Rev. Robert Sirico discusses Kanye West on Fox News (video)
Religion & Liberty Online

Rev. Robert Sirico discusses Kanye West on Fox News (video)

His very public conversion and groundbreaking Gospel CD have made Kanye West perhaps the most conspicuous, and unlikely, champion of faith and moral values in America today. Yesterday, TV’s most-watched cable news channel turned to Acton Institute founder Rev. Robert Sirico to analyze West’s sincerity and impact on America’s most secular generation.

West’s public witness “goes right to the heart of what is wrong in our culture – the materialism, the oversexualization of the culture, the disrespect for the dignity of human life,” Rev. Robert Sirico told Neil Cavuto on the Fox News Channel. “And this man seems fearless.”

Conversion is the germ of a new creation in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). The cultivation of this seed of faith will prove pivotal in determining how it affects the nation and, as importantly, Kanye himself. Rev. Sirico recommended that West could best increase his faith by embedding himself deeply within a longstanding Christian tradition.

“I hope he gets the right people around him,” Rev. Sirico said. “Conversions can happen, but they take the right environment.”

If he does that, it could have a sanctifying effect on the culture.

“Christianity really formed Western civilization, and I’ve been saying for a long time it can reform it if we have the right people in place and the right thinking in place,” said Rev. Sirico.

In the interview, Rev. Sirico also shared his views about whether Kanye seems to have experienced an authentic conversion or perpetrated a cynical ploy to increase sales, whether Pope Francis would join forces with Kanye West, and why Rev. Sirico says Liberation Theology and the Prosperity Gospel are carnival-house mirror images of one another.

You can watch the full interview below:

West was also the subject of a recent Acton podcast.

(Photo credit: Screenshot.)

Rev. Ben Johnson

Rev. Ben Johnson (@therightswriter) is an Eastern Orthodox priest and served as Executive Editor of the Acton Institute (2016-2021), editing Religion & Liberty, the Powerblog, and its transatlantic website. He has extensively researched the Alt-Right. Previously, he worked for LifeSiteNews and FrontPageMag.com, where he wrote three books including Party of Defeat (with David Horowitz, 2008). His work has appeared at DailyWire.com, National Review, The American Spectator, The Guardian, Daily Caller, National Catholic Register, Spectator USA, FEE Online, RealClear Policy, The Blaze, The Stream, American Greatness, Aleteia, Providence Magazine, Charisma, Jewish World Review, Human Events, Intellectual Takeout, CatholicVote.org, Issues & Insights, The Conservative, Rare.us, and The American Orthodox Institute. His personal websites are therightswriter.com and RevBenJohnson.com. His views are his own.