anyone have any views about listening to secular music?

[bparkerson04]

i got some old 311 songs i used to like off of itunes today for my ipod. i got the clean versions, but i am worried about subliminal stuff in secular music, etc. just looking for some extra opinions about it. thanks.

[Slater]

from what I've heard, 311 is quite rasist, and the people who I've met in the past who listen to them didn't leave a possitive impression in my mind... Still, I listen to secular music but with caution. I avoid bands that are blatently antichristian

------> Jam Session

[Hephzibah]

I always check out the lyrics first. If they are clean (sexually, language-wise or religiously), then I might get it (such as Delta Goodrem); but the final say is always the Holy Spirits. If He says get rid of it, away it goes. No use keeping a song that you feel to get rid of just for a few minutes of entertainment when it could be doing damage to you that you aren't aware of until too late.

[Arbre]

By secular, do you mean anything not specifically dedicated to praising God? I'm not very familiar with that term.

[teen4truth]

I listen to all Christian music, and I love it! It really bugs me when peeps call it 'alternative.' If God created music, and back in the earliest days of music it was mainly used to worship him, then why should it be called alternative? ^_~

So ya do what you feel is right but I will worn you it is a lot easier to just not listen to secular music in general. Which it is not like you have to deprive yourself of music to do that, just instead of going to walmart you can go to Mardells or something. Just check it out and you will tottaly find something you like. It is like so AMAZING how many styles of Christian music there is, from hyms to rap to hevy metal^^

[Artist4Jesus89]

OK heres my personal opinon i destroyed and or gave away my secular CDs around two years ago and when i listen to secular music i just get a depressed feeling so i mean i wouldnt listen to it but its up to you im sure that as long as the lyrics are clean you could pull it off i personaly couldnt but yeah anyways like the song umm i dont know what its called or who its by but i think the lyrics go "Sadie Hawkins Dance in my Kaki pants, girls ask the guys allways a suprise" or something like that i can listen to probably because the first time i listened to it was in my youth room.
But your descision so yeah.


EDIT: and i agree with T4T

[BigZam]

OK heres my personal opinon i destroyed and or gave away my secular CDs around two years ago and when i listen to secular music i just get a depressed feeling so i mean i wouldnt listen to it but its up to you im sure that as long as the lyrics are clean you could pull it off i personaly couldnt but yeah anyways like the song umm i dont know what its called or who its by but i think the lyrics go "Sadie Hawkins Dance in my Kaki pants, girls ask the guys allways a suprise" or something like that i can listen to probably because the first time i listened to it was in my youth room.
But your descision so yeah.

i think thats by a Christian band....Relient K i believe....

[Artist4Jesus89]

i think thats by a Christian band....Relient K i believe....

i think youre right...

[Uriah]

"Secular" is a term made up by the general religious world,to refer to and put down anything that doesnt strictly follow their customs and preferences...

I don't care what they all say, there's no such thing as religious or secular. It really enrages me how people spread the idea that new christians must destroy their "secular" music CDs. I know of "secular" songs that are so much more worship than alot of "worship music" today..

The question is, does the music produce life or death? If the music drags you down, or premotes evil, then it's not good to listen to it.
And that's about it..

[bparkerson04]

i did the same thing (getting rid of all of my secular cd's and music) a couple of years ago. i listen to all christian now, but lately, since i have started my second semester of college, i have made some new friends, and they listen to secular when i get a ride across campus to my truck, or when we go out to eat or something, and i will hear songs i used to like when i listened to secular music, like the 311 songs. i went and checked them out last night though, and i deleted all of my secular music again. i just wasted like 5 backs in the itunes store. i was getting to where the cool christian music i have like pillar, and starfield, and relient k, etc., wasn't as cool as this secular music. that is a lie of the devil of course. i went and checked out something about how 311 got there name, and one of the guys was talking about how it could be a reference to magic and man, that 3 is the number for man, and 11 is the number for magic or something. i know that anyone who practices magic, i don't want anything from there music getting in to me. thanks to the person who told me to check out their lyrics. there is some awesome christian music, i would reccomend that everyone get into that over secular or mainstream music. you know that it is safe, because you know the artists share the same faith you do, and that jesus christ is their lord and savior. thanks for all of everybodies views, and continue to post. this will be a good t thread for anyone who is a new christian, just recently born again, and is having this struggle. i am sure they will appreciate the opinions and viewpoints expressed in this thread and we might be able to help them come to an answer in their struggle. God bless all of you!

[Starfire1]

i think thats by a Christian band....Relient K i believe....

it is. i love Relient K.

[agasfas]

I listen to all kinds of music: classical rock, rock, oldies, metal and old school punk and even christian stuff.

How are y'all wanting to "define" secular, anything not spiritually oriented?

I don't necessarily have a problem with some secualar music because some do convey good messages. Then on the otherhand, not all "christian" type bands talk about spiritual stuff or Christ in every one of their songs; for example SwitchFoot. So technically they are considered a mix between secular and christian music. There are many secular/christian bands...

Though I don't think it's any good to listen to music that'll make them feel sad or depressed; that's kind of self defeating. But I don't think all secular music is bad.

[shooraijin]

Moved to Jam Session.

[Steeltemplar]

I actually listen to maybe 95% secular music. It is not necessarily on purpose. It's just what I consider to be good as well as the genres I like. Some of the music I end up liking is Christian and a lot of it is secular. If I didn't listen to secular music, I would miss out on some of the greatest artists of all time - The Beatles, Deep Purple, Yes, Jimmy Hendrix, Genesis, Van Halen, Joni Mitchell, Doobie Brothers, Metallica - just a few bands/artists which have incredible musical and artistic ability and are secular.

As well, some genres have little or no Christian music available. For instance: Trance music (a form of electronica, for those unfamiliar. It might loosely be called techno). Generally, there is little serious lyrical content in this sort of music. And I don't think I know of any Christian music in this genre at all.

If you feel that it is necessary to stop listening to secular music for whatever reason, that is fine and I respect that decision. But I do not think that, by virtue of being secular, it is inherently corrupting or problematic.

That is not to say that I don't think one should be aware of what they are listening to lyrically. I do throw out CD's from time to time. Awhile back, I decided to stop listening to Dimmu Borgir because of their violent anti-Christian lyrics in some songs.

So that's my take on it. Christian or secular, I just want good music. So sometimes that's dc-Talk or Rebecca St. James (shows you how far back I was listening to the stuff....when were they big? Ten years ago almost?) and sometimes its The Beatles or Black Label Society.

[Nate]

Hey Steeltemplar, have I ever told you you have freakin' awesome taste in music?

i went and checked out something about how 311 got there name, and one of the guys was talking about how it could be a reference to magic and man, that 3 is the number for man, and 11 is the number for magic or something.

NOTE: The following is NOT true, it is COMPLETELY false.

There are a lot of rumors about 311's band name, one of them being that k is the eleventh letter of the alphabet, and 311 would be 3 k's, or KKK.

Note that this is a RUMOR and not true.

Anyway, I listen to secular music a lot more than Christian music. I just can't get into Christian music, for some reason, other than a few hymns which I hold very near and dear to my heart when we sing them at church. ^^

Maybe I just haven't found the really super awesome Christian bands or something...I like Pillar all right, and dc talk's older stuff is decent, but ultimately I don't listen to them as much as I listen to, say, Santana or Rush. I think this has been mentioned in another thread, but I think part of the problem is the Christian music scene's attempts to be "the Christian version of x" instead of standing on their own merits.

But no, ultimately, I don't think secular music is bad, unless the lyrics are blatantly anti-Christian.

And now I wait for Shatterheart to come in, talk about how this topic has been discussed three hundred times on this forum already, and give his speech about "If you throw away all your secular music CDs, and still watch TV shows that aren't Christian, you're a hypocrite." XD

(No offense to you Steve, I'm not making fun of you, I just know you too well. )

[starfire]

I listen to j-pop all the time. And where would I be without my beloved U2? Not a happy camper, I'll tell ya that much! But, the way I see it, if it feels wrong, chances are it is.

I once threw all my cds out, because at the time they were a stumbling block for me. I felt like they were taking focus away from God. So, I'm kinda glad I did that. But now it's not an issue, and I feel fine with it. So, I'd say it's relative for each person, and even then at different times.

That's my take, anyway.

