On Praise and Worship Music: An Essay to its Cultured Despisers
“Praise and worship” music is one of the most oft-evoked and heavily contested markers of evangelical Protestantism in the United States. Its most vocal advocates herald praise and worship and its meteoric rise since the 1960s as nothing less than the rebirth of Western Christianity, citing its unique ability to attract an entire generation of “lost sheep” into the fold. On the other hand, its most virulent critics condemn praise and worship as dangerous or blatantly... Read More
CCM, Heavy Metal, and the Lure of Possibility
Just last week, I was reading Deena Weinstein’s landmark 1991 study Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology and I was nearly stopped in my tracks by the final chapter, which deals with metal’s “detractors” from across the political spectrum. While conservative criticisms of heavy metal are well-known through the work of groups like the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)––most often centered on its lyrical proclivities for violence, sexuality, and images of Satanic ritual––the... Read More
James Blake and Marks of Specters
The idea of “deconstruction” has achieved a somewhat surprising ubiquity in our current culture. In addition to relatively long-standing applications in literary and cultural criticism, deconstruction has also found a home in political punditry and haute cuisine (what does it mean to “deconstruct” a meatloaf anyway?). But perhaps most enamored with the idea of deconstruction are music critics, particularly those alternative critics who cover the broadly-defined... Read More
Christmas, Community, & Meaning
In the land of the network shows, almost every show has an annual Christmas episode. There is little surprise in most of these. Recurrent themes of family, giving, and peace run rampant through these episodes, and all are assigned to be part of the Christmas spirit. Very little new ground is explored. However on the Christmas episode of the show Community, the minefield of our society’s fascination with Christmas is traipsed upon. The episode, “Abed’s Uncontrollable... Read More
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