Rock Music: Good or Evil?

Below is an article about rock music. Please include an acknowlegement if you copy or quote this, and feel free to email us if you have any questions.

March 7^th, 2007

MADISON, WI --

There has been an ongoing debate among Catholics as to whether rock music is good entertainment or whether it has a negative influence on its fans. As can easily be inferred from a quick look at our website (http://www.oremusmusic.net), Oremus thinks that you can be both a rock fan and a good Catholic. They are not mutually exclusive.

The Church has never condemned rock music. The Church is careful to warn us about many other modern dangers such as New Age philosophy (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontif... -56 pages of the Vatican website devoted to this), or Reiki ( "The Lure of Alternative Religions" http://www.zenit.org/english March 1, 2007). There is no mention of rock music on the Vatican website, the Zenit news agency in Rome, official writings of the Pope, and Catechism, except for one which mentions the occasional connection between rock music and Satanism. The New Age article above states that "Some evangelical groups have expressed concern at the subliminal presence of what they claim is Satanic symbolism in some varieties of rock music, which have a powerful influence on young people." This is hardly a condemnation of all rock music, since subliminal Satanic symbolism can also be found in some varieties of books, the internet, movies, television, and many other forms of human communication. It does not follow that we condemn all books because some varieties of books have been used as vehicle for Satanism.

Despite the fact that it is frequently tempting to discard modern secular culture and to withdraw to a desert place, our Church has been called to evangelize the world, to engage it, and to transform it in Christ. Pope John Paul the Great has said that "If the Church holds back from culture, the Gospel itself falls silent" (http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=17362).

Pope John Paul challenged us all to use and to transform the media into vehicles of evangelization. Just as the Church takes advantage of responsible and evangelical use of internet, radio, books, cars, and other powerful and (in other hands) misused agents, rock music can also be transformed and be put to good use as well.

Peter Mirus of Catholic Culture (formerly Peter's Net) discusses these questions extensively. He discusses then Cardinal Ratzinger's frequently misquoted 1986 reference to the incompatibility between rock music and the liturgy of the Church (http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=4041), as well as his revisionist view in 1996 (http://www.ecclesiacatholica.com/fontes/ratzinger-5.htm) which underscores the unsuitability of rock music for the liturgy, but does not condemn rock music outside of the Mass in any way.

The major criticisms we have found of rock music are not made by the Church but by lay Catholics, and they fall into 4 categories.

1) Past reputation of rock musicians and the potential vehicle for immorality. If we considered the lifestyles of the artists, most of our classical treasury of art and music would be discarded (e.g. Mozart, Shakespeare or Van Gogh). Almost all Hollywood movies would be thrown out. Clearly each piece of art must be taken by itself, and parents have to do the tedious job of screening rock music just as they screen television, movies, internet and books.

2) The beat and rhythm are intrinsically sexual or evil. Peter Mirus of Catholic Culture discusses this one, too - (http://beta1.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=48). After much detailed discussion, he concludes that rock music does not have a beat any different than many other types of accepted music. Many types of local, ethnic music have very intense and driving beats, including country music, Irish and other folk dancing, polkas and African native music. Pope John Paul the Great personally entertained native African performers, but, of course, not during the Mass!

3) Rock music is not suitable for use in the Mass-it is not reverent enough, it's inappropriate. Oremus heartily agrees. Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, WI tells us that Mass music must be reverent (http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/2006-10-26/bishop.html). The United States Council of Catholic Bishops is starting a process in which our hymns will be reevaluated to make sure that they follow doctrine (http://ncregister.com/site/article/1480). There is no room for rock music in the Mass! However, many types of music are not suitable for use in the Mass, but can be enjoyed outside of the Mass.

4) Many critics of rock music discuss the superiority of other forms of music to rock. There can be no question of the "superiority" of classical music to rock when it comes to musical sophistication. But many highly educated people with classical music training can appreciate more than one kind of music, varying the music to suit the occasion. We vary literature according to age, praising not only classical writers but also children's authors. We vary our clothing to suit the occasion-the same person might sometimes wear a tuxedo or evening gown and at other times they may wear blue jeans. Similarly, we can vary our music to suit the age, the place and the occasion. Preference of classical music is not a sufficient criterion for condemning rock music.

There is no question that music of any kind is a special key to the human soul. It can evoke a variety of emotions. It can complement many different human activities and should be composed in pursuit of truth and beauty. Its attractiveness and malleability can make different forms of music suitable for different purposes-sacred music for Mass, classical music for concerts, nursery rhymes for kindergarteners, "Happy Birthday" for birthdays, and various forms of foot-tapping and easy listening music for all sorts of informal social occasions. This is where rock music fits in.

When Catholic kids get together to eat pizza and kick soccer balls, they are not likely to play Mozart. Catholic kids should have music that expresses their passion-for Christ, for Mary, for the Church. And while they listen to it and share it, some of their non-Catholic friends might overhear and might catch on. If used correctly, rock music can be an extremely powerful evangelization tool, in addition to giving people a good time.

This is the philosophy we have had in creating Oremus. We can't afford to overlook the power that rock music can have in speaking to the young. Recently many Catholic contemporary musicians have been trying to redefine and reclaim rock music. But they face much prejudice from fellow Catholics who misjudge and denounce them.

Mercifully, Oremus' efforts at evangelization with rock music have been welcomed by many-we have been invited to perform for social occasions (non-liturgical only!) by the Schoenstatt Sisters, Bishop Morlino, the Madison Vocations Office and local Catholic parishes. We have been played by Relevant Radio 1240 AM (local), Sacred Heart Radio(national), EWTN Catholic Jukebox Radio (international), and we have received invitations to perform from as far away as Vermont and Las Vegas. Our website, which offers all of Oremus' original music downloadable for free, has become very popular-over 40,000 hits, 2,000 unique visitors and downloading of over 2.5 GB of music just since the beginning of 2007.

SO-
Rock music is not innately evil.
Rock music can be transformed and be composed in pursuit of truth and beauty.
Rock music can be enjoyed.
Rock music can evangelize.

Like every other powerful agent, starting with books and including automobiles, we can and should use rock music wisely!

"The Catholic Tradition has a long and rich history of taking various human forms of art and filling them with Christian content. There's no reason that can't be done with rock 'n' roll." - Mark Shea, Catholic Exchange.

"But let parents, pastors, teachers and advisors not grasp at straws. Let them not advance silly arguments or base their conclusions on dubious authorities. As with legitimate questions of liturgical style, where so often personal taste leads to high passion, there is no alternative here to engaging the issues seriously and fairly. And not only must the discussion be informed, it must also be humble. It is easy to assume that youngsters, and even oldsters who disagree with our taste in music, are as-yet unregenerate, blind and deaf, while we possess the judgment of God. If we examine our consciences at the end of the day, however, we know that we very seldom instinctively see as God sees. How likely then, if we are not very careful, will we hear as He hears?"-Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture http://beta1.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=53