Listening To Worldly Music

[Totus Tuus]

I think the sinfulness of the situation depends on the listener's conscience. I think listening to eminem and metallica is probably consenting to blasphemy and often to impure thoughts, so a well-formed conscience is definitely in the occasion of sin, and probably consenting to sin much of the time. That is just my opinion - I'm not speaking for the Church. That's just what my conscience tells me.

[carrdero]

There is not a rhythm, nor series of notes or lyrical phrase that can offend GOD.

[soccer girl =D]

its not a sin. unless u sing (loudly) or actually do the bad stuff eminem and metallica are talking about. bsides im a eminem phan.

[Socrates]

Personally, I don't really think Eminem and Metallica belong in the same category (musically or lyrically). I'll admit that I'm much more of a Metallica fan, and don't really listen to Eminem, and have not been at all impressed with what I've heard of him.
While obviously, Metallica is not all sweetness and light, I don't find most of their lyrics particularly morally offensive, though they often have dark subject matter.
What I've heard of Eminem has been relentlessly vulgar and obscene, on the other hand.

[Spamity Calamity]

what about discouraging listening to eminem on account of taste? dont have to worry if its sinful or not its just isnt any good.

[HotRod]

I dont have a problem with secular music, over 90% of the music i listen to is secular, and I love hard rock too. I was big into Punk in HS too. But now, as I get older, and have my kids getting older the standard is, if I wont listen to it in front of my kids, then i shouldn't be listening to it period.

[S][N]

"Worldly Music" LOL... I love all these new terms and phrases you people come up with to try to segregate things.

No it wouldn't be a sin, considering some of his songs are more heart than hate. Saying that, he's a whitey trash trying to be gangsta. Nothing worse than white trying to be black.

[carrdero]

[quote name='S][N' post='1429147' date='Dec 4 2007, 03:38 AM']
"Worldly Music" LOL... I love all these new terms and phrases you people come up with to try to segregate things.
No it wouldn't be a sin, considering some of his songs are more heart than hate. Saying that, he's a whitey trash trying to be gangsta. Nothing worse than white trying to be black.[/quote]
Word!

Edited December 4, 2007 by carrdero

[S][N]

ROFL.

Example A above.

[Guest FRayM13]

I actually cannot stand Christian Music (no offense to anyone) but I am a very dedicated Catholic, and my brand of ear candy, is strictly Conscience hip-hop, such as Nas, Tupac, Immortal Technique, amongst countless others. I just have an ear for pure talent rhymers. I do appreciate ol skoo rock n roll, jazz, talented r&b artists, funk, and a lot of other stuff. My range of music is very wide. Even though about 98% of the music I listen too is far from Christ's message, I do not allow my music to rule me, I see there talents as gifts from God, regardless. Also, if you are into Christian hip hop check out my homie M.A.S. at [url="http://theroadtomas.com/"]http://theroadtomas.com/[/url] . Don't mean to propagandize, but it's an ill album, support good artists. Buy a CD.

God Bless Sistaz and Brothaz

Edited December 10, 2007 by FRayM13

[mom25angels]

[quote name='HotRod' post='1428188' date='Dec 2 2007, 02:23 PM']I dont have a problem with secular music, over 90% of the music i listen to is secular, and I love hard rock too. I was big into Punk in HS too. But now, as I get older, and have my kids getting older the standard is, if I wont listen to it in front of my kids, then i shouldn't be listening to it period.[/quote]


I'm with you, there. I think it's called wisdom.

[mom25angels]

I'm going to be a really big momma here and say something I probably said I'd never say but here goes....why listen to music that is just "potty" talk? Would you hang out with someone who spoke like that? Would you waste your time talking to someone who was that sick? So what if they have talent, they should use it a little better, in my opinion. I don't care if they aren't Christian or Jewish or whatever faith there are some things that are just wrong. Natural law prohibits them.

Turn it off.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

[quote name='S][N' post='1429147' date='Dec 4 2007, 08:38 AM']
"Worldly Music" LOL... I love all these new terms and phrases you people come up with to try to segregate things.

No it wouldn't be a sin, considering some of his songs are more heart than hate. Saying that, he's a whitey trash trying to be gangsta. Nothing worse than white trying to be black.[/quote]

The creator of this poll isn't a Catholic and neither does she identify with any Christian denomination. As for the word 'worldly' itself, I hear it a lot in evangelical circles (along with the opposite label, 'godly') but it is not really common in Catholic parlance. We tend to divide into secular and sacred.

I agree that most things are not easy to categorise. I was in a clothes shop once and Meat Loaf's 'Bat Out of Hell' came on. When they got to the line that goes, "You're the only thing in this whole world that's pure and good and right," as I was absent-mindedly browsing through the clothes rack, I immediately thought of Mary. This is a semi-flippant example, but the point stands - it's all a question of attitude and intent. Baking apple strudel can be as sacred a time as an hour spent with your rosary beads, and sometimes when I'm working on essays or reading books I slip quite naturally [url="http://www.rejesus.co.uk/blog/?p=42"]into prayer[/url].

However, there are certain things and activities that it's not really possible to sanctify. Certain kinds of music come under that category. Once I did a preliminary psycholinguistic study into the relationship between music, mood, and memory for written and spoken words. Some of the pieces of music that were used (all of them lyric-free) predisposed the subjects to remember particularly violent or angry phrases, or to put a violent interpretation on a phrase that was otherwise ambiguous. This experiment doesn't really count, as it was just a test run to pinpoint and correct any methodological problems that we might encounter in the real thing, but it was enough to convince me that music can have a negative effect on our ways of thinking - [i]even if that negative effect goes unnoticed[/i]. (Only two of the subjects recorded a distinct shift in mood when asked to evaluate how they felt afterwards, even though the results of the study belied that.)

I think we should exercise caution and good judgement in choosing what to listen to, as we rarely listen actively - music is just there in the background, and it can prevent us from becoming properly aware and appreciative of its content, or attentive to our surroundings. I used to listen to music when I went out for walks, without exception, until a Buddhist friend asked me, "Don't you find that doing that takes away from mindfulness?" I could see what she meant, although the word 'mindfulness' is not part of the standard Catholic vocabulary either, and I stopped doing it so much.

[jeffpugh]

CA, I am totally with you on how music affects the way we think and act...

Anywho, my opinion on all of this is, I don't listen to those people's work, nor do I "encourage" others to. That's about it.

[the 13th papist]

whats with the whole discussion about thinking things are or are not sins? Are we moral rigorists? Morality 101: It is impossible for somebody to say that another person has sinned because of the subjecive nature of sin. We can say that objectively a thing is sinful, but to true and honest discussion would take pages and pages. Bottom line: a peson can probably spend his time better than listing to music with a poor message, but its not like listening to tis music is an offense against God.

P.S. Metallica doesn't glorify sin; they express the hell within that is created through sin. After listening to their music, who wants to lead a life like that. In similar example, who, after reading some Edgar Allen Poe, wants to go kill somebody. After reading about the utter hell within that is created after such a deed, like in A Telltale Heart, who would want to do such a thing.