I would add that the showbiz aspects of this particular shout-out-and, really, all other forms of crediting “God” for one’s worldly success, on the Grammy dais or in liner notes, or even in church, frankly-trump and cheapen the role religion and spirituality have played in shaping the cultural fabric of African-Americans, in much the same way that the music business itself has trumped and cheapened the African/American cultural antecedents and musical forms on whose broken back it is built. As far as I know, I’ve never heard Common (though I’m gonna go get this new record now), but that liner note extract rings hollow and false, like almost all forms of public piety made by anyone, but especially the rich and famous.

then again, i also think of Christopher Hitchens’s recent line, from his Slate piece about the Newsweek imbroglio: “It’s essential that we understand the deep irrationality that underlies all faith.”