Fundamentalist Christian Music, A question...

Factual Questions
1

Many of my business partners are, or have been, fundamentalist Christians. When I ride with them I have the opportunity to listen to typical on-air Christian music programming. Some questions, please:

[li]Why is it impossible for the stations to play an instrumental piece?[/li]
[li]However pivotal Jesus or God is in their life, is that the only topic worthy of thought or consideration?[/li]
[li]What is so repulsive about any other form of music like jazz, blues or world beat?[/li]
I will freely confess that these questions are, for me, rhetorical. My answers;

So many fundamentalists I have met reached their religion through desperation. Either self abuse through drugs or bad relationships seemed to drive them to their faith. As Dennis Miller says, “Nobody ever finds Jesus on prom night.”

I can only say that the strident and too often insistent tenor of the lyrics in Christian music are indicative of great insecurity. Quite the opposite of the message that they contain. In services that I have attended, there is a pervasive motif of constant self-reassurance and reinforcement, more akin to brain washing techniques than any sort of artistic expression.

The complete absence of instrumental pieces, or even instrumental passages further supports my own sense of the fragility of faith that must exist for people who require such constant reaffirmation of what should be a given.

The total void of foreign language lyrics or different musical styles also strengthens my perception that fundamentalists are pandering to a narrow market of mindsets. Whatever happened to the all-inclusive nature of religion?

What has become of some of the most beautiful passages ever written in the name of God? J.S. Bach’s instrumental work, all of which he dedicated to his creator, is so moving in its artistry that I am often inspired to consider the tennets of his faith as well. How is it that these magnificent works are incapable of transmitting the less complex message contained in the repetitive content of modern Christian music broadcast media?

I know that there is also Christian “rock” music but that too suffers from the strident nature mentioned above. Why is it that gospel, which centers heavily upon blues and semi-jazz formats seems to be so unacceptable to fundamentalists? How is it they are seemingly unable to acquire any inspiration from these styles as well?

Anyway, I welcome the input of everyone here, religious or not, about this odd facet of modern fundamentalist religious music.

2

Now, what’s so bad about self-abuse?

3

Maybe they’re like everyone else and LOVE to have people tell them how great they are, even if they’re a mean spirited, evil little freak, just because they believe in the same thing as all the people who are telling them how great they are.

Upham

4

[sub](Sorry for the above impudence, Zenster)[/sub]

Regarding the OP, it’s because lameness has use for neither talent nor artistry. The major duty entailed by my part-time hobby as Rock Critic is to ascertain precisely why and how some things suck; I’ve found that in all too many cases, the shittiness of the music is so profound as to be utterly immune from rational analysis. In other words, give it up, and find some cooler co-workers.

5

What I have found is that Christian Rock, especially Christian Heavy Metal, is often looked upon in a bad way by fundamentalists. Why? The music transmits a message to people who otherwise might not hear it. Then, if one of these people is moved to go to church, they find that the music they listen to is not acceptable. I have never understood that.

Maybe it is because, like Zenster said, it doesn’t fit the pattern of the narrow pattern they expect that music should adhere to and this makes them insecure? We may never know.

6

I question the premise of the OP that what he has the opportunity to hear constitutes “typical Christian music programming.” Well, it might constitute typical Christian radio programming, but radio is all about pandering. If you want fundamentalist Christians to listen to your station, you will play music that contains constant affirmations that Jesus is Lord.

But what you’ll hear on the radio is but a small part of contemporary Christian music. It’s been a long time since I was a fundamentalist Christian, but I can assure you that the musical choices are as varied as you’ll find anywhere. Phil Keaggy, a rock and fusion guitarist who started in the secular fusion band Glass Harp, has put out dozens of albums ranging from simple pop to Beatlesque rock to instrumental classical guitar. You’ll find rock, dance, jazz, punk, and everything in between; and you’d be amazed at the number of albums in French, Japanese and other languages.

