[ SECRET POST #2533 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2533 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 053 secrets from Secret Submission Post #362.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Do Muslims find "O Come O Come Emmanuel" offensive?

[(Anonymous)]

It's referring to the exile in Babylon, I'm pretty sure. And by extension, to all powerful oppressors - so applicable to the Romans, yes (in the same way that the sentiment of writing about that exile in things like Psalm 137 has been adopted by oppressed people in tons of situation - how "Rivers of Babylon" became a reggae song).

So the sentiment is "Come, Messiah, and save Israel, which has been captured by the empire of Babylon." So yeah. It predates the existence of Islam by a good bit.

Re: Do Muslims find "O Come O Come Emmanuel" offensive?

[(Anonymous)]

...wait, what is this?

"Rivers of Babylon" is excellent, BTW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZmeSX-9RFk

Re: Do Muslims find "O Come O Come Emmanuel" offensive?

[(Anonymous)]

oop that wasn't the one :( here is the vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwrMqgPHGdw

Re: Do Muslims find "O Come O Come Emmanuel" offensive?

[(Anonymous)]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity

Basically, sometime in the 6th century BC, the Babylonian Empire conquered Israel and destroyed the temple, and brought the Israelites into captivity in Babylon. They later returned to Israel and rebuilt the Temple, but it was still a massive shock, and there's a lot of writing about it and the pain the exile caused. The idea of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" comes out of that - "O come, o come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appear" - the Messiah will come to return the people to the promised land. Of course it's a Christian take on that particular trope, but that's still where it's coming from.

The idea of the exile is something that people tend to find applicable in any situation of exile or oppression. So in a similar way, it was something that was taken up a lot by a lot of Africans in the new world - captured and brought into exile, and even more explicitly within the tradition of Rastafari which puts a lot of emphasis into links between Africans and Israel. Rivers of Babylon is built around Psalm 137 - "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" So yeah. That's where it's coming from.

It is a fantastic song - my preference is for the version by the Melodians, but it's great no matter what.

(NB: I am neither Jewish nor African-American, and not really an expert on any of these subjects; I apologize for anything I may have explained incorrectly or said that was wrong. If anyone knows this subject with authority, please feel free to correct me or explain it more correctly).