Is This Ok To Listen To?

[TradMom]

+Praised be Jesus Christ!

You have received great answers - and the fact that you are questioning says it all. All I can add is a light phrase that I use on a daily basis and have taught our children to use. It can be a life-saver...

[color="#FF0000"][i]When in doubt, throw it out.[/i][/color]
Pax,
TradMom

[Crispy]

[quote name='TradMom' date='22 June 2010 - 03:28 PM' timestamp='1277231331' post='2132867']
[color="#FF0000"][i]When in doubt, throw it out.[/i][/color]
[/quote]

Wise words. Of course it's no substitute for a good exercise in [i]fides et ratio[/i], but wise nonetheless.

[MithLuin]

From what I can understand, the situation is this:

[list]
* The song that caught your interest sounds pretty and has no offensive lyrics. Thus, [i]in and of itself[/i], there is nothing about the song that would raise alarm bells or be problematic.

* The band has a name and associated artwork that [i]does[/i] raise questions - certainly, they seem to be antagonistic towards a Christian worldview.

* So, is there any scandal or cooperation in evil in supporting them by buying a song? [/list]

I think it's a personal choice. If it's going to bother you to see that name in your playlist, don't buy the song. If you would feel the need to justify your purchase or you think it will give you qualms giving money to these people, don't do it.

If I watch a movie or read a book, it does not mean I agree with every idea I come across in it. Likewise, if you listen to a song, it does not mean you are giving assent to everything the group stands for.

I enjoy listening to 70s rock on the radio. Much of it is not Christian, though there are a lot of great songs. Still, for certain songs, I will almost inevitably change the station, because it really just isn't pleasant for me to listen to a song with such offensive lyrics. Billy Joel's 'Only the Good Die Young' is [i]not[/i] one of those songs - I will generally listen to it. Of course, I'm doing my own version of 'The Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd' in my head, so that can get tedious.

Art can be a tricky thing - different things can be an issue for different people. Music is very connected with memories, recalling times we've had while those songs played. For some people, those times can be themselves memories we'd rather not recall, even something sinful. For others, the same song evokes no such associations. I think 70s rock is maybe 'safer' for me since I wasn't alive in the 70s -- I'm mostly disconnected from the culture that produced the music.

But you aren't questioning the morality of the music; you're questioning the morality of giving money to a person in exchange for their art (when you strongly suspect the artist is not Christian). I don't ask the check-out person if he/she is Christian before making most purchases, so unless the company is publicly involved in something I find scandalous, I don't see a reason to withhold my money. [Eg, I know a lot of people who wouldn't buy BP gas right now, because of what is happening in the Gulf.] The same can be said here -- you can support [i]that song[/i] without somehow endorsing everything the group does.

I like Salvador Dali's [i]Sacrament of the Last Supper[/i] and [i]Crucifixion of St. John of the Cross[/i] - both beautiful pieces of art, and very much Christian. Some of his other stuff? Not so much - very disturbing. But I don't have any qualms buying prints of the paintings I liked, even if Dali might not have been the best example of what it means to live a Catholic life.

[Ziggamafu]

[quote name='MithLuin' date='25 June 2010 - 02:43 AM' timestamp='1277448195' post='2133965']
From what I can understand, the situation is this:

[list]
* The song that caught your interest sounds pretty and has no offensive lyrics. Thus, [i]in and of itself[/i], there is nothing about the song that would raise alarm bells or be problematic.

* The band has a name and associated artwork that [i]does[/i] raise questions - certainly, they seem to be antagonistic towards a Christian worldview.

* So, is there any scandal or cooperation in evil in supporting them by buying a song? [/list]

I think it's a personal choice. If it's going to bother you to see that name in your playlist, don't buy the song. If you would feel the need to justify your purchase or you think it will give you qualms giving money to these people, don't do it.

If I watch a movie or read a book, it does not mean I agree with every idea I come across in it. Likewise, if you listen to a song, it does not mean you are giving assent to everything the group stands for.

I enjoy listening to 70s rock on the radio. Much of it is not Christian, though there are a lot of great songs. Still, for certain songs, I will almost inevitably change the station, because it really just isn't pleasant for me to listen to a song with such offensive lyrics. Billy Joel's 'Only the Good Die Young' is [i]not[/i] one of those songs - I will generally listen to it. Of course, I'm doing my own version of 'The Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd' in my head, so that can get tedious.

Art can be a tricky thing - different things can be an issue for different people. Music is very connected with memories, recalling times we've had while those songs played. For some people, those times can be themselves memories we'd rather not recall, even something sinful. For others, the same song evokes no such associations. I think 70s rock is maybe 'safer' for me since I wasn't alive in the 70s -- I'm mostly disconnected from the culture that produced the music.

