Music & Morality

I ran across this article about music & morality a few weeks back right after I praised Scruton for his writing on the difference between Republicans & Democrats. I don’t take that praise back, but man do I disagree with what he is saying on this one…

[Some of his assertions make no sense whatsoever, nor are many grounded in fact, just opinion. Metal may sound like loud trash to him, but when you pay attention to the drums and multiple guitars played in a way that you can’t hear anywhere else, it can be AMAZING. I could just as easily write an article about how people who don’t have an ear for metal simply don’t have the right ability to listen to music because they are not hearing the right things – but of course saying it wouldn’t make it true. Like this quote: “The rhythm in Heavy Metal, or in the DJ music, is shot at you; the rhythm in the reel invites you to move with it. The difference between “at” and “with” is one of the deepest differences we know, and is exemplified in all our encounters with other people. . .” “At” versus “with”? What the hell are you going on about Roger? I am not “with” you on this reasoning (maybe I am “at” you, since that is the opposite), wherever in space it may be.]

To preface, I listen to every kind of music out there. Music is one of my favorite pastimes and I collect all that I can in order to broaden my horizons and keep the old stuff from getting stale. My favorite genres are country, reggae, and metal. So that’s where I’m at. In dealing with anything’s morality, the answer is always “it depends.” There are no absolute moral wrongs (except perhaps blasphemy) in Catholic morality (which is of course what I will be using, since it provides the fullest frame of morality out there…). That being said, let’s delve…

Where to start, where to start? Okay. There are entire genres of music which I think are for the most part immoral in the topics they discuss. Namely what comes to mind is rap and hip hop, (which I have blogged about before as holding down the black community) whose lyrics praise abuse of women, worship of money, and violence against our brothers. The lyrics of these songs can and have bothered me from time to time, and there are some musicians I refuse to listen to because of the way they treat women, mostly (like Ludacris). But I do not think that music taste indicates moral stature. I can love an artist’s lyrical skill or melodic choice without subscribing to the moral mantras they seem to be pushing. And some music is really catchy. Even if I do not agree with the message, there are times when I genuinely like a song that has bad moral premises. Is that bad? Well, I think the answer is yes and no, but it depends on my mental involvement with the lyrics. If I am immune to such behavior, which is probably most of the time the case, there is little danger. However if it is something that I am susceptible to believing, it is likely that which the Church calls a near occasion of sin (discussed pretty well in a homily here). It probably does not arise to the level of a sin itself, but it is something that can and will lead us to sin if we expose ourselves to it often. Many of you may be familiar with the topic from the Act of Contrition, which is usually what is said after a confession. Other examples of near occasions of sin include pornography (in some cases), drinking alcohol, and even gossiping with friends. Generally, near occasions of sin are best to avoid because they can lead us to sin, or worse – a degradation of our moral foundations resulting in us no longer knowing the difference between right and wrong.

Rap is one thing, because there are overt themes of immorally willed behavior. What about metal? Many a metal band isn’t just immoral, but actively anti-religious and/or blasphemous, perhaps not always in action, but in philosophy and words (Of course metal/punk has its purposefully disgustingly immoral individuals, like GG Allin [the guy is incredibly revolting, as evidenced by his appearance on Jerry Springer here] and others). Now lately, I have been struggling with what level of will-compliance blasphemy requires to rise to sin. When I remarked earlier that there are no absolute sins in the eyes of the Church, I meant it. But blasphemy is the exception, because to blaspheme you must mean what you say about God (the element of will is a requisite part of the action taking place, which is rare for any other actions. For example, I can kill someone willfully. But I can also kill them on accident or in self defense. So killing a human being is not always a sin. I am sure you can think of other examples). If you can think of any other absolutes, let me know. I have been trying to think of others for YEARS. But back to blasphemy, I am not sure how fully compliant one’s will must be in order to trigger blasphemy versus non-blasphemous demi-slander or something. Why I say this is because many times I do not believe some of the popular atheists know quite what they are saying. It is wrong, yes, but when these men (and women) slander God, I am not sure they have the requisite state of mind needed to accompany the words to constitute blasphemy. To be on the safe side, we could say the threshold is low (but I am not so sure). In relation to music, it is often that metal bands (extreme, black & dark metals especially) have quite irreverent names (Black Sabbath, Cradle of Filth, and His Infernal Majesty are about the tamest. Slayer has such albums as Christ Illusion and God Hates Us All, and my favorite metal band Lamb of God has a great song called Walk with Me in Hell) and some do pretty messed up things on stage. But others simply use demonic imagery during performances and other appearances (see the bands Kiss or Gwar –  pictured up top, also the band with the greatest member’s names such as Beefcake the Mighty, Oderus Rungus, and Sleazy P. Martini), much of which can hardly be said to still have any association with anti-religious themes (Which begs another question – does anti-religious imagery have to be accurate to be in conflict with God’s wishes?). I think despite the overt anti-religion in many of these acts, for the average listener, this still only qualifies as a near occasion of sin if one is susceptible to such things and subjects themselves to it nonetheless. But many of the serious listeners of metal adopt fascinations with the occult, love of abuse of the mosh pits, and plainly blasphemous views (even in some cases when they do not realize that the band goes to mass every Sunday, Rob Zombie is one that comes to mind…). Obviously in this case, metal is a bad thing. Obsession with violence and occult themes, even if unreal or not accurate, suggests something is wrong. In places like Scandinavia (Finland is especially where you see it) where God has been all but eradicated in the public sphere, I think teens and twenty-somethings are particularly susceptible to such interests. But for a nice Lutheran kid from the ‘burbs, metal doesn’t offer much in the way of sin if the melody is the reason one enjoys it. I really do enjoy Lamb of God and will continue to listen to them (though that doesn’t make it not a sin or near occasion of sin, of course), I just need to be careful when I am singing Walk with Me in Hell in my head…

Now I have heard people say “Don’t do anything that does not bring glory to God.” I disagree with this statement, because there are amoral acts that do not take from the glory of God, but do not add to it either (e.g. clapping, making a wrong turn in your car, harmless tattoos, stapling a piece of paper, etc.). Music can be in any of the three categories (moral, amoral, immoral), and I think much immoral music can be rendered inert by forces of conscience in strong good individuals. But immoral themes should be avoided on a day-to-day basis if possible, in order to ensure that those ‘near occasions of sin’ do not become actual sin.

So in sum: is immoral music immoral for you to listen to? It depends both on the level of moral understanding you have, and on the level of immorality in the music. But chances are you should probably avoid it if there is any way the themes could affect your moral reasoning. If with a clear conscience you can say that music does not lead you toward a place you would rather not have your soul, it is probably okay to listen to music written by people that are not as upstanding as yourself…

Thoughts? Disagreements? Comment ’em or shoot me an email.

-kj-

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