10-06-2009, 07:13 PM
I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot, too. The beats in a lot of “heavier” music really seem to move my soul and the music itself is beautiful, but many of the lyrics are so negative. I really have no definite answer to this, but I’ve noticed that sometimes the darkness within a person needs to be indulged a bit to keep it from taking over. Sometimes you really DO just need to rock, or I do, anyway.
I guess it really just depends on how you’re able to process what you hear. If you can simply see the lyrics as the heartfelt perspective of someone who is confused or hurting it helps you to better understand the state of mind a lot of the world is in. It promotes empathy and a desire to help. However, if the message really gets into you and you find it bringing you down and making you depressed, I wouldn’t listen to it.
I was a Christian for a very long time, and this reminds me a lot of a passage in the Bible where the apostle Paul was writing to some church members about eating meat. Some people thought there was nothing wrong with it and could eat the meat with a clean conscience, but some were still very rooted in their old traditions and felt guilty doing it even if there was nothing inherently wrong with the action itself. Then you had the people who were throwing out their opinions and condemning anyone who believed the opposite of what they believed. Paul had this to say:
“Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him.
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
-Romans 14:3-8
I can’t exactly claim the Bible to be the perfect model for living, but I think Paul hit the nail on the head with this one. If some people can listen to the most depressing of music simply for enjoyment purposes and not be any worse off for it, that’s great for them, but if it makes other people uncomfortable that opinion should also be respected. Ultimately the Creator accepts us all for what we are and what we are able to do, and no matter what path we choose, we will always be welcomed in love.
That’s just my opinion, though I often still debate the issue with myself.
I guess it really just depends on how you’re able to process what you hear. If you can simply see the lyrics as the heartfelt perspective of someone who is confused or hurting it helps you to better understand the state of mind a lot of the world is in. It promotes empathy and a desire to help. However, if the message really gets into you and you find it bringing you down and making you depressed, I wouldn’t listen to it.
I was a Christian for a very long time, and this reminds me a lot of a passage in the Bible where the apostle Paul was writing to some church members about eating meat. Some people thought there was nothing wrong with it and could eat the meat with a clean conscience, but some were still very rooted in their old traditions and felt guilty doing it even if there was nothing inherently wrong with the action itself. Then you had the people who were throwing out their opinions and condemning anyone who believed the opposite of what they believed. Paul had this to say:
“Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him.
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
-Romans 14:3-8
I can’t exactly claim the Bible to be the perfect model for living, but I think Paul hit the nail on the head with this one. If some people can listen to the most depressing of music simply for enjoyment purposes and not be any worse off for it, that’s great for them, but if it makes other people uncomfortable that opinion should also be respected. Ultimately the Creator accepts us all for what we are and what we are able to do, and no matter what path we choose, we will always be welcomed in love.
That’s just my opinion, though I often still debate the issue with myself.