Why Christian Music Sucks

Don't mean to rant, but...

There is a little-known side to the myuzik-biz as pertains to religious music. I suspect it is due to the religious right's natural aversion to rock music amid the paranoia of McCarthyism and the Red Scare, but as Christian Rock (or more appropriately, Christian pop) become more and more popular, Christian artists still needed to segregate themselves from their secular counterparts to be accepted by the religious community. ...which is why there are Christian record companies and (peculiarly) why a Christian album will have a separate company that distributes it to the secular market.

Christianity is an unusual religion. `Course every religion is unique, really. But with Christianity in this enlightened age, the non-believers are no longer persecuted for heresy. Instead, they are relentlessly pursued by the devout out of fear of their damnation. A true Believer is in a unique position because according to their faith, everyone they meet is in Very Grave Eternal Danger. Immense pressure, really, on the devout. Hence the fanatical urgency of Christian evangelism - the need is so desparate.

Your average Christian musical artist tends not to be encouraged by the audience - or more significantly, the market - to create good music to create good music. Their efforts all must stem back to dispersing a message. There is no greater cause than to rescue the lost. Anything short of that is (at its most noble) wasting valuable time or (at its most pagan) guilty of pride - which is Mortal Sin #1 by the old catechism.

So which is better for Spreading The Gospel? To mass produce watered-down artless music that nobody likes? Or to finely craft a body of music that leaves "finding Jesus" to the listener through artful description of Christian themes?

I will take the 5th on this one and simply contend that they both suck. And I will go further to say that music made for the purpose of evangelism will always suck. I can't speak for Spreading The Gospel, but people listen to music because they like listening to music. Not because they feel like they need saving. Most of the people who listen to Christian Music are Christians, Christian artists are literally preaching to the choir - they tend more to be Christian cheerleaders.

There are other Christian artists out there and we don't know they're Christians. And that's cool. Because it shouldn't matter. Christian artists shouldn't try to separate themselves from non-Christian artists. In fact, as far as art and Christianity go - the responsibility is invariably on the viewer. Back when I called myself a Christian, such "heretical" works as XTC's "Dear God" and Scorcese's film The Last Temptation of Christ reinforced my Christian faith - because I participated in them as a Christian Viewer - irrespective of the faith of the artist.

not to say that exhortative "for the Church" works are bad or artless. there are tons of non-Christian hard-core fans of traditional shoutin' black gospel for example. but the aim of traditional shoutin' black gospel is not evangelism, now is it?

I crave a time that the Christian church starts to see itself, not as God's chosen, nor the sole bearer of truth, nor again the light of the world, but as adherents to the ever-evolving Christian religious thought. They need to shake this "need for salvation" business. Christianity needs a good, solid dose of intellectualism if it is going to make it to the future with any kind of class. They need to read their Bible as a piece of literature and not as a collection of edicts. The Christian faith needs intellectual leadership that pursues cohesiveness with other faiths and rejects fundamentalism.

It cannot survive on its present course. The Church needs another revolution.

email: RE: THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

From: Allender, Mark
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:55 AM
To: MDT
Subject: RE: THE CHURCH IN AMERICA

> I wasn't convinced that most of your issues were with biblical
Christianity as much as the modern Church or distorted doctrine.

well,

- I don't believe there is a God who intimately cares about the daily goings-on of humanity. in fact, I have issues with there being a God at all.

- I don't believe there is anything divine about the books of the Bible. I believe they are books just like any other ancient or historical text.

- I believe that, like other ancient texts, they do not always tell the whole story. the Gospels for example are not "historical"

- I do not believe that humankind is sinful, nor that it needs to be saved.

- I am not persuaded of any certainty of anything in an alleged afterlife.

these are my fundamental issues with Christianity as a religion. now I also have some other issues with the mainstream American church which you may or may not agree with me on ...

- I am annoyed by the anti-intellectual nature of the modern Church

- I am annoyed by the alignment of the mainstream Church with the political right.

- If the Church is going to remain relevant, it MUST be more flexible and more willing to engage in dialogue. it needs to embrace the findings of science rather than be afraid of them. if there is dissonance with Church teaching and current trends in thinking, the FIRST thing to be re-examined should be the Church teaching, not the immediate assumption that current popular thought is misguided. Certainly popular thought can often be flimsy or ignorant, but the mainstream Church refuses to even engage it.

- Christians claim to the Light of the World, but they have been the very last to embrace new thinking or new science since Constantine. consider the following issues:
- heliocentric theory
- evolution
- rock `n roll
- acceptance of homosexuality

(that's not to say that the Church hasn't been the forerunner in many other issues, of course...human rights notably - the abolitionist movement comes readily to mind)

- if the Church is going to remain relevant, it needs to concern itself more with spirituality and the dirt of being human and less with the need for salvation or the avoidance of damnation.

- the Church needs to totally eliminate outreach or evangelism. Let your lives be the draw. If your ideas or thinking resonate with those of others, they'll come on their own

- the Church is WAY TOO COMFORTABLE. They are not challenged enough. Sunday morning should involve discussion of heretical issues - or feature controversial speakers. Bring a Muslim cleric to speak at church and LEARN from him instead of reaffirming where he has erred in his faith..

- Church leadership needs to read the Bible intelligently. Use the Bible. It's a great book. But god I would LOVE to hear someone in the pulpit say, "...and in chapter 5, Paul writes that 'blah blah blah blah' - and frankly I disagree with Paul on this point. I think that 'blah blah blah blah.' " Just because it says so in the Bible doesn't mean that you need to believe it. If there is a God, I believe that he gave us a questioning mind ... on purpose.

ok I'm ranting now - but there's some fat to chew on i suppose.

whadaya say?

-arkmay
zzz at uu dot cx
http://uu.cx/