[Stephen]

"Secular" is a term made up by the general religious world,to refer to and put down anything that doesnt strictly follow their customs and preferences...

I don't care what they all say, there's no such thing as religious or secular. It really enrages me how people spread the idea that new christians must destroy their "secular" music CDs. I know of "secular" songs that are so much more worship than alot of "worship music" today..

The question is, does the music produce life or death? If the music drags you down, or premotes evil, then it's not good to listen to it.
And that's about it..

Quite possibly, without exageration...this is the most intellegent post I have ever read on CAA. It captured the bulk of what I would have written in a lengthy copy of the same thing I have said a thousand times before when threads like this pop up. Suffice to say I will say only this. If you do not limit yourself to only Christian movies, TV, and books...yet listen only to Christian music....your a hypocrit.

[Michael]

The way I see it is a lot of Christian music I hear is nothing but a cleaned up version of a secular band. Like, "Do you like Green Day, but don't like the cussing? Just listen to Kutless."

The problem with that is that when Christian bands stop trying to make their own music, they stop trying to play to the best of their ability and they just pick someone to copy and clean it up if the lyrics are bad. I would rather listen to a secular version with bad content than a rip-off of it. Of course if the music is really foul, I won't listen to it at all. No rap for me. Probably no Spliknot too, (I do have Vermillion though, but that's the only song of their's I like, the rest is just too nasty). Tell me, which do you think is better: writing lyrics that praise God, or praising God by playing to the best of your ability?

Also, Shatterheart, there is a difference between the World and Christians. We are called to be, " . . . in the world, but not of the world." I don't know where the term, 'secular' came from and it's definetely the best representation of what the Bible means. I do agree that I've heard "secular" music that had better content than "christian" music, though.

[Ninja Rob]

The way I see it is a lot of Christian music I hear is nothing but a cleaned up version of a secular band. Like, "Do you like Green Day, but don't like the cussing? Just listen to Kutless."

I would've put that more along the lines of "Do you like Creed, but don't want to hear an ounce of creativity? Just listen to Kutless.", but sure, that works too.

More on topic, I agree with you. I hate it when a Christian band is just an alternative to a secular band. I'm pretty much repeating what other people have said, but God has called us to be creative, not "Christian alternatives to creative secular bands". That's showing laziness and a waste of talent, which I'm pretty sure God frowns upon.

The problem is, a lot of people actually don't want to hear new, creative things from Christian artists. They actually want to hear Christian songs that sound like song X from mainstream band X. I try to introduce them to new bands, new sounds, from creative Christian bands, and they just want to listen to Kutless, and one of the millions of worship bands.

There are many Christian bands that want to break away from the lack of creativity of CCM. I have many of them ready and able to listen to on my computer or on CDs. I could list them all, but that would simply take too long. I guess if someone asks I could list a lot of them later, but I'm kind of rushed on time, so....yeah. That's my two cents worth.

[Stephen]

Also, Shatterheart, there is a difference between the World and Christians. We are called to be, " . . . in the world, but not of the world."

Whats your point? I really don't see what your saying. I am well aware we are to be in and not of. My point is, its foolish for people to say...I only listen to Christian music...secular is evil....if there watching secular movies, TV, and reading secular books. See my point?

[Hephzibah]

If you do not limit yourself to only Christian movies, TV, and books...yet listen only to Christian music....your a hypocrit.

I'm going to have to say I disagree with you here Shatterheart. Everyone has different stumbling blocks; for some, its secular music. Just because they stumble when it comes to secular music, doesn't mean they are hyprocits for continuing to watch "secular" movies, TV, read books, etc.

If people do say that all secular stuff is bad and then watch / read such things, then yes they are being hypocritical, but you will not find many people who make such a broad generalisation.

[ShiroiHikari]

So what makes music so much worse than movies or books?

I'm not a baby anymore; I can handle secular music just fine, thanks.

[Stephen]

And now I wait for Shatterheart to come in, talk about how this topic has been discussed three hundred times on this forum already, and give his speech about "If you throw away all your secular music CDs, and still watch TV shows that aren't Christian, you're a hypocrite." XD

Whoa. I missed that Kae. Guess my first post here kinda proved you right huh? Sept I think the thread has been done at least a thousand times. Three hundred is far to kind an estimate.