It varies in terms of quality and lyrical content–some is really good, and some really sucks. Some lyrics seem to mention Jesus three times in every stanza; others don’t mention him at all and concentrate on other aspects of Christian thought, like social justice or compassion. As I think about the collection of CCM cassettes I have stuck in the closet, some I would still listen to today, while others I would sooner use as kindling. (But, then again, I wouldn’t listen to Styx anymore, either.)

So, in short, I think that the OP is based on a flawed premise that what Zenster is hearing on the radio constitutes an accurate picture of what fundamentalists are listening to. Some acts that you might hear on Top 40 radio today – Sixpence None the Richer, Amy Grant, etc. – spent years building a fan base in the Christian community before crossing over (often to the detriment of the original fan base, but that’s another story). Artists like Steve Taylor, who is considered a decent satirist and has become sort of the Christian Peter Gabriel (and who produced Sixpence’s latest album) are considered giants in the “praise music” world.

You’ll find diverse, good music, as well as crappy music, in every genre. Don’t assume that what you hear on a radio station is indicative of the genre at large. In fact, I wouldn’t even call Christian music a genre, since musicians of every genre participate.

7

Zenster:

I’ll try to provide some answers to the questions in your OP without any animosity toward fundamentalists/fundamentalism:

And for starters, the basic answer to all of the questions in your OP is: You’re only listening to the stuff that made to to the airwaves; there’s a whole spectrum of Christian music out there that you probably haven’t heard.

**Why is it impossible for the stations to play an instrumental piece? **

First of all, I don’t really know what stations you’ve been listening to. If you’re listening to a Christian “Pop” station with a format similar to the local Top 40 station across the dial, then I think the answer is pretty self-explanatory. Top 40 stations generally don’t play instrumental pieces; a Christian “Pop” station isn’t going to, either.

If you’re listening to a station with music more in tune to what my grandparents would like (thin in terms of The Carpenters); I think the primary reason is that those stations tend to see themselves as a tool of evangelism. That is, every song they play is a means of spreading The Good News. To play an instrumental piece would be counterproductive to that goal.

FWIW, there was an instrumental song called “Avalon,” by John Tesh, that was getting some airplay on some Christian radio stations a few years back.

**However pivotal Jesus or God is in their life, is that the only topic worthy of thought or consideration? **

Again, Christian radio stations see themselves as tools of evangelism. To play a song about anything other than the artist’s relationship with Jesus Christ isn’t spreading The Good News.

However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other topics that Christian recording artists sing about. I recently saw a Christian act named Kendall Payne in concert. One of her songs was directed toward teen girls, and it was about how they shouldn’t be hung up on physical beauty and about changing who they are to please boys. Steve Taylor has a song called “Jim Morrison’s Grave” that is about, uh, Jim Morrison’s grave. Randy Norman has a song called “It’s a Great Big Stupid World,” which is about a whole host of weird things going on in the world (tabloid newspapers, alien abductions, mini-malls, etc.). Then there’s Mark Lowry, who is sort-of the Christian Weird Al. He has plenty of songs about food, redneck truck drivers, etc. He even parodies other Christian artists.

**What is so repulsive about any other form of music like jazz, blues or world beat? **

Again, it’s out there; you just haven’t heard it yet. There’s a band called Burlap to Cashmere that is clearly influenced by Greek music. John Schlitt of Petra has one or two blues albums. There’s a Christian swing band called The W’s. I’m sure there are Christian Jazz ensembles too; you just aren’t likely to hear them on Christian radio.

I really don’t listen to Christian music much any more, so I’m not 100% current on the latest acts or trends.

My $.02

8

I hope you don’t think I plagairized your post. You obviously wrote and posted yours as I was writing mine. :wink:

9

Which is another way of saying, “I wasn’t really asking a question, I just wanted to spew my anti-Christian bigotry without the scrutiny of the GD crowd or the bile of the Pitizens.”

This thread is closed.

Sheesh! “Why do sports-talk stations, like, have all that sports stuff all the time?”