But you aren't questioning the morality of the music; you're questioning the morality of giving money to a person in exchange for their art (when you strongly suspect the artist is not Christian). I don't ask the check-out person if he/she is Christian before making most purchases, so unless the company is publicly involved in something I find scandalous, I don't see a reason to withhold my money. [Eg, I know a lot of people who wouldn't buy BP gas right now, because of what is happening in the Gulf.] The same can be said here -- you can support [i]that song[/i] without somehow endorsing everything the group does.

I like Salvador Dali's [i]Sacrament of the Last Supper[/i] and [i]Crucifixion of St. John of the Cross[/i] - both beautiful pieces of art, and very much Christian. Some of his other stuff? Not so much - very disturbing. But I don't have any qualms buying prints of the paintings I liked, even if Dali might not have been the best example of what it means to live a Catholic life.
[/quote]

Well said.

[Crispy]

Thanks MithLuin. Great post. I'll pray about it.

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='Crispy' date='21 June 2010 - 08:20 PM' timestamp='1277166033' post='2132497']
I can see you point, and I do agree that you can't blame one's actions completely on the music they listen to. I would contend though that the music one listens to is not merely an "outward symptom" of their interior life. I think it's both/and. While you can't blame all someone's bad actions on the music they listen to, I think the wrong music [i]can[/i] influence a person to do evil. Music can be both a sign of pre-existing corruption and a source of corruption itself.

Corrupt fruit comes from corrupt seed. An atheist with twisted passions getting into death metal indeed had corrupt seeds planted before the music hit him. But I'm positive that the music made it worse, amplifying the corruption. Even for one who had little wrong about him prior to getting into death metal, I can see that music planting the seeds of vice and sin in him where there was little but minor evils, given the proper time for dulling of the conscience and the desire for the Good. This of course takes an act of the will on the person's part, but it's still right to say that the death metal brought about his moral and/or physical demise, if either of these were to happen. I find it hard to believe that listening to satanic music had no influence at all in your friend's actions. Even non-"satanic" music that is offensive or disturbing aesthetically will be a spiritual burden in some way, without question. We shouldn't ignore the spiritual dimension of music, how it spiritually affects the soul.
[/quote]

this.

..i saw it right before my eyes... a devout Catholic who gradually and slowly changed, who himself admitted the music he listened to "opened doors to satan..."

the fact is, music isn't just [i]listened[/i] to...it becomes a part of us, in all our senses.... when we keep listening to lyrics praising the devil, along with the riffs and the beats, etc., it's almost hypnotic...

[Ephrem Augustine]

Rebel movement music only makes we want to rebel against secularism not the church.

[eustace scrubb]

[quote name='Crispy' date='21 June 2010 - 09:20 PM' timestamp='1277166033' post='2132497']
I can see you point, and I do agree that you can't blame one's actions completely on the music they listen to. I would contend though that the music one listens to is not merely an "outward symptom" of their interior life. I think it's both/and. While you can't blame all someone's bad actions on the music they listen to, I think the wrong music [i]can[/i] influence a person to do evil. Music can be both a sign of pre-existing corruption and a source of corruption itself.

Corrupt fruit comes from corrupt seed. An atheist with twisted passions getting into death metal indeed had corrupt seeds planted before the music hit him. [b]But I'm positive that the music made it worse, amplifying the corruption.[/b] Even for one who had little wrong about him prior to getting into death metal, I can see that music planting the seeds of vice and sin in him where there was little but minor evils, given the proper time for dulling of the conscience and the desire for the Good. This of course takes an act of the will on the person's part, but it's still right to say that the death metal brought about his moral and/or physical demise, if either of these were to happen. I find it hard to believe that listening to satanic music had no influence at all in your friend's actions. Even non-"satanic" music that is offensive or disturbing aesthetically will be a spiritual burden in some way, without question. We shouldn't ignore the spiritual dimension of music, how it spiritually affects the soul.
[/quote]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. And not just that it obviously validated his views through its blasphemy. It obviously had an influence on him. There's a lot to be said for what we [i]do[/i] with something. I heard a metaphor about this in reference to the Harry Potter books... Someone said that there's a huge difference between looking [i]at[/i] a hole and looking [i]through[/i] a hole... Same thing goes for reading texts of other religions and myths. For example, one could read [i]The Edda[/i] and get Viking history out of it, whereas a neo-pagan could read it and take it in as truth.

[quote name='Ephrem Augustine' date='28 June 2010 - 06:45 PM' timestamp='1277761527' post='2135483']
Rebel movement music only makes we want to rebel against secularism not the church.
[/quote]

Amen (see my signature ).

Edited June 30, 2010 by eustace scrubb