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<b>Play It Again, Sam</b><br>

<font face=times size=3><i>How gospel music defies reason</i><br>

<font size=1 face=arial>Occasionally updated and edited. 

Copyright &copy; 2011<hr>

Kenn Gividen



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My pastor friend, Sam, plugged in a gospel music CD. I was a passenger in his car; a captive to his in-dash sound system. His intention was to lure me back into the religious fold. 

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He poked a button to select a particular song. The selection was one that tugged on his heart strings, touched his soul and spoke to his spirit. It should do the same for me, he supposed. The Holy Spirit would access my heart by way of the basilar membrane.

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It didn't succeed.  



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I wondered aloud if he knew the gospel singer whose voice competed with the hum of the air conditioner and passing eighteen-wheelers. 

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He didn't know him personally. 

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Had he ever considered inviting the singer to perform at his church? 

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The thought never crossed his mind. 

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"What would it cost to get the singer to do a live concert?" I mused. 

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He wasn't sure. 

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<b>Motivated by money, not ministry</b>



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I suggested the fee was probably three to six thousand dollars, considering this was a well-known performer. But, I added, he may have an off weekend and would come just to sell CDs.

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"What motivates professional gospel singers?" I asked. "Jesus in theirs hearts? Or dollar signs in their eyes?" 

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"It's not the profiteering that bothers me," I added. "It's the hypocrisy; the pretense. I know that money, not ministry, is what motivates the gospel music industry." 

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By end of the well-orchestrated crescendo my pastor friend was no longer enraptured. Apparently our conversation had interrupted the plucking of his heart strings. When Sam plays it again, I suspect he'll hear a different tune. 

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And so it is that Christian friends with good intentions ? and bad inclinations ? fail to lure me back into the fold with gospel music. They try. They reckon that there's nothing like a heart-tugging rendition by their favorite gospel singer to warm the soul and focus one's mind on deep spiritual insights. 

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Another Christian friend once sent me a YouTube link via e-mail. He was certain that listening to a particular song would set my heart afire once again. It didn't work. Even at the height of my religious fervor, I never cared for corny contemporary praise music. I've always been partial to the four-part harmony of southern gospel.  

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<b>Fixated on death and destruction</b>

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There are other note-worthy reasons why Christian music fails as a lure. 

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It occurred to me while tuned to the local southern gospel music radio station: Gospel is the only genre obsessed with dying. Lyrics glory in the gory execution of Jesus Christ or remind us of our own inevitable demise and the promise of heaven. 

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It also occurred to me that gospel music is one of the few ministries in which professional ministers charge admission fees. That's the norm. There are very few exceptions. For the cost of dinner and a movie you can treat yourself to 90 minutes of harmonious reminders that you're going to die and vivid descriptions of Jesus' demise. As a bonus you'll listen to rapturous songs about the end of the world. 

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<b>Moved by emotion, not the Spirit</b>

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Apart from the pretense, I'm cognitive of the fact that emotion is a primary driver that compels the human mind to devoid itself of reason and embrace nonsensical religious stuff. 

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Music moves the mind by affecting our emotions. Where our emotions go, our minds and bodies follow. Music puts us in the mood to do everything from smooch, to do drugs, to dance the Watusi. Music can cause us to well-up with patriotic pride. It compels us to buy soda pop, toothpaste and laundry soap. It's not that any of those things are wrong (except, perhaps, drugs). Rather, it underscores the fact that music-inspired emotional thinking is not always rational thinking. 

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Cults leaders are particularly attune to the effectiveness of emotional drivers. They know that music is an effective distraction. Their objective is to crowd reason out of the mind. 

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It was Billy Graham who effectively asked thousands to stand and sing "Just As I Am" whilst those in need of salvation mozied their way to the speakers' platform. Suppose Dr. Graham had, instead, attempted to use the same ploy without the music. Without music's emotional distraction from reason, the net would have been much lighter. 



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<b>Hand clapping and hand raising</b>



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Years ago I attended a southern gospel concert in Cincinnati where thousands of Christians had gathered. In retrospect I recall there were two basic types of songs performed: hand-clapping and hand-raising. The hand-clapping songs energized the listeners with an upbeat tempo. The hand-raising songs moved the listeners with slow melancholy mood music. 

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It was during one of the hand-raising songs that a fuse blew. Thousands of church folks had been moved by the Holy Spirit to raise their hands in worship as the performers filled the auditorium with four-part harmony. When the fuse blew, the raised hands abruptly came down. The Holy Spirit took a break while the technicians busied themselves getting the amplifiers to function. One of the singers had the presence of mind to burst forth with a familiar a cappella solo, then invited the crowd to join in. That helped the Holy Spirit somewhat. However, most of us were worried that the lights would be the next to go; too worried to be bothered with Holy Spirit hand raising. 

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In a matter of minutes the technical problem was resolved. Hands raised. Bodies swayed. Eyes closed. Contorted faces were turned heavenward. The Holy Spirit returned in full force. 

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My summation? Without its emotional appeal religion would suffer greatly. 

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<b>In spiring</b>

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There is nothing practical, logical or useful about the spires that loom high above medieval cathedrals; unless they served as lightning rods. These magnificent churches were designed to touch our emotions. We are expected to be awestruck as we stand in their shadows gaping at brick and mortar that comes to a pointy end directing our attention toward heaven. 

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I call it the "spire" effect.



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When the sight of spired cathedrals touches our inner-most emotions, we become inspired; or "in spired."

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Without the external trappings, there is nothing to religion. It's akin to peeling layers of an onion. Eventually you run out of onion.

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Enter the cathedral and be inspired once again. The architecture of the building's innards distracts the mind from the woes and worries of the world. Thoughts are refocused on the grand and glorious hereafter. Robed choir boys sing in perfect pitch. Add a touch of smoke with a lot of Latin and you've caught a glimpse of heaven. 

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Few churches still employ liturgy and Gothic architecture. 21st century Christians are deluded with inspirational atmosphere. It's easier, more effective and it doesn't cost as much. 

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The objective is to create an atmosphere that nudges the mood in the desired direction: Away from rational thought. That's why scamsters like to hold seances in a spooky houses with dark and musty interiors. It's also why used car salesmen tie balloons to their automobiles, why classy restaurants dim their lights while major retail stores are extremely well lit.

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The atmosphere created at the conclusion of the afore-mentioned Billy Graham crusades was not coincidental. 

 



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Again, the objective is to move our moods in the desired direction. It is to displace rational thinking with dysfunctional emotion.   



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<b>Fox holiness </b>



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Someone asked, "If you were a passenger in an airplane that was about to crash -- if you knew you had only seconds to live -- would you cry out to God?" 

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Considering the extreme emotional trauma in such circumstances, one could easily abandon rational thinking and cry out to any one of a host of gods. Is that proof that non-theists have a deep rooted religious core? Of course it doesn't. Rather, it provides evidence that religion is an outcome when clear thinking is replaced by emotional muddle. 



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That's why some claim there are no atheists in foxholes. 

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It's evident that emotion overrides reason. It's a natural phenomenon; a coping device. Emotions compel us to care for our families and escape impending danger. Emotions are a crucial aspect of human procreation. They help us adjust to personal loss. 

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Emotions also make us susceptible to used car salesmen, hucksters with tarot cards and well-meaning friends with gospel music CDs. <br><br> <hr>



August 4, 2011 <br><br>



<i>Names have been changed.</i>