Music and Censorship 



       In our society today, some musicians and their music drain and plague the moral and spiritual well-being of the people; therefore, censorship offers
       a necessary action that we must take to keep the world from becoming a land of decadence. The musicians lives are not examples for the children
       or the adults. The lyrics of many songs are not suitable for anyone. All types of music need some kind of censorship. Censorship makes a person
       realize that music is good for the heart. Censorship totally makes people act better, and when thinking better, this sustains a better society. The
       lives of some musicians contain types of anarchy and self-gratification. Once the musicians realize that people want not just their music but them as
       well, they act as gods, which no one can touch. For example, think of it like a secret dictatorship, and we breathe as a fascist society, which puts
       fun and feelings above the Lord, above all. Many of the musicians consist of non-religious people who live only for fun and only for themselves.
       Why then would we, especially as Christians, put our total devotion in them? It exists like wanting to ride with a blind driver rather than one with
       perfect vision. In addition many of the musicians use drugs and stimulants to satisfy their hunger for themselves and for pure fun. The musicians tend
       to use drugs massively, to get out of the very real world that they consist so much a part of. Popularity seems pleasing but when one has the
       affections and total devotion of a mass of people, that person can not handle it because that person does not have Jesus' personality and only He
       could truly control that much fidelity. One person who truly could not handle the excitement was Jimi Hendrix(Appendix A). Instead of performing
       as himself and using his talent for good, he used rebellion and used many drugs. On stage, Jimi Hendrix would put hits of acid in his headband.
       When he perspired, the sweat, containing acid would run down into his eyes and make him "higher than a kite." Most people never actually saw
       Jimi Hendrix the person, but a blurred vision of him. When Jimi performed on stage at Woodstock(Appendix B and C), a man from the crowd
       asked him, "Jimi are you high?" He simply replied back to the man, "Thanks man I got mine," causing the crowd to act wild almost as if he had
       saved someone's life, but ironically he unintentionally destroyed their lives. In addition Bob Dylan(Appendix D and E) also talked about getting
       stoned in some of his music. The song "Rainy Day Woman #12 and #13," blatantly says that "everybody must get stoned." That tells people to
       disobey the law and tells people to mangle the temple of God, our bodies by perverting it with drugs and stimulants. Many musicians make a
       mockery of their fans. The lead singers subsist to do this the most because of the vocal opportunities they have to express their discontent with life
       and thrust their ideas upon those who hypnotize with the musician's power position, thus, makes the listeners obey their thoughts without fully
       knowing. The lead singer Billie Jo, for Green Day, says to his fans, " I'm not going to say anything f****** intelligent, I'm just going too swear a
       whole d*** lot." The Bible tells us that we should let everything that comes out of our mouth praise Him, and swearing for any reason doesn't
       really praise Him at all and is degrading for us as well. Almost like if he did not swear than we wouldn't like him or understand him. In addition the
       lead singer for Kiss would spit on his fans. He would get the crowd to spit in a spittoon-type container, and by the end of the concert, he would
       drink the saliva and then he would use what dwelled left in the spittoon to spit on the crowd. This creates a bad influence on anybody and makes a
       person believe that it justifies him to do these actions because he dwells on stage, which totally in fact creates wrong, and not right. The band
       would also wear face paint and look like demons of some sort. This displays a mockery of what God has given us, and it hides their true identities
       and make them something they are not. They are only human, trying to be a type of some sort of god, not the God. The lyrics of some songs
       openly and/or subliminally put rebellious messages in the heads of people. Repetition makes someone think about things constantly and then act
       upon that thought which usually creates an illegal action. Outward messages make people do bad things knowingly, but they aren't in the correct
       state of mind and therefore have no idea what they do at all. Adrenaline comes forth from within the soul and people tend to go wild and have no
       care about anything. Rage Against The Machine says that no one can tell each other what to do in their song, "Killing in the Name." This song
       promotes anarchy and rebellion of all rules and makes peoples discontent with society come forth. Metallica tells people to "Exit light, Enter night"
       in their song "Enter Sandman." This song does not talk about sleeping but taking the dark side of life into life. Subliminal messages bring evils from
       within a person, which the person previously did not have. Subliminal messages brings our deepest thoughts out, without even thinking. When we
       hear something but, not aware of it, it makes our minds think about it and that is dangerous. Madonna's "Justify My Love" song played backwards,
       blatantly says, "I love Satan." Thousands of people heard this on 98.1 WKQQ in Lexington, KY.; but still continue to listen to it anyway. This
       pumps into our heads and we like it because, "men will choose darkness instead of light." Heavy Metal and Hard Rock do not only break the
       moral character, but there exist others as well. Those who are softly padded with the broken hearts of people who have power over others and
       who, in fact, make the rules. Country music also has many songs which are not acceptable, but they have shields because of their soft tone and
       wholesome looking artist. People still have in their heads things that look good and sound pleasant live approvable, but Satan, a very smart guy will
       strike at the most unexpected places. Garth Brooks, who takes one of the leading country singers right now, talks about an affair and how it was
       approbated in his song " The Thunder Rolls." And people hear this and see a star doing that and believe it's acceptable for them as well. For
       example, watching parents as a child, and everything they do, you do. In addition Sammy Cershaw talks about an affair in " Third Rate
       Rendezvous." He doesn't care that he's cheating on his wife and is actually excited when he knows what he's doing to his marriage and life. New
       Age music offers innner-self as a substitute to God. This means that the meditation of the biblical times cannot be achieved today and we tend to
       lose our respect for God by trying it, because we meditate on ourselves and not on Him. Meditation of the new age music also allows Satan to
       plant seeds in our heads that lead us further and further away from the truth. The new age music of harps and tiny nature like sounds of whales and
       dolphins and rain leads one to believe that they are alone in this world. It makes people think that they control their environment, when in fact only
       God does, not them. Indian and Monk chants actually make a person seemingly high through deep meditation. Meditation was originally intended
       for the pure thought of God, but with new age thoughts, we are perverting it. Censorship puts a cap on ungodly music and makes music a good
       experience that is productive and positive, rather than a negative one. Music can be a tool in which we may learn examples of life, just look at the
       book of Psalms. In chapter 23 the whole chapter is called the Shepherds Song and it is a song that we can learn from. Stopping the flow of
       profanity will make a person less inclined to think about an action and furthermore, less likely to act upon one. If a person doesn't think about
       something, then usually that person won't do it. When masses of people are saying that it is all right to do things that are wrong over a period of
       time, people become prone to the wrong doing and it suddenly becomes part of the norm to them. Even though it is still wrong, we don't even
       realize it. Repetition makes a mind think. To study for a test a person must read things over and over again to learn it. When we hear music we
       like, we listen to it over and over again to memorize and subconsciencously think about the words of the song that we're listening to. When people
       hear ungodly lyrics over and over, they tend to think like their surroundings and music is a part of that. After hearing and memorizing words people
       form their own ideals and make new religions and leave God forever. Also, people hear music far more than they read the Bible, and if the music is
       damaging to us then negative thoughts will cloud out the Biblical ones. Just like one negative number will make a positive number come down.
       Censorship offers a better society in general, in which we can all live in harmony and learn to respect music power. People would respect the laws
       more because there would be a definite decline of ungodly things, acts and thoughts with censorship we won't think on ungodly things as much,
       therefore have a better society. Fewer crimes would be committed because there would be no musicians telling the public to break them or kill
       cops. People make musicians their idols and want to do what their idols say. With censorship we would learn to meditate on the right things. We
       would see the essence of music and learn to see the total spectrum of life rather than just our life. Good thoughts with productive meaning would
       flow through our heads. We would hear positive things and make us think about positive things in general. Christian music is a great example of
       what we should listen. People would learn to answer things with their minds and not their fists. People would think about positive ideas and
       positive outcomes to quarrels, that usually involved fighting or "backstabbings." Work Cited Cole, Richard and Richard Trubo. Stairway to
       Heaven, Led Zeppelin Uncensored. 1st ed. NY: Littletown, 1992. "James Hetfield." Rolling Stone 15th April 1993: 56H. Landy, Elliot.
       Woodstock Vision: The Spirit of a Generation. NY: Seabury, 1991. Milward, John. "Field of Dreams." Rolling Stone 11 August 1994: 36.
       "Music"- America Online 1995. Comptons Encyclopedia. Savage, Jon. England's Dreaming: anarchy, Sex Pistols, punk rocks, and beyond. New
       York: Copper books, 1991. Young, Neil, The Rolling Stone Files: The Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts and Opinions From
       the Files of Rolling Stone. NY. 1994. Censorship: The Music That Plagues Us 



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