That was the question raised in a 1969 Jehovah's Witness magazine.Since then the debate has continued as they have published countless articles on the same subject.They have never actually forbidden their members to listen to modern music,but some religious groups have.In the film 'Footloose' there had been a ban imposed on such music by a town's religious leaders.Also,have a read of what these websites have to say on the subject:
http://www.av1611.org/que...qtool.html
http://www.av1611.org/que...qhate.html
http://www.av1611.org/que...qsalv.html
http://www.av1611.org/rock.html
Does anybody have any ideas about whether it is OK for a Christian to listen to modern music or not?

philipdalton said:

You can do whatever you want, as long as what you do doesn't prohibit someone else from doing what they want.
Don't let a story book run your life.

all I want is for people to stop listening to crappy music BECAUSE it's christian....

That alternative christian rock garbage is absolutely awful and it disgusts me that people with otherwise good taste in music will buy into that tripe. It's so bad. Jars of Clay, Third Day, Hillsong, Michael W. Smith, WOW Worship.

My knowledge of it is extensive as my roommate is always playing the garbage.

Which is not to say that there are no christian's who are talented artists, but if the only way they're getting signed is on these christian labels, there is generally a problem.

It's like, take Creed, and somehow make it more formulaic and bland. done.

I read the thread title as "Is there Ham in Rock n Roll?"

I think there definately is, and its a very serious issue.....

....I was jamming in the music practice room once with the band I was in at secondary school.....one of the amps tipped over that my mate was sitting on....damn near crushed my little toe.

True story that.

is there harm in aliases

Orgnote from philipdalton: "Did you know Prince became a Jehovah's Witness?"

One of the facts pointed out about rock'n'roll in the article I mentioned was about the origins of the term itself.This website here also explains what the origins of the term are.
http://www.jesus-is-savio..._evils.htm

One of the earliest articles Jehovah's Witnesses published about pop music was in 1964 in which someone who knew The Beatles personally described them as 'AntiChrist'.If you look at this website you will find out who this person was.
http://www.geocities.com/mmiddleton87/
A link was established between Jehovah's Witnesses and the pop music industry when Hank Marvin*,lead guitarist with The Shadows,got baptized as one in 1973.(Brian Locking was a Witness before him but left the group)
*See my thread 'Recording artists who became Jehovah's Witnesses' in 'Religion & Politics'

No.

I think a scene from 'Footloose' basically sums up the problem with modern music in general,which is people's ignorance of it.A young girl is asking her father whether classical music is OK or not and he replies:'It's uplifting. It doesn't confuse people's minds and bodies.'Modern music tends to confuse people's minds because there is so much of it being produced that most parents tend not to understand much about it.So,they are confused over it is OK to listen to it or not.I think one of the greatest phobias my father had about such music was its 'backward masking' in which demonic messages are recorded backward in music.He felt classical and Shadows records were acceptable as they did not have such messages recorded on them.
http://www.religioustoler...r_cul5.htm
http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ackmasking
http://www.geocities.com/...sking.html
[Edited 3/5/08 7:12am]
[Edited 3/5/08 7:18am]

Sometimes I do feel like I've been corrupted.

There's potential harm in absolutely everything, including religion.

[Takes in a huge breath and collapses on the floor.]

I heard a preacher say this and I think it applies to this and everything in general. He said:

If you don't know the purpose of a thing, you're going to abuse it.

Yes. Why, only this morning I was listening to "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets, and the intoxicating jungle rhythym made me run into the street naked and do a toilet. ban this filth

LittleSmedley said:

That's all? "Good Golly Miss Molly" made me kill a man with my bare hands. I just started wailing on him. I couldn't stop! Thank God somebody came along and pulled my headphones off! I had my sights set on this little old lady crossing the street. Its the devil's music, I tell ya!

BlaqueKnight said:

That music is a social menace I went to the local hop and, half crazed by the pounding rock n roll beat of "Tutti Frutti", tried to sodomize Kevin Bacon. He wasn't so "Footloose" the next day, that's for sure

I was listening to a Chuck Berry song & it made me play with my ding-a-ling.

if it's not harmful then it's not rock'n'roll.

That's all? "Good Golly Miss Molly" made me kill a man with my bare hands. I just started wailing on him. I couldn't stop! Thank God somebody came along and pulled my headphones off! I had my sights set on this little old lady crossing the street. Its the devil's music, I tell ya!

Listening to Little Richard probably wouldn't make you kill a man with your bare hands,but I can tell you that a boy I went to school with who was known to my family to have had behavioural problems gave me a tape of the group Rainbow with a song that contained this line:'Sleep with the Devil,the Devil will take you away."

Has anybody ever heard of the group known as New Covenant Christians.Read what they have to say on this subject:
http://www.nccg.org/040Ar...Music.html

FuNkeNsteiN said:

preach

That's the way life should be; freedom

It's only rock 'n roll but i like it

I think rock 'n' roll has caused alot less deaths over the years than religion has!

...that having been said if they opened up a Church of Rock and Funk, I'd be there every Sunday...front row, centre!

philipdalton said:

There is some truth in what they say. They are also neglecting to mention that the same temptations lie in the church but under a much more controlled environment. The church has always whined about secular music and it always will. Even though there are more Christian bands now than ever there are always sects of religious extremists who seek to control the masses and dictate what they should and shouldn't do.
Later for these fools.

At the 1992 MTV Awards, the group Red Hot Chili Peppers, upon receiving their award and giving thanks, said:
"FIRST OF ALL we want to thank Satan . . ."
These groups know perfectly well who they're serving and they are totally dedicated to their god! In Hit Parader magazine, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, says:

"We can play with CONVICTION every night, because we TOTALLY BELIEVE in the music we're performing."
This could be taken as proof by some that becoming well-known in today's music industry requires a bit of soul-selling.