As far as the difference Shihi, here comes the part where I make a bunch of people angry at me. Wanna know why many churches and Christians push CCM so much, while letting R rated movies...and crude TV shows (how many churches did Survivor events for there youth groups, while Survivor was clearly a pinnacle of moral TV) slide? Because CCM makes Christians money. There is not a huge Christian movie business (Omega Code anyone?) There is big time money in Christian music...so we "help brothers out" Its basicly big business for Jesus. Or at least, in His name. Sorry folks...I just don't buy into it. If a bands lyrics convict you...thats one thing. But to lable all secular music as evil...is just silly. Further shoveling a bit more dirt ontop of the already negative Christian sterotype. I am waiting for Christian food to come out. Although a friend of mine works at a Bible bookstore...and they sell Old Testament Moses granola bars....(oh come soon Lord, come soon)

[bigsleepj]

Although a friend of mine works at a Bible bookstore...and they sell Old Testament Moses granola bars....(oh come soon Lord, come soon)

That's ghastly! Although I do believe the toilet paper with Bible Passages and Confessions of St Augustine printed on it takes the cake for me. We need an emoticon of someone sticking their tongue out in disgust.

[ShiroiHikari]

Sorry folks...I just don't buy into it. If a bands lyrics convict you...thats one thing. But to lable all secular music as evil...is just silly. Further shoveling a bit more dirt ontop of the already negative Christian sterotype. I am waiting for Christian food to come out. Although a friend of mine works at a Bible bookstore...and they sell Old Testament Moses granola bars....(oh come soon Lord, come soon)

Emphasis Quoteâ„¢

[Stephen]

That's ghastly! Although I do believe the toilet paper with Bible Passages and Confessions of St Augustine printed on it takes the cake for me. We need an emoticon of someone sticking their tongue out in disgust.

Did Christians make that? Thats messed up dude. Wiping your rear with Bible scriptures? Geez....I might be a little weird in my views...but does that not seem...disrespectful? Tell me its on the spool or somthing and not the actual TP.....

[bigsleepj]

Did Christians make that? Thats messed up dude. Wiping your rear with Bible scriptures? Geez....I might be a little weird in my views...but does that not seem...disrespectful? Tell me its on the spool or somthing and not the actual TP.....

It was made a few years ago and I'm thankful to say it did not catch one - we discussed it on another forum (subject being ill-conceived Christian merchandising or something similar). Someone was hoping that Christians might buy it but I suppose they didn't think it through.

Edit: I tried to find an article on it, but its hard going - I found several things like Singing Bible Key Chains and a Christian crafting website on how to make your own toilet-paper with Christ's face on it - I find this even more disturbing that several "Christian" arts & craft sites are supporting this kind of....(words fail me)

[PumpkinKoRn52]

Great. Another one of these threads. How many more must I post one??? Anyways, to my point.

NON-CHRISTIAN MUSIC VS. CHRISTIAN MUSIC = GET OVER IT
If you don't like non-christian music, fine. If you do fine. Just please quit making these threads.

[Zar]

I basically have to put it like this if you can't handle don' t listen to it. I personally don't like the name secular myself its like the music is bad or something. I personally couldn't listen to christian music all the time 24/7. I just can't its so severly limiting. There is so much good music out there just use discernment.
Also I'm a visual artist and alot of my art isn't christian themed, it isn't evil either though. Art can be used for just the pupose of enjoyment. We all need to sit back and just kick it some times ya know

[Arnobius]

When I first began living as a Christian I went through one of those "Purify everything" stages and threw out all my music and did all CCM fr awhile. But as I went on in my Christian living I decided that it was not necessary to do that... it was a matter of evaluating content and avoiding things that what I thought was wrong... much as I do with anime now.

I am waiting for Christian food to come out. Although a friend of mine works at a Bible bookstore...and they sell Old Testament Moses granola bars....(oh come soon Lord, come soon)

You're about 100 years too late. Mr CW Post originally wanted to call a cereal "Elijah's Manna." I think the movie On the Road to Wellville was about his religious oriented attempts at nutrition. I haven't seen it and am told it has sexual content, so view at your own risk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Toasties