Weird Time for Christians

Archy1221 said:
That dude literally just said he mocks religions and you said “This”. Lol
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True. And at the same time they are saying there are limits and boundaries to it.  This person seems to understand that, even though they don’t believe in Christianity anymore, it’s a personal issue that there are ways to joke about religion that doesn’t deeply offend the believer in that religion. 
 

Trump definitely crosses that line. 

 
Of course MAGA World is already frothy about the new pope.  Why?  


Where have we heard this line of thinking before?  

"The internet has been buzzing since Vice President JD Vance said during a Fox News interview on Jan. 29, "There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that."

The Pope disagrees.

 
EXCLUSIVE: Former Newsboys Frontman Michael Tait Accused of Sexual Assault, Grooming, and Substance Abuse, Dating Back to 2004






It’s been called Nashville’s worst-kept secret. For decades, allegations have circulated that Newsboys frontman Michael Tait, formerly of DC Talk, had groomed and sexually assaulted numerous victims.

And after a two-and-a-half-year investigation by The Roys Report (TRR), which included interviewing more than 50 sources, TRR has documented Tait’s alleged predatory pattern with stories dating back more than two decades.

TRR also has corroborated allegations of Tait’s alcohol and substance abuse with multiple sources.

Three men spoke to TRR, alleging that Tait befriended them individually on Christian music tours in 2004, 2010, and 2014. They were all 22 years old at the time.

Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive one of Leslie Vernick’s books “The Emotionally Destructive Marriage” or “The Emotionally Destructive Relationship”, click here.

Two men stated that they were drinking alcohol with Tait and later woke to him fondling their genitals. One alleged Tait also offered him cocaine while on the Newsboys tour bus. The third told TRR that Tait gave him a back massage while skinny dipping and later invited him to share his king-size bed. There, Tait allegedly non-consensually massaged his anal region.

https://julieroys.com/former-newsboys-frontman-michael-tait-accused-sexual-assault-grooming-substance-abuse-dating-back-to-2004/

Massive bombshell reporting yesterday, but the least surprising thing imaginable to anyone who's lived/worked in nashville or the christian music industry. 

 
Lorewarn said:
EXCLUSIVE: Former Newsboys Frontman Michael Tait Accused of Sexual Assault, Grooming, and Substance Abuse, Dating Back to 2004






It’s been called Nashville’s worst-kept secret. For decades, allegations have circulated that Newsboys frontman Michael Tait, formerly of DC Talk, had groomed and sexually assaulted numerous victims.

And after a two-and-a-half-year investigation by The Roys Report (TRR), which included interviewing more than 50 sources, TRR has documented Tait’s alleged predatory pattern with stories dating back more than two decades.

TRR also has corroborated allegations of Tait’s alcohol and substance abuse with multiple sources.

Three men spoke to TRR, alleging that Tait befriended them individually on Christian music tours in 2004, 2010, and 2014. They were all 22 years old at the time.

Your tax-deductible gift supports our mission of reporting the truth and restoring the church. Donate $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive one of Leslie Vernick’s books “The Emotionally Destructive Marriage” or “The Emotionally Destructive Relationship”, click here.

Two men stated that they were drinking alcohol with Tait and later woke to him fondling their genitals. One alleged Tait also offered him cocaine while on the Newsboys tour bus. The third told TRR that Tait gave him a back massage while skinny dipping and later invited him to share his king-size bed. There, Tait allegedly non-consensually massaged his anal region.

https://julieroys.com/former-newsboys-frontman-michael-tait-accused-sexual-assault-grooming-substance-abuse-dating-back-to-2004/

Massive bombshell reporting yesterday, but the least surprising thing imaginable to anyone who's lived/worked in nashville or the christian music industry. 
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I get that it’s especially heinous and hypocritical when purported Christians, such as Priests, pastors, televangelists or this Christian music guy do these types of things. But tell me, in which industry, what job, what large grouping of people do these things never occur? Can’t we find the same anecdotal cases everywhere?

Isn’t it a little disingenuous to suggest that the Nashville Christian music scene is really any different than any other similar entity?

I am not defending the behavior at all. In fact I don’t give two s#!ts about Nashville or the Christian music industry but your last sentence seems to suggest it is worse there than anywhere else. IDK, maybe it is, but it does occur everywhere afaik.

 
JJ Husker said:
Isn’t it a little disingenuous to suggest that the Nashville Christian music scene is really any different than any other similar entity?
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It's very much the same as any entertainment industry or little culture bubble, but here's the rub. It presents itself as "set apart". That's why it even exists in the first place, because people bought into this marketing hype of an entire industry of products and goods and experiences catered to your weird little echo-chamber ghetto where you don't have to engage with the real world that's evil and scary but you can have christian music, christian books, christian soap, christian jewelry, etc. A lot of the celebrity in this subculture is due in large large part to that tacit underlying endorsement of, "Well he's a christian musician, so we can trust him!"

