The Evils of Rock Music
In my fundamentalist sub-culture, I was taught as a child that “rock music,” defined as all music that was accompanied by drums was the “devil’s music.” (I believe an exception was made for the tympani because it was part of an orchestra.) I’m not making this up — I was actually taught in my Baptist school that if you played rock albums you were, in effect summoning the devil. In fact, one of the stories that we were told, illustrating the destructiveness of rock music, is that there was an experiment done where they played rock music and classical music to plants, and after some time, the plants exposed to the classical music thrived, while the music exposed the the rock music was withered and puny.
Enter MythBusters.
MythBusters is what I watch when nothing else is on…since it seems to be on all the time. Anyway, they tried to go after the myth that if you talk to plants they will grow better. (you can find the summary here) Without going into all of the details of their experiment, they found that the plants that they played “death metal” to grew the best — even better than classical music & silence?
I wonder what else I was lied to about as a child in the name of religion?
SUPPORT!!! try being brought up catholic and all the stuff they feed you.
beth
January 9, 2008 at 9:47 am
oh yes. as a homeschooled product of abeka books i can definitely sympathize with this. in our health books they would always include a spiritual health section which dealt a great deal with rock music. my favorite part was the contrast with a picture of the sad, depressed kid with bags under his eyes and the picture of the happy, blonde kid giving the thumbs-up: ‘robert listens to rock music that promotes drugs and unhealthy lifestyles. edward listens to uplifting hymns.’ also, i liked where they had the sound chart of certain things doing damage to your ears. rock music was always placed somewhere between a jackhammer and jet takeoff.
atyourdarkest
January 9, 2008 at 10:10 am
huh. i did not mean for it to come from ‘at your darkest.’ so, you get two comments for the price of one.
be blessed!
-emily
emily
January 9, 2008 at 10:14 am
yes, I was indoctrintated in the A Beka worldview as well!! Yikes! You just brought back a flood of memories!!
charliedean
January 9, 2008 at 10:22 am
A kid who I was a bio major with at Bradley was taught that either the continents or the planets were on pillars. There was also something to do with the platypus, but I can’t remember the specifics. Possibly a duck and a beaver were listening to rock and roll together and the devil showed up and morphed them together with his magic wand.
justin
January 9, 2008 at 10:28 am
Sucks to be you guys, I was raised on rock ‘n’ roll. Like DC Talk, Carman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W Smith (not the new sissy stuff, the old ROCKIN Michael W!).
And don’t get me started on all the rap that was shoved down our throats! Stephen Wiley, Rev. Rap, Gospel Gangstaz, P.I.D. (Preachas in Disguise)….the list goes on.
chrismackeypress
January 9, 2008 at 12:26 pm
haha!! Carmen rocked!!!
sorta sad but true story….i accepted Christ at a Carmen concert…
Beth B
January 10, 2008 at 1:10 pm
did you know that the easter bunny isn’t real, too? yeah, the easter bunny just stole away the reason for the season. if you celebrate easter with bunny decorations, you are neglecting the cross.
also, lord of the rings is sinful. there are characters in there that God OBVIOUSLY did not create!
blasphemy!
eric
January 10, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I still listen to death metal on occasion, if not, at least there is a regualr metal cd laying around…
…and I’m still growing!
Let’s see those *devil* horns! \m/
*pfft*
-joshua
joshua
January 11, 2008 at 12:25 am
Iron Maiden was accused of being satanic worshippers for soooo long back on the eighties,
but read there lyrics of their newest album (out last year) and there music is all about the awesomeness of God and how He has changed there lives.
Google lyrics from Iron Maiden’s “the Greater Good of God” off their album ‘A Matter of Life and Death”
“Please tell me now what life is
Please tell me now what love is
Well tell me now what war is
Again tell me what life is
For the greater good of God (x8)
He gave his life for us
He fell upon the cross
To die for all of those
who never mourn his loss
It wasn’t meant for us
to feel the pain again
Tell me why, tell me why ”
I feel sorrow for those close minded individuals who never question things like this.
God told us to rely on Him, not other people to guide us. It is sad how many people never question the things “the church” tells them. Jesus was a such great example of this, WHY DON’T SOME CHRISTIANS GRASP it??
sorry for the novel…your blog, not mine…hehehehhaha
~April Berardi
april
January 11, 2008 at 10:29 am
so yeah, i went to catholic school all my life too & omfg the stuff u guys are talking about scares me! lol i tink ill just go listen to some Dimmu Borgir or Impaled Nazarene, idont mind having “satan” blared in my room lol
zackattack
January 19, 2008 at 1:14 pm
or what about “Backward Masking“? Those satanic messages will make you do all kinds of things you never dreamed possible.
Darrell
January 31, 2009 at 11:24 am