

But then one day the person sitting across from me asked "What kinda music do you guys listen to?" and that was the response.  There was no implied tone of "and we think you're going to hell" or anything like that.  They still maintained the same positive, friendly demeanor.  But we were all sort of stunned into silence for a while.

[Frumple]

There were Nigerian janitors working at my office for a while who said they don't listen to music because they think it's the devil.

And suddenly the mind goes, "Now, you may not know it, but I'm a fiddle player, too..."

[Morrigi]

A lot of people I know, including the few aforementioned Nigerian staff, listen to rap music. Which, if you're going to look at things from a religious, conservative viewpoint, is the most sinful music around.

[FearfulJesuit]

You kids and your ragtime! Get off my lawn!

[MetalSlimeHunt]

As we all know, Jay-Z worships the devil.

[Frumple]

A lot of people I know, including the few aforementioned Nigerian staff, listen to rap music. Which, if you're going to look at things from a religious, conservative viewpoint, is the most sinful music around.

You might be surprised...

... seriously though, rap actually has a fairly notable gospel influence, last time I bothered paying attention. Cribs a bit both from the american gospel tradition and some of the vocal stuff coming out of the more traditional european styles. It's also, uh. A lot closer to some of the religious "this is totally not music, see? No instruments, no vibrato!" thing than a lot of other styles.

[Owlbread]

There were Nigerian janitors working at my office for a while who said they don't listen to music because they think it's the devil.

If they were Nigerian Muslims they may just be very devout. It is quite common, there was a particular Ottoman Sultan I believe who loathed music for that very reason and would always walk around his palace in metal shoes (I think) that would be loud enough to let his servants know when he was coming and that they should stop whistling.

In Scotland we have a radical, Calvinist, Christian church called the Free Presbyterian Church (we call them the Wee Frees). They're mostly based in the Highlands, but they really, really had (not sure if they still do) it in for music because they considered it satanic. They would only sing psalms, that's it. There are stories of them burning their fiddles and bagpipes and stuff in piles as demonstrations. Obviously, you can imagine how damaging that would be to Highland culture if that church became dominant, as it did. As one poet put it, "they took the fire from our hearths and put searing bonfires in our hearts".

[Max White]

Were the metal shoes a gift from his servants after he kept punishing them for whistling?

[Owlbread]

Were the metal shoes a gift from his servants after he kept punishing them for whistling?

Who knows? He was an eccentric fellow.

[Mech#4]

I wonder if he had a blue suit to go with the metal shoes. That way he could walk underwater.

[Truean]

Africa has hardly been a gay friendly place for some time now. The continent is split between conservative Christian factions and Sunni Islam, possibly the most gay unfriendly peoples on Earth. South Africa is the one and only African nation with any legal recognition of gay couples, and that was from a deeply unpopular judicial ruling.

Yeah, it's become common enough knowledge that certain places in Africa are trying to make being gay a capital, death penalty criminal offense. Uganda comes to mind.

Sadly, things are quite screwed up at the moment for those of us who are GLBT....

[Max White]

Well lets just be happy the rest of the world is more understanding, right? Right?

[SalmonGod]

Well lets just be happy the rest of the world is more understanding, right? Right?

Saw a related thing that made me happy today.

One of the admins for an Adventure Time fan group on Facebook that I follow casually mentioned being lesbian today.  Some one commented with something like "You're probably some teenage girl who pretends to be lesbian for attention."  The guy was immediately shit on by over 50 people, and was completely alone.  Made me happy to see such support on a major public internet space that's normally thought of as a breeding ground for raving intolerance.

[MonkeyHead]

Well lets just be happy the rest of the world is more understanding, right? Right?

Saw a related thing that made me happy today.

One of the admins for an Adventure Time fan group on Facebook that I follow casually mentioned being lesbian today.  Some one commented with something like "You're probably some teenage girl who pretends to be lesbian for attention."  The guy was immediately shit on by over 50 people, and was completely alone.  Made me happy to see such support on a major public internet space that's normally thought of as a breeding ground for raving intolerance.

I think its fair to say that I have observed people in the generation younger than mine (Me being 31... so anyone up to about the age of 21?) being far more accepting of all sexual orientations. Probably something to do with greater connectivity or ability to communicate with a wider range of people.