“Jesus can't save you/Life starts when the church ends”

That's the rhyme on Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind” that's drawn the ire of believers shocked to hear such words coming from the mouth of one of rap's most popular and important stars. The online world is abuzz, and the overall reaction can be summarized by pastorJustinofP4cm: “Yo this cat Jay-Z has officially lost his mind. This cat came up with a song dissing Jesus Christ.” Below is a way-too-long tirade about the lyrics. Watch it if you're bored.

A lot of Christians are outraged and read the same message into Jigga's lyrics, and we're not interested in wading in a place where we don't belong; if the rapper is indeed advising people to step away from the Son of God, bully for him. We'll see them in hell.

But more interesting is that an online argument has erupted over the meaning of the words, and it's been fascinating to watch thoughtful (and not so thoughtful) discourse on the meaning of words, regardless of the subject. So-called blasphemy aside, to hear a back-and-forth about meaning is fun for some of us. Before you wade in, maybe you should read the lyrics.

Cruz Cordero's got an interesting perspective in defense of Jay-Z — and he's a Believer.

More knee-jerky is this one:

“Do you really think God is offended by a little teeny small Jay-Z, who is being nothing more than a puppet for Satan right now? Jesus could wipe Jay-Z out in one second, in one thought. If he think wrong, Jay-Z will disappear.”

This guy defends Jay Z:

We're not sure where tepperway stands, but we like how he says it.

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