I have a confession to make. I was raised in an evangelical Christian home, and when I was much much younger… I was a fan of contemporary Christian music (CCM). Oh, yes. I realized just how much of an affront to music it is almost half of my life ago, but lately, I’ve been thinking about just how entrenched it is in the ideology of the Christian Right. Consider this awful 1995 track by Twila Paris called “Rescue the Prisoner.” (The “prisoner,” it turns out, is a member of the LGBTQ community who is said to be “demanding rights” and “defending wrong.”)
Then there’s Michael Card’s anti-choice song, “The Spirit of the Age,” which as you can see below, has been put to use by the anti-abortion movement itself (lyrics in video):
This definitely got me thinking. As a very spiritual left wing feminist who believes in God, and grew up in an open but Christian household, spiritual, religious or "Christian" music, to me, should be about the personal and private worship time I have with my God. Musical bullshit like this not only doesn't fulfill that, it goes against it. I don't even really know how to word what I'm thinking and feeling right now. Music with messages like these are totally detrimental to women, both spiritual and non. The gendered hierarchy has always been apparent to me, but never so much as it is right now, and music like this only bolsters that hierarchy.
Not to mention any songs about Christian dating. Abstinence messages aside, they encourage complete passivity on the woman's part. Here's a personal "favorite" by the band BarlowGirl
I was also raised by an evangelical Christian home. When I was going through my divorce some years ago, one of my mom's well-meaning friends (who was also a single mom), gave me this cassette tape with a song on it titled, "Let Jesus Be the Daddy of Our Home". I immediately grew disgusted and wondered to myself, "Exactly how is Jesus going to pay the rent and buy the groceries and fix the car, etc, etc.". Call me blasphemous if you want, but when the other breadwinner walks out on you to start another family, the need to get practical is intense and immediate and no cassette on earth will help with that.
Thank you for writing and posting this series Kristin. I am an ex-christian raised in a fundamentalist home and I agree with you. (I think perhaps some Christian women feel the weight of it but they grin and bear it with the thought that, "God will see how hard I'm trying and make it all up to me in heaven." If you think God is going to make it up to you it doesn't seem quite so unfair.) The sexism in Christianity is so ubiquitous, that sometimes it seems like if you even started pointing it out you would be criticizing everything... Thank you for speaking up and saying something though...
Yes, it's unthinking, and yes, it's harmful, but there is a certain logic to it as well. We've got to understand that if we are to have any hope of overcoming its anti-feminist influences in politics.>>
I agree. Understanding where the Christian conservatives are coming from is important. I can't help feeling that most of the time when the left says something in an attempt to reason together, the Christian conservatives experience incredible culture shock. From my memory of being a conservative, I never really got the message because conservative Christianity is quite a different culture, and as a conservative Christian I genuinely didn't play by the same logic rules. There is perhaps more hope of having a conversation if we understand the rules and culture. I hope with your series people can have better hopes of communicating.
I honestly think there is culture shock that goes on on both sides. I think this is why many liberals understand so little about the Christian Right. It has its own language.
<p>I'm thinking about doing a whole post next week about dippy Christian Right wedding songs. A friend just told me that my post put this <a title="Twila Paris, "How Beautiful"" href="http://youtu.be/QJfSp_rceFs" target="_blank">horrible, horrible song</a> in her head. I think the business about how "the husband is supposed to love his wife just as Christ loved the church" is also pretty crucial to Christian Right politics.</p>
Ack! This post is making me twitch! I spent years in a non-denominational Christian church that featured "special music" presentations. One song in particular comes to mind. The daughter-in-law of our pastor repeatedly (at the request of her father-in-law) sang the song "Daddy's hands" during church services. This song deifies Daddy's role as Head of Household and Punisher of naughty children. "Daddy's hands weren't always gentle, but I've come to understand... there was always love in Daddy's hands." Twitch. Twitch.
Ah, sorry. I do know the feeling. Recently I reported on an evangelical event... I'd not been to anything even remotely evangelical in about a decade, and that seriously made me twitch too.
Christian "music" is, in my opinion, THE most nauseating thing a person could subject their ears to. My job requires me to drive quite a bit through the Pennsylvania countryside. A lot of the time, hitting the scan button on the radio will result in a single station turning up, almost always a christian station. Sometimes I'll listen to the talk show segments (I have no tolerance for the music) The things I hear are so incredibly stupid. I mean mind numbing. Women talking about how they saved their marriages from the holy spirit filling them with the realization that they have not been subservient christian wives.
Christians feel this "divine" (psychotic) need to propagate themselves. It's kind of sad because we have these idiots out there with several children per family, pounding this dogma and rejection of reason into their children's minds. My adolescence was internet free, and I recovered from my indoctrination. So I imagine that kids today have it slightly easier in that respect; having a wealth of information available at all times. Religion is like racism and misogynism; it's not inherently human. It's learned behavior from misguided parents.
If you don't want any procedure and are forced to have it anyway, how is that not invasive? You do know there's more than one meaning to the word, right? What are you doing here anyway?
12 Comments Have Been Posted
Great article!
Piper replied on
This definitely got me thinking. As a very spiritual left wing feminist who believes in God, and grew up in an open but Christian household, spiritual, religious or "Christian" music, to me, should be about the personal and private worship time I have with my God. Musical bullshit like this not only doesn't fulfill that, it goes against it. I don't even really know how to word what I'm thinking and feeling right now. Music with messages like these are totally detrimental to women, both spiritual and non. The gendered hierarchy has always been apparent to me, but never so much as it is right now, and music like this only bolsters that hierarchy.
"Romance" Songs
travelmugs replied on
Not to mention any songs about Christian dating. Abstinence messages aside, they encourage complete passivity on the woman's part. Here's a personal "favorite" by the band BarlowGirl
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/barlowgirl/averagegirl.html
Excerpt:
"Sleep that's the only thing
For me 'cause when I sleep Gods
Preparing one for me "
Yes, literally sleep. That's all girls can do when it comes to dating/partnering up/ attracting the right person!
UGH... I hadn't heard that
Kristin Rawls replied on
UGH... I hadn't heard that one.
I was also raised by an
Anonymous replied on
I was also raised by an evangelical Christian home. When I was going through my divorce some years ago, one of my mom's well-meaning friends (who was also a single mom), gave me this cassette tape with a song on it titled, "Let Jesus Be the Daddy of Our Home". I immediately grew disgusted and wondered to myself, "Exactly how is Jesus going to pay the rent and buy the groceries and fix the car, etc, etc.". Call me blasphemous if you want, but when the other breadwinner walks out on you to start another family, the need to get practical is intense and immediate and no cassette on earth will help with that.
Yeah, seriously.
Kristin Rawls replied on
Thank you for writing and
Onepersonsexperience replied on
Thank you for writing and posting this series Kristin. I am an ex-christian raised in a fundamentalist home and I agree with you. (I think perhaps some Christian women feel the weight of it but they grin and bear it with the thought that, "God will see how hard I'm trying and make it all up to me in heaven." If you think God is going to make it up to you it doesn't seem quite so unfair.) The sexism in Christianity is so ubiquitous, that sometimes it seems like if you even started pointing it out you would be criticizing everything... Thank you for speaking up and saying something though...
Yes, it's unthinking, and yes, it's harmful, but there is a certain logic to it as well. We've got to understand that if we are to have any hope of overcoming its anti-feminist influences in politics.>>
I agree. Understanding where the Christian conservatives are coming from is important. I can't help feeling that most of the time when the left says something in an attempt to reason together, the Christian conservatives experience incredible culture shock. From my memory of being a conservative, I never really got the message because conservative Christianity is quite a different culture, and as a conservative Christian I genuinely didn't play by the same logic rules. There is perhaps more hope of having a conversation if we understand the rules and culture. I hope with your series people can have better hopes of communicating.
I honestly think there is
Kristin Rawls replied on
I honestly think there is culture shock that goes on on both sides. I think this is why many liberals understand so little about the Christian Right. It has its own language.
a thought
Kristin Rawls replied on
<p>I'm thinking about doing a whole post next week about dippy Christian Right wedding songs. A friend just told me that my post put this <a title="Twila Paris, "How Beautiful"" href="http://youtu.be/QJfSp_rceFs" target="_blank">horrible, horrible song</a> in her head. I think the business about how "the husband is supposed to love his wife just as Christ loved the church" is also pretty crucial to Christian Right politics.</p>
PTSD
Connie replied on
Ack! This post is making me twitch! I spent years in a non-denominational Christian church that featured "special music" presentations. One song in particular comes to mind. The daughter-in-law of our pastor repeatedly (at the request of her father-in-law) sang the song "Daddy's hands" during church services. This song deifies Daddy's role as Head of Household and Punisher of naughty children. "Daddy's hands weren't always gentle, but I've come to understand... there was always love in Daddy's hands." Twitch. Twitch.
Ah, sorry. I do know the
Kristin Rawls replied on
Ah, sorry. I do know the feeling. Recently I reported on an evangelical event... I'd not been to anything even remotely evangelical in about a decade, and that seriously made me twitch too.
Christian "music" is, in my
Anonymous replied on
Christian "music" is, in my opinion, THE most nauseating thing a person could subject their ears to. My job requires me to drive quite a bit through the Pennsylvania countryside. A lot of the time, hitting the scan button on the radio will result in a single station turning up, almost always a christian station. Sometimes I'll listen to the talk show segments (I have no tolerance for the music) The things I hear are so incredibly stupid. I mean mind numbing. Women talking about how they saved their marriages from the holy spirit filling them with the realization that they have not been subservient christian wives.
Christians feel this "divine" (psychotic) need to propagate themselves. It's kind of sad because we have these idiots out there with several children per family, pounding this dogma and rejection of reason into their children's minds. My adolescence was internet free, and I recovered from my indoctrination. So I imagine that kids today have it slightly easier in that respect; having a wealth of information available at all times. Religion is like racism and misogynism; it's not inherently human. It's learned behavior from misguided parents.
Invasive ultrasound?
Anonymous replied on
Invasive ultrasound procedure? Yeah. Because an ultrasound is so much more invasive than an abortion. ROLLING EYES
If you don't want any
Rosa Friedman replied on
If you don't want any procedure and are forced to have it anyway, how is that not invasive? You do know there's more than one meaning to the word, right? What are you doing here anyway?
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