Good God & Bad Bunny: an open letter to white Christians like me

Yeah, I get it. Bad Bunny raps and sings about sexual relations. You feel these lyrics are too explicit, and his storytelling goes against your ethics of chastity. Further, you want the NFL to give you an event that will not challenge or contradict your sense of morality. You want a show you can watch with your kids without any shock factor or parental embarrassment. And for the love of God, can’t we just watch a game without it being politicized?

Here’s the way I see it. It’s not the NFL’s job to give you that show nor is its job to scour an artist’s catalog for song lyrics and make a judgment on their morality, truthfulness, or even artistry. The NFL has one job on Super Bowl Sunday—maximize ad revenue. It does this by getting as many people to watch the show (and therefore the commercials) as possible. Particularly challenging for a football game is to keep people engaged during halftime.

The solution is, of course, the halftime show. It needs to be killer to compete with the bathroom, more nachos, other TV channels, social media, or whatever else the viewer might have been waiting for during the first two quarters of the game. So, the more buzz about the artist, the better. Unlike the football game there is not an official music competition where the winner gets to perform at halftime. The NFL gets to invite who they want. But given the incentive that I’ve outlined here (and others that have been proposed by the New York Times and my friend Tyler Merritt), Bad Bunny was a solid choice.

Bad Bunny is currently the most-streamed musical artist in the world. He has had over 100 billion streams in his career. That’s a lot of fans; presumably fans who are not bothered by his lyrics. But not you. You don’t like his lyrics. That’s fair. You have every right to not watch him perform and to voice your opposition to his being there.

I invite you, however, to seek to understand his popularity and acknowledge that neither you nor I are his target demographic. We are middle-aged white men, steeped and marinated in conservative Christian evangelicalism. Bad Bunny and his fan base are not.

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio is Bad Bunny

Might we, with humility, consider that there are nuances in his culture that we don’t have the personal experience to fully grasp; cultural expressions that include speech, music, and dance. And that maybe following the suggestion of another white person to look up English translations of his Spanish lyrics just a few weeks after ever hearing of Bad Bunny might not quite give us the expertise we claim.

For example, I’ve learned that, more than just an entertainer, Bad Bunny is an important inspirational icon within the Latinx community. I don’t have to like everything about him or agree with every lyric he has ever written to appreciate one 15-minute performance he gave. I appreciate him as an artist and a person. What he displayed at the Grammy awards was humility, gratitude, and kindness. I saw that same character again at the Super Bowl, both during his show and afterwards, onstage and off.

Think about this. The President of the United States chose to use his time to criticize the selection of Bad Bunny. He continues to call him and this show an “affront to the Greatness of America” and “the worst of the worst.” Turning Point USA was so upset that they persuaded many to take their marbles and go home to their competitive show, an alternative for people who actually “love America,” for people who are faithful, and who love their families. This is not subtle messaging. It signals that Bad Bunny and his Spanish-speaking, darker-skinned fans want to destroy America, are godless, and are unsafe for children. “They” represent everything that “we” are not. You might not have seen it this way. You weren’t supposed to. The marketing is cloaked in patriotism and faith, but make no mistake, this is racism and it emboldens evil far worse than spicy lyrics.

Am I overreacting? Imagine for a moment that you are a person of color whose family is from another country. Maybe you’re here illegally, maybe you’re not. However you came here, you’re accused of taking our jobs or maybe taking our benefits without having a job. You’re called “garbage,” and we suspect that you want to eat our dogs and rape our daughters. This name-calling is not from some crazed yahoo in the hills, but from the President of the United States, the President our churches elected.

Recently, federal government social media accounts have begun to use imagery promoting white supremacy. ICE is terrorizing brown communities with their seemingly chaotic tactics, families are torn apart, children are traumatized, and just a few days before the Super Bowl, the Oval Office slurred the Obamas with racist imagery. So, even if you are an American citizen, you are scared to go to work and scared not to work. You’re afraid for your children going to school, or your little boy to daycare, or your mother to the doctor, and you won’t EVER call the police.

With few exceptions, (shout out to the good people of Minneapolis!), white Christians like you and me have remained silent. We have not loved our neighbor, not if they have a darker complexion or don’t speak English, and certainly not if they’ve come here “incorrectly.” This is our administration. We’ve asked for it.

It was our churches that put this President in office. Our President who “grabs ‘em by the pussy,” mocks disability, and regularly insults women while we clutch our pearls over rap lyrics. Can we not understand why many people who observe our behavior see us as off-balance and hypocritical? As a faith community, we are seeing the speck in the eye of this halftime show while ignoring, if not championing, the plank in our own. (See Matthew 7)

The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are colloquially known as “America’s Sweethearts”

Bad Bunny’s dancers are called “Latin hookers” by far-right influencer and Trump’s “loyalty enforcer” Laura Loomer

Against this backdrop, think how nasty Bad Bunny could have been when handed one of the largest media microphones of our day. Who could have blamed him if he was? But he wasn’t. You know what he did instead? He demonstrated joy for his people and love for America. What he did was turn the other cheek. Jesus teaches that. Our Jesus teaches that.

Bad Bunny’s closing statement on the Jumbotron

I don’t know what’s on your phone, but in my social media feed I’ve seen clips of him “backstage” celebrating Lady Gaga’s moment. I’ve seen some other halftime performers, such as a stuntwoman, dancers, musicians, and “grass people.” They glow with excitement for the opportunity given them and the pleasure of participating in the show and its message. That speaks volumes to me.

So, at least from what I have seen over the last few weeks, I appreciate Bad Bunny’s character, how he elevates others, and his Christlike message of love being stronger than hate.

His performance brings dignity to a community that feels beat up, degraded, and scared from the actions and rhetoric of people that look like you and me. I believe they deserve a moment of celebration, pride, and peace. The world will be better and our actions more like Jesus when we join them.

Want to give it another chance? First read this and then watch the performance on YouTube.