Valiant faces church backlash

Religious leaders are taking aim at dancehall artiste Valiant, whose latest track Short Shorts has sparked controversy because its accompanying music video appeared to mimic a church service.

“I hope Valiant would come to an altar but in a different way, in submission and healing to the Lord,” said Pastor Barry Hall of Ekklesia Bible Fellowship.

The video setting appears to be a place in New York that hosts Sunday services and describes itself as a place where people can grow in their faith. In the video, scantily dressed women take their seats in what appears to be a church before being informed that the pastor will be arriving shortly. Seconds later, Valiant walks to the ‘pulpit’, microphone in hand. He opens with, "Morning ladies, the Bible verse said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens ..." before shouts of "me" erupt from the video vixens.

Despite the imagery, Valiant has insisted that the video was not filmed in a church, the final seconds of the video even carrying that disclaimer. It also contains a reference to the Bible verse Matthew 7:2, which states - in the King James Version -  "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

However, Hall questioned the intended purpose of the video.

"If he says it's not a church, I would ask what is the point of creating a church atmosphere with an altar and everything? The church is distinctly different from everything else and their message is different so I wouldn't see what would be the point in having a church scenery."

The video has amassed some 385,000 views since its release six days ago. Some social media users have defended the production in the name of creative freedom. But Hall opined that creative freedom is not absolute.

“It doesn't give us the right to do or say what we want in the name of being creative. I wouldn't support it in any shape or form," he said.

Kareem Thomas, minister of Shekinah Intercessors Outreach Ministries on Red Hills Road in St Andrew, argued that the place of God is a holy place where things are sacred.

“As much as there is freedom of expression and movement, there must be a guideline and some moral line you are not willing to cross," he said.

He condemned the video and called it “an act of wickedness against God”. 

“My word to that young man is to be careful and go back to the right that he knows."

While acknowledging that he was once a juvenile delinquent, Thomas said he believes social media and peer pressure are shifting the focus of young people. He called for strong media control in Jamaica, lest, in a few years, “the children will become what they're seeing”. 

Hall urged caution in using churches as settings for music videos.

"I would warn them to be extremely careful because their testimonies must be guarded and when you do things like that, you are giving room for people to say a lot of things and put your testimony in doubt. All things must be done to the glory of God and if there is no flow from God in it, what is the point?”