The author’s begin chapter two by tracing the beginnings of current western pop music from the early rhythms of African people. I am no music historian, but from what the little I do know, rock music is the grandchild of blues, which is traditionally one of the primary methods of expression for the oppressed black man. They then make the claim that one of the main motivations and themes of blues music was illicit sex. This claim or may or may not be true, I am no blues historian, but for sure this is something that is new information to me. They make this point only to state that all cultural musical forms are fundamentally flawed in that they are performed and created by sinful people. I have no problem with this.
They then go on to trace rock and roll from Bill Haley and the Comets, to Elvis, then the British Invasion of the Beatles, to the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc. I’ll spare you all the history, but the authors trace all the different bands that were and are popular up to the current day.
In chapter two they make no real judgments about these bands and artists other than to highlight that a majority of them embraced a lifestyle that was sub-Christian. To this I would agree but also say, so what? What do we expect from people who are not Christians, to act like them? Couldn’t we say the same is true of non-Christian doctors, businessmen, garbage men, and another of profession that you can think of? I believe that what they might say is that your typical American profession (doctor or lawyer or whatever) does not have nearly the influence culturally that our rock icons do. I would agree, but I am still waiting to hear why a certain lifestyle of a performer makes a musical arrangement of certain types of instruments, sounds and rhythms inherently and objectively bad for the church. Does the fact that Mozart’s lifestyle was immoral or sub-Christian make me playing one of his piano compositions wrong? I guess I have 8 chapters left to get an answer, but I must admit that I am skeptical that a real one exists.
In anticipating their argument that we should not use rock music in the church due to the fact that it comes with so much negative cultural baggage, I would like to ask this question: Would people from a non-western culture that are oblivious to the history of rock music be free to use it in the church?
Again, what the heck is rock music? I seems that if we are going to say “it” is really that harmful then we should be able to define what “it” is.
No answer on that one after chapter two.
2 comments:
"Again, what the heck is rock music? I seems that if we are going to say “it” is really that harmful then we should be able to define what “it” is."
You'd think so, wouldn't you. But you're going to have to keep waiting... :)
The term "Rock N Roll" originated in a euphemism for sex.
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