Rock music ungodly?

Music is only good when it is aligning us towards God's will.

Nonsense. What are we, automatons?

Absolutely! I love newsboys, DCtalk, casting crowns ..

pawnraider said:

I heard and read that some rock music when played backwards has something rather questionable being said. And that's just the least questionable of the many questionable things I've heard about rock music. Do you think a christian can and should listen to rock music? Pleas explain and keep the inflamatory comments to yourself.

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This question is about 50 years late.

like Bill Hicks said. . if you spend your time actually playing songs and records backwards, you are satan. No doubt about it.

JoeyArnold said:

Music is only good when it is aligning us towards God's will.

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Manicheanism in its finest...black and white only.

Where's Christianity today?

I can't imagine a genre in and of itself being ungodly. I do, however, certainly believe that music can be played in a way that is spiritually harmful, even without any words, no matter the genre. I think that music can be spiritually harmful by virtue of both the composition and the lyrics.

I am very picky about music. I think that the vast majority of what passes for "music" is absolute crud made by people with little to no talent who have no business being in the professional music business. That said, I can't say that all of the horrible "music" is necessarily ungodly, except for "ungodly horrible".

knee-v said:

I can't imagine a genre in and of itself being ungodly. I do, however, certainly believe that music can be played in a way that is spiritually harmful, even without any words, no matter the genre. I think that music can be spiritually harmful by virtue of both the composition and the lyrics.

I am very picky about music. I think that the vast majority of what passes for "music" is absolute crud made by people with little to no talent who have no business being in the professional music business. That said, I can't say that all of the horrible "music" is necessarily ungodly, except for "ungodly horrible".

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So, based on your argument you believe that Death Metal is not ungodly? Most, if not all, of the songs that fall within this genre have some seriously negative lyrics and messages.

athenken said:

So, based on your argument you believe that Death Metal is not ungodly? Most, if not all, of the songs that fall within this genre have some seriously negative lyrics and messages.

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I wasn't really taking into account sub-genres. I was thinking more in terms of just "rock", "country", "jazz", etc. I'm not too keen on a style of music that has "death" as part of its name. I think that this line from my last post would include Death Metal:

knee-v said:

I do, however, certainly believe that music can be played in a way that is spiritually harmful, even without any words, no matter the genre. I think that music can be spiritually harmful by virtue of both the composition and the lyrics.

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knee-v said:

I can't imagine a genre in and of itself being ungodly. I do, however, certainly believe that music can be played in a way that is spiritually harmful, even without any words, no matter the genre. I think that music can be spiritually harmful by virtue of both the composition and the lyrics.

I am very picky about music. I think that the vast majority of what passes for "music" is absolute crud made by people with little to no talent who have no business being in the professional music business. That said, I can't say that all of the horrible "music" is necessarily ungodly, except for "ungodly horrible".

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I completely agree with the above post.

Music is to be enjoyed. If you don't enjoy it don't listen to it. I don't enjoy "contemporary worship" so I don't listen to it. I do enjoy Hildegaard of Bingen, Gregorian chant and music like that so I will listen to that.

Personally, I'm a jazz fan nowadays; but I was brought up on pop and rock and like a lot of the older punk bands. I'm not about to apologise for that because some people think the messages are 'negative.' A lot of heavy metal is theatrical and shouldn't be taken too seriously. There's more negativity in Wagner than most heavy metal. That wouldn't stop me listening to Wagner (what stops me listening to him is the great moments & terrible quarters of an hour...)

Some music is bad.

JoeyArnold said:

Some music is bad.

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Yeah. Most so called Christian rock for instance. Awful stuff.

This is a ridiculous thread. A form of music in itself isn't ungodly. Double-bass/sixteenth notes don't glorify Satan. A heavy metal band singing about murder/drugs may be ungodly, and a heavy metal band singing about Christ/love/girls is not. It's all about the message of the music...not the genre.

I went to a hard rock christian rock concert once, don't even remember the band, in the 90's. It had a couple gals. One, I could hardly understand what they were saying, two, the girls in right black leather swinging their hips and butts seemed to have more effect than any lyrics....

However, I like all music, I just prefer music that promotes religion does so in a decent fashion...but, music that demeans people...blah.

MOD HAT ON

A little thread clean up has occurred. Folks please try to keep your posts focused on the subject of the thread rather than making derogatory remarks direct AT other members.

MOD HAT OFF

artybloke said:

Yeah. Most so called Christian rock for instance. Awful stuff.

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I'd expand that to all contemporary Christian music, period.

Bring out REAL Christian music - hymns and chants!

PaladinValer said:

I'd expand that to all contemporary Christian music, period.

Bring out REAL Christian music - hymns and chants!

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I agree. I think that the vast majority of Christian musicians have done the Christian world a disservice by putting out a poor quality product. And not just in terms of content (which I usually can't stand and with which I normally take issue), but also in terms of the quality of the music itself. Christian composers of the past were skilled musicians who took great pains to write quality and moving musical masterpieces (I can listen to Handel all day long). Why can't Christian musicians today do something similar?

There many secular artists who are absolutely amazing composers. I am a HUGE fan of the band Rush. Whether or not you like what they put out, you can't argue their musical ability, both in terms of playing and in terms of composing. I just don't see why Christians can't do something similar. One need not compose a symphony in order to write good music. People can do amazing things with a standard Rock set-up.

But I agree with PaladinValer about hymns and chant. Up until fairly recently, that has always been what constitutes "Christian music". I have access to a great deal of that from various Orthodox sources, but I'd like to see more of that in the "mainstream" Christian music circles.

PaladinValer said:

I'd expand that to all contemporary Christian music, period.

Bring out REAL Christian music - hymns and chants!

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I've got an album of Gregorian Chant from some St. Benedictine monks, it's great to listen to on a chill/calm evening if you're relaxing.

But often when I DO hear various hymns and chant from mainstream Christian artists, it feels like the musical equivalent of extra-airy cake icing loaded with estrogen.