By Erin Rodenbiker, intern at Rainier Beach and candidate under care of UPC.
Currently circling the country is one of the world’s most loved/hated figures: Jesus. No, wait: Yeezus. But I saw it with my own eyes: the new Yeezus tour features Kanye West’s very own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Move over Bono, Christians have a new spokesperson.
Kanye’s depiction of Jesus may seem, at first, like farce or mockery—a caricature with the aims of postmodern indulgence or a racialized political statement. But, while iconoclasm and activism may be present, they do not dominate. Instead, the performance is a theological rap opera where religion and entertainment are weaved together in the imagination of the believer—and yet, completely conflicted—Kanye West, who inhabits the role of performance artist and, dare I say, evangelist. Yeezus is a Christian of the 21st Century.
