Nairobi tweets 1: Bulletproof?
For a sense of the levels of non-scientific thinking — ie shamanism aka “witchcraft” — in today’s Kenya, see for instance this semi-skeptical account and its apocalyptic touch, or perhaps Believe it or not: Witchcraft in Kenya, with this interesting and quite relevant paragraph:
Another friend’s sister was victim of a grenade attack at a church in Mombasa. Shattered glass went everywhere but she, standing at the window, was not injured. She said that people were muttering things about the protection afforded by genies. Interestingly, she was at church but had recently converted to Islam, not that anyone knew. Not anyone visible, anyway.
And before we assume that all these experiments pitting prayer against guns always turn out badly for the prayerful side — it’s worth noting that “fiery televangelist Wilde Almeda” survived to tell the tale….
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There’s a great deal more of interest on several levels in the HSM tweets, but I’ll break here and pick up in a following post.
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Grurray:
September 22nd, 2013 at 7:39 pm
Not certain but wasn’t there a similar belief of evading bullets during China’s Boxer Rebellion?
aaron:
September 23rd, 2013 at 12:35 am
Hey. pretty sure that’s not a reference to any of that. but actually a quote from this a song Rhianna sings.
“Titanium”(feat. Sia)
[Sia:]You shouted, “Hallo!”But I can’t hear a word you sayI’m talking loud not saying muchI’m criticized but all your bullets ricochetYou shoot me down, but I get up[Chorus:]I’m bulletproof, nothing to loseFire away, fire awayRicochet, you take your aimFire away, fire awayYou shoot me down but I won’t fallI am titaniumYou shoot me down but I won’t fall
I am titanium
Charles Cameron:
September 23rd, 2013 at 1:59 am
Thanks, Aaron, I’m sure you’re right.
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The song is by David Guetta and titled Titanium Fire Away. I don’t find any references to Rihanna singing it, though it’s entirely possible she does. I’ve borrowed a (very slightly ) different version of the lyrics, with line breaks, to make for easier reading — but as I say, I’m now convinced you’re right about the bullet-proof / titanium quote.
Quite what that does to the discussion of how those words / that bulletproof meme would be interpreted by individual hearers would still depend on the sophistication of the individuals concerned, though. Adding that song into the mix … who knows? It’s certainly fascinating.
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Thanks again!
Grurray:
September 23rd, 2013 at 5:16 am
Good one Aaron
So the person writing those tweets is a woman.
Remember the ‘sexual fatwa’ from a few months ago. Maybe originated from a woman also.
Gives new meaning to idea of ‘bulletproof’.
During the Boxer Rebellion (the correct translation for the boxers was fists of righteous harmony) the rebels were initiated by firing a weapon with blanks at them to convince them were actually bulletproof.
These lady jihadis potentially became convinced of their imperviousness how I wonder
Their garments perhaps.
Maybe it’s declining fertility. The wars of the past decade have coincided with plummeting birth rates.
Bad seeds of the rebels?
Charles Cameron:
September 23rd, 2013 at 5:40 pm
I’m in a penitent mood, so let me be clearer on the “bullet-proof” business. As I wrote to a friend on FB yesterday evening, “Aaron’s comment [#2 above] blew my anthro-ish comments on the “bullet-proof” meme through a loop by observing that the “bullet-proof … titanium” line was from a David Guetta song titled Titanium Fire Away. I was clearly outgunned of that one.”
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I also now think it’s clear the twitter stream I was commenting on in this post and the second in the series was not an official Shabaab feed, and thus untrustworthy as to its statements, although it’s exact status (fan, mimic, troll, loosely connected?) is undetermined.