Christianity and the Modern Music Industry
Christianity and the Modern Music Industry
Christon Linstad
Regent University
October 7th, 2011
Abstract Christianity and contemporary music has had a long love/hate relationship. Music is often charged with being a corrupter of today’s youth and a challenger of Christian moral values. The fear of corruption is still evident today by the campaign Tipper Gore led to put warning labels on recordings that contain offensive material. On November 1, 1985, before the hearing ended, the RIAA agreed to put “Parental Advisory” labels on selected releases at their own discretion. These labels are now mandatory on these types of albums (PMRC, 2011). Not all music is vulgar, however, Christians have warily accepted secular music when artists have incorporated Christian themes and imagery. A song written by Pete Seeger paraphrasing Ecclesiastes 3 “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1965), is a perfect example of this union. In this paper, I will explore the relationship between Christianity and the modern music industry. “It is not my view that the Gospel should cause all the arts to be struck down and disappear; on the contrary, I should like to see all the arts and especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and created them” (Martin Luther).
Emergence of Rock and Roll
In his book history of popular music and the emergence of rock and roll, Philip Ennis begins with a metaphor depicting children playing a game of rock, paper, and scissors. Ennis argues that in the realm of modern music “the relations among art, commerce and politics are something like that game; each has some strong power over one another, but, at the same time, is vulnerable to a third” (Ennis, 1992, p. 1).
Nonetheless while power in the game is absolute and unidirectional; paper covers rock, rock breaks scissors, and scissors cuts paper; however, power in the music world, varies in both magnitude and direction. While asserting that “in American society, art validates money, money regulates
Christon Linstad
Regent University
October 7th, 2011
Abstract Christianity and contemporary music has had a long love/hate relationship. Music is often charged with being a corrupter of today’s youth and a challenger of Christian moral values. The fear of corruption is still evident today by the campaign Tipper Gore led to put warning labels on recordings that contain offensive material. On November 1, 1985, before the hearing ended, the RIAA agreed to put “Parental Advisory” labels on selected releases at their own discretion. These labels are now mandatory on these types of albums (PMRC, 2011). Not all music is vulgar, however, Christians have warily accepted secular music when artists have incorporated Christian themes and imagery. A song written by Pete Seeger paraphrasing Ecclesiastes 3 “Turn, Turn, Turn” (1965), is a perfect example of this union. In this paper, I will explore the relationship between Christianity and the modern music industry. “It is not my view that the Gospel should cause all the arts to be struck down and disappear; on the contrary, I should like to see all the arts and especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and created them” (Martin Luther).
Emergence of Rock and Roll
In his book history of popular music and the emergence of rock and roll, Philip Ennis begins with a metaphor depicting children playing a game of rock, paper, and scissors. Ennis argues that in the realm of modern music “the relations among art, commerce and politics are something like that game; each has some strong power over one another, but, at the same time, is vulnerable to a third” (Ennis, 1992, p. 1).
Nonetheless while power in the game is absolute and unidirectional; paper covers rock, rock breaks scissors, and scissors cuts paper; however, power in the music world, varies in both magnitude and direction. While asserting that “in American society, art validates money, money regulates
References: Brown, J. (Deliverance). (1990). Weapons of our warfare [Audio recording]. USA: Intense Records. Ennis, P. H. (1992). The seventh stream: the emergence of rocknroll in American popular music. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press ; Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Jimmy Swaggart Biography. (n.d.). Jimmy Swaggart Ministries home of SBN. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www.jsm.org/about_jimmy_swaggart.php PMRC Retrieved October 6, 2011, from http://web.archive.org/web/20030406085225/http://www.geocities.com/fireace_00/pmrc.html Religious rock 'n 'roll: a wolf in sheep 's clothing Seeger, J. (The Byrds). (1965). Turn, Turn, Turn [Audio recording]. USA: Columbia Studios. Wilkens, S., & Sanford, M. L. (2009). Hidden worldviews: eight cultural stories that shape our lives. Surrey: Ivp Academic.