The binary opposition is the appearance vs. the essence, the soul. Mos Def wants to get the message across to listeners that “everything you see ain’t really how it be” – (Thieves in the Night). That the truth is not behind the appearance of what we percept, but is behind the essence of the false appearance. In the early days of Judaism, many people believed in different gods, carved into wooden sculptures, which were placed in a temple. Abraham, believed to be the prophet through God, did not worship these false idols. He thought that the idols were not able to hear or help the people as they called onto their gods. Because the people did not listen to Abraham, he revengefully broke the idols in the temple. Abraham smashed the false idols because people saw an appearance of a false idol and failed to see the reality of God. The binary oppositions of the appearance of the idols vs. the essence of the false idols shows how not everything that is believed in is the truth. Today, in Hindus are not allowed to draw their prophet, Mohammed, because of their disbelief of worshiping idols. However, not everybody follows up by that same rule. In the Bible, Exodus 20 verses 3-5 says, “3You shall have no other gods before me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” Those who are catholic are clearly disobeying God’s commandments. In verse three, ‘you shall have no other gods before me’. In Catholicism, worshiping individual saints is similar to having a god before God himself. In the church, the cross is placed as a symbol of God, and has either a statue of the Virgin Mary, Jesus, or any other saint to represent their presence in the Catholic Church. It is the appearance that makes people believe their faith is within that one statue. Little do they know there is more essence within the scripture than the statue they bow down to.
People find it easier to choose the appearance, known to be false, over the essence. Most of the time people are ignorant to believe the reality of situations by choosing the easier way out which is comfortable and recognizable to the person. Denying the reality of a situation usually happens because it is hard to accept the truth, which is often ignored.
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