Well, this is an interesting discussion. So, I think I will jump in.<P>I think that anyone who listens to Commons music can tell that he is a spiritual brother; we can see that his spirituality affects his music. He has said in the past that he is a student of Christianity, and Islam; I venture to think he is also a student of other world religions--he is very aware of his-story from the Black man's perspective.<P>Any search for truth means that you sometimes have to question everything that you have been told, or believe to be true. You have to examine the uses of religion in the history of the world. (ie, what the result of the preachings of the so-called false profits have been. An obvious example of this is the historical use of Christianity to justify slavery, one of the first contradictions that is explored when someone starts questioning Christianity)<P>Common has obviously done some spiritual homework, and in his search for truth, has found some contradictions.<P>I know that Common grew up in a Christian church. If that is the case, those contradictions are the first things he had to question in his search for truth. The whole idea of being born a sinner that needed to be redeemed is a fundamental truth that can keep you in spiritual chains if you dont go deeper to understand what that means and how that affects how you act on an everyday basis. I think Common refers to that in his verse.<P>Some people's response to being a "Born sinner" is that they end up not taking responsibility for your own actions/sins, etc because you figure a) what the heck Im a sinner and b)i can sin all i want because Jesus died for me and he'll forgive me anyway. I think that Common may be speaking to the fact that those responses are not positive, or productive.<P>At the risk of this being a philosophical discussion, I will say that it was not until I started questioning what I was told about spirituality and started asking myself why, that my spirituality became more personal. Having a Christian background as well, that means that sometimes the search for truth uncovers thoughts and ideas contradictory to the teachings of the Christian tradition--ideas that may make my elders who are Christian tell me that those ideas are "Demonic" (as used in the title to this post), or "not of God." But that has not stopped me for trying to figure out "The truth"<P>Bottom line, is you figure it out as you go along. Common shares his journey in his rhymes. If he is searching for truth, I venture to guess that he is exploring the contradictions and sharing that in his rhymes. That does not make him demonic. It also doesnt make him a poster child for the Christian church. It makes him like the rest of us--trying to figure it out. I like to think he is a student of the truth. He just has a bigger platform to share his findings. So, if you are faced with a command not to "admire and listen to this man", maybe come back by saying you are not going to follow his words blindly, but you are going to admire that he is searching for the truth and encouraging a wide audience to do the same.<P>peace,<BR>computer love