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Introduction
The hoopla surrounding Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” has entered its second week, and I’m pretty sure this is simply the dumbest controversy of the century.
That’s it. That’s the introduction.
The dumbest part
Let’s knock out the truly dumbest part of this dumbest controversy before we move on to weightier matters.
The allegations of “Try That In A Small Town” being racist are actually racist in themselves. If you equate violent crime – carjackings, punching randos, robbing liquor stores – with a particular race, then you are the one who is racist.
And, yes, the fact that Aldean has not backed down from the statement he sang (but didn’t write) in this single is laudable. The pressure to cave to Woko Haram and apologize and promise that you’ll “educate yourself” is tremendous. Aldean should be applauded for not giving in.
But we can do better
So, is the song racist? Again, no.
Is the song good? Absolutely not. It is a trash heap of a song. It’s objectively poorly written and the hook flows like the Yangtze in drought season.
But we can do better than a man who has abandoned his wife and children for another woman. To be conservative is to preserve our institutions, starting with marriage and the natural family, and Aldean is exactly as conservative as Dave Rubin, Andrew Sullivan, and the man formerly known as Bruce Jenner. That is to say, he is not.
And let’s not forget that one of his biggest songs is about driving drunk on back roads while “watch(ing) out for the boys in blue.”
If we’re honest with ourselves, Aldean’s song is being defended not because it’s good, but because the message isn’t staunch leftism and doesn’t reference Cardi B’s nether regions. Conservatives and particularly Christian conservatives must make stances that equate to more than “whatever AOC doesn’t like” and “however I can make Nancy Pelosi look even more surprised.” We have to be for something and provide a positive vision to build toward.
Aldean kinda, sorta hinted at that at a concert recently, saying, “I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all of this bulls–t started happening to us.”
But again, restore it to what? Maybe to before no-fault divorce laws that allowed him to walk out on his family? Or maybe to before he started singing about wet T-shirt contests and one-night stands?
The good news
The good news is that the left is making even worse art than Christians and ostensible conservatives, Christian Mingle, the Movie included. Aldean may have shattered his family, but he’s not so far gone so as to deny the basic reality of male and female. For all his innuendos and overt lust in his songs, he still recognizes the created order and that male sexual attraction should be towards women.
So what Christians and conservatives must do is to up their art game. Make the best songs, the best movies, and the best books. Tell the best stories, because we not only have the best one, but it’s coherent too.
If you want to fix the culture, start by creating your own.
Cody Fields 
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