From: alailima@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (The WILD Samoan)
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
Subject: Re: Is music amoral??
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:43:23 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <1992Aug20.113910.29308@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> noel@crs.cl.msu.edu.UUCP (Noel Estabrook) writes:
>In article <1992Aug19.182908.896@news.cs.brandeis.edu> aaron@binah.cc.brandeis.edu writes:
>>In article <drice.714102889@ponder>, drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu (Keith Rice) writes:
>>One CANNOT assign the traits of individuals to objects!
>
>I'd hate to be the one to tell God that.  He again and again condemned the
>Isrealites for fashioning idols (objects).  To God, anyway, these "objects"
>carried traits that he didn't want them messing with.  By the same token,
>musical pieces may just be "objects", but the individuals that made them
>along with their content certainly CAN be assigned traits.
>
>--
>Noel Estabrook          |       Let us not merely do that which is our
>noel@crs.cl.msu.edu   __|__	RIGHT, rather, let us desire to do that
>Educational Technology  |	which IS right - Me
>Michigan State Univ.    |				Romans 12:2

And now, a Word from our Sponsor:

1 Corinthians 8:4 "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that
are offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that
there is none other God but one."
1 Cor. 10:19 "What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is
offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?"

To you Noel, although there are demonic forces related to the idols, it is
not the idols themselves that God was most worried about but the act of
worshipping these objects.

An interesting parallel can be drawn between the food sacrificed to idols
issue dealt with in 1 Corinthians 8 & 10 and music that is dedicated to things
other than God. The idol to which the food is dedicated is "nothing in the
world", we needn't truly fear defiling ourselves by eating food dedicated
to it. It tastes good and it might inhibit our being in the world if we
isolated ourselves from it, so I (and Paul) see no qualms with eating it.
Note, in those times in Corinth, most of the meat around was left overs
from animal sacrifices and to eat with any unbelievers, you'd very
likely end up eating such meat. 10:27 "If any of them that believe not bid
you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat,
asking no question for conscience sake."

So music that a particular artist dedicates to something other than God,
an "idol" as it were, can be listened to without being defiled by it.
And if keeping away from such music would severely inhibit our relating
to others in the world, we would want to take that into consideration
when making our decisions about music. If we are asked to a party playing
"secular" music (gasp!), and if we want to go, then we should go with
no qualms and not worrying about being defiled.

However, Paul qualifies his statements, and so must I.  Three issues Paul
brings up are: 1) is it causing my brother to stumble? (8:7,9) 2) is it
beneficial/expedient/edificatory (it's a new word)? (10:23) 3) is it
glorifying to God? (10:31) 4) (Four issues Paul brings up :-) how does it
affect my witness? (chapter 9, it's not specifically related to the passage
at hand so I didn't think of it at first.)

So of course it would be wrong to go to a party where they chant Satanic
rituals, etc. But you would not defile yourself by listening to music made
by someone who personally chants Satanic rituals unless perhaps that was the
music to which you were listening.

I will not waste bandwidth waxing bold upon the finer points of these passages
but instead refer you to the source. I've left out a lot, so to really
understand that about which I am talking, one would do well to study them. 
(Ok, I'm a little partial to 1 Corinthians, cuz I just co-led a two semester 
Bible study on it :-) But really, I learned tons from it about how to live 
in a secular society.)

IMH(and hopefully Spirit-guided)O

Grace and Peace,
Titi
The B.I.C.

--
    /~/         |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
 /~~  ~/ MARANA |Titiimaea "The WILD Samoan" \ President, founder, and sole   |
 ~/ /~~   THA!  |Alailima@Eniac.SEAS.UPenn.Edu\ member of the Penn Samoan Club|
 /_/            |______________________________\______________________________|
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian