# Manhattan, A Moment Please? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 27, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-a-moment-please/47434 "2000-12-27T21:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-a-moment-please/47434/21 "2000-12-28T19:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by goboy \* > **…Would you criticise an alternative rock station for not playing instrumental passages? …Regarding artistic criticisms of CCM, well, there is a lot of mediocre CCM, but there is also a lot of mediocre regular music. There are also outstanding Christian bands like Jars of Clay and Sixpence None The Richer.** Yes I would criticize an alternative rock station if it too had a dearth of any instrumental work on it. To think that music is exclusively devoted to lyrics is a shallow and limited approach to the art in general. I also agree that there is crappy music everywhere. My OP was not at issue with the overall quality of Christian music, merely with the incessant witnessing in it. Music existed for untold centuries before the spoken word evolved. It has a separate message unto itself and can speak volumes with its own tonal sequences. That anyone feels a constant need for a verbal barrage raises suspicions in my mind. Be they a religious follower or not. It strikes me as though a person is awfully uncomfortable with their own company if they require a nonstop blather in the background. I may, in fact, start a thread concerning this expanded topic. I realize that it is not just Christian radio that suffers from a lack of instrumental work. For me, the nearly complete absence of instrumental work is a glaring ommision. I will freely confess to being concerned about this due to the fact that on more than one occassion I have heard Christians around me speak of instrumental music as a tool of the devil. That is something that, as a composer, I find highly offensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-a-moment-please/47434.md?page=1)