Devil Music

During my teens and 20s I attended several fundamentalist and independent Baptist churches. I was always intrigued by the term "Devil Music." After all, who really knows what kind of music Satan enjoys. I would guess a little Frank Sinatra.

I never got a clear grip on why Devil Music was bad. I was once told that the beat of the music brought out "primordial urges." Okay, I was only 15, but I knew what that meant — rock music supposedly turned you into an animalistic, horny person. Then there was the claim of the "hypnotic effect" of the beat.

I did not buy into this, nor did any of my friends. My favorite artist at the time was Elton John, followed by Queen. Then there were the Eagles and The Who. Everyone I knew listened to rock or country music. It was a mild form of rebellion.

The Dictator Visit
The brief time my parents had me in a Baptist fundamentalist church was a total joke, with rampant hypocrisy everywhere. But I'll get to that another time. A most memorable moment was when the pastor, who ruled his church as a dictator, came for a visit. First off, he opened our refrigerator, which really annoyed me. Yes, indeed, he was searching for the Devil's Nectar (also known as BEER). I was in my bedroom playing games with some siblings and friends. I put an album from the rock opera Tommy on my record player. I cranked up the song, "Tommy Can You Hear Me" and soon I heard the pastor coming down the hall. He said he was just coming in the bedroom to say "hi." I smiled and said "hi" back. We made small talk, and then he left. All the while, my album was playing on.

The Anti-Rock Seminar
Fast forward a decade and I'm attending another fundamentalist church with my new wife. One week there was a two-night program to expose the evils of rock music. The evangelist spent much time explaining the Satanic connections to song lyrics and talking about quotations and lifestyles of various rock artists. The speaker seemed to have a particular dislike for Ozzy. After spending a couple of nights listening to all this stuff it was time to "get saved" at the end. I was surprised when the associate pastor and some other church leaders came forward, and they said before they thought they were saved but they had not been "really saved." So, I'm not sure how to know when you're "saved" or "really saved" but it probably doesn't hurt to renew your membership, so to speak, every few years. This is known as "rededicating your life."

The Pastor at the Pulpit
At this same church, the pastor was firmly against any music that wasn't gospel. In addition to rock, he was against country, which was "worldy." And he said that easy listening was simply slower versions of rock songs, so that had to go too. He also spoke against homosexuals, pornography, and all the other evils in the world. I realized that there was a lot of bad stuff in the world — it was hard to keep up with it all.

Conclusion
At the last two churches I attended, the once-evil rock songs and rhythms are actually played during the service. They call this "contemporary style" and it's a marketing tool to attract the 30-somethings and younger crowds. The older folks still like "traditional style" where they sing out of the old, ripped hymn book and there's always someone in the choir singing several octaves off key.

The point being is that what is considered "evil" by one generation suddenly becomes acceptable a decade or two later. This same trend can now be seen with the increased acceptance of gay rights. In the past year there's been a steady stream of state bills supporting gay marriage. In fact, more and more churches are now performing gay weddings. I think this is all wonderful.

But as for the Devil Music, I still laugh every time I hear the song "Hotel California" because that was supposed to be a satanic song, and it really freaked out the fundamentalists.