Why Do Christians Participate in Rap Battle?

Here's a little piece I saw on the Death2SelfRecords website felt like I should pass it on.

Spiritually Anointed wrote:

Is Rap Battling Okay for Christians?
This isn't a new topic, but rather, a debate that's taken hold of the Christian community as well as the Christian hip-hop community itself. Rap battling when looked at from the side is seen as two or more MCs intentionally trying to put down the other rapper. The object of the game is to come up with lyrics on the fly that can be used to make their opponent look weak and insignificant while the first person is building himself / herself up.

So why do CHRISTIANS rap battle?
Many Christians are against it. Many non-Christians don't understand why Christian rappers would be involved in it. However, we who are truly ingrained in the HHH culture understand its significance.

Rap Battling is in itself, a sport. It's a verbal sport which emphasizes the task of learning to create complicated flows and crafting yourself into a wordsmith.

One great example of a similar sport is boxing. There are Christian boxers and as we've identified, the game involves intentionally causing physical damage to the assailant.

So why do Christians box? In the same way as Rap battling helps to flex your verbal stamina, boxing helps you to build physical stamina, strength, and other physical attributes that help you develop into a stronger person.

What many people don't understand, is rap battling, much like boxing, is consented to both parties. Rap battling is appropriate only for those who understand the game and respect it, and respect their opponents after the match. It's a game that builds your verbal ability, and the mood of the competition often pushes those involved to become better. There isn't anything personal about it, just as there isn't anything personal when Evander Holyfield boxed Mike Tyson (although Mike might'a taken it personally when he did the whole ear thing...) and it's a sport to help build the two opponents.

While this topic may still not appease some, it's understood that only those who respects the sport and each other upon participating are able to enjoy a healthy competition to build their flows and vocab, and it's proven quite useful to many MCs. One obvious difference between secular battle rapping and Christian battle rapping is obviously control over certain ways an opponent can take the other down - you don't want to cuss or use profanity or sexual references or anything of that extreme nature in Christian battling, one who can control their battle from seeping into that actually takes a lot more skill and helps to polish their craft that much more.