 
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Lorewarn said:
It's very much the same as any entertainment industry or little culture bubble, but here's the rub. It presents itself as "set apart". That's why it even exists in the first place, because people bought into this marketing hype of an entire industry of products and goods and experiences catered to your weird little echo-chamber ghetto where you don't have to engage with the real world that's evil and scary but you can have christian music, christian books, christian soap, christian jewelry, etc. A lot of the celebrity in this subculture is due in large large part to that tacit underlying endorsement of, "Well he's a christian musician, so we can trust him!"
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That makes sense.

I basically know next to nothing about the Christina music (or books, soap, jewelry etc) industry. I am aware that you have much more intimate knowledge of it so I have a question.

What are the demographics like of the target customers for Christian music etc.?  I imagine it being closely intertwined with the same group of “Christians” that support Trump and generally aren’t very Christian at all. IDK but it seems like books, music, jewelry that would help a person identify as Christian is primarily done for show rather than any better reason. Am I at all close here?

and full disclosure…

I do have one song by the Newsboys, He Reigns, in my iTunes library. I might have up to about 12-24 songs classified as Christian.

 
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Landlord makes a good point.

All music is labeled.  Those of us that are old enough remember going into record stores and hitting up the metal section (if you were a f#&%ing stud) and sometimes bands were not even "metal" but still ended up in that section...I am looking at you, Stryper!!!

 
JJ Husker said:
That makes sense.

I basically know next to nothing about the Christina music (or books, soap, jewelry etc) industry. I am aware that you have much more intimate knowledge of it so I have a question.

What are the demographics like of the target customers for Christian music etc.?  I imagine it being closely intertwined with the same group of “Christians” that support Trump and generally aren’t very Christian at all. IDK but it seems like books, music, jewelry that would help a person identify as Christian is primarily done for show rather than any better reason. Am I at all close here?

and full disclosure…

I do have one song by the Newsboys, He Reigns, in my iTunes library. I might have up to about 12-24 songs classified as Christian.
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In terms of purchasing power, the target demo is very narrowly focused. She is called 'Becky', and she's a mid 30s soccer mom driving her 2.5 kids to school and events and she needs uplifting easy non-challenging music to get through the day (and she also decides what her kids and family listen to). In terms of what the vibes are like, it's what you'd expect from white evangelical culture, with some interesting little pockets of underground/indie counterculture bits thrown in. 

At the end of the day, there is no such thing as "christian music". Music doesn't have a soul and can't be saved, and christian music is a misnomer the same way that a christian lawnmower is a misnomer. It's just a marketing strategy, the same as country music or kids music. But it parades and celebrates itself as also being spiritually significant and Christlike in that way because that also, unfortunately, sells records. People are desperate to give up their own autonomy and responsibility to others, as Israel demanded a king. Sadly this music is just pre-K baby food that has no balls or tension or complexity.

I don't think it's all for show as much as it's just people looking for things to validate their identity back to themselves, to give themselves a little back pat of belonging and not feeling crazy.

 
Lorewarn said:
In terms of purchasing power, the target demo is very narrowly focused. She is called 'Becky', and she's a mid 30s soccer mom driving her 2.5 kids to school and events and she needs uplifting easy non-challenging music to get through the day (and she also decides what her kids and family listen to). In terms of what the vibes are like, it's what you'd expect from white evangelical culture, with some interesting little pockets of underground/indie counterculture bits thrown in. 

At the end of the day, there is no such thing as "christian music". Music doesn't have a soul and can't be saved, and christian music is a misnomer the same way that a christian lawnmower is a misnomer. It's just a marketing strategy, the same as country music or kids music. But it parades and celebrates itself as also being spiritually significant and Christlike in that way because that also, unfortunately, sells records. People are desperate to give up their own autonomy and responsibility to others, as Israel demanded a king. Sadly this music is just pre-K baby food that has no balls or tension or complexity.

I don't think it's all for show as much as it's just people looking for things to validate their identity back to themselves, to give themselves a little back pat of belonging and not feeling crazy.
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This is so punk :)

This is literally what every band starts off saying.  You can't put them in a box, you can't put a label on them, they are not going to sell out, it is about the music and my art!!!

Until they start making money.  

Once they start making ENOUGH money, they get to go back to doing/saying what they want.

 
I think artists forget that while THEY might not like their "art" being labeled...it is the consumer that decides what they think it is/means to them.

 
teachercd said:
This is so punk :)

This is literally what every band starts off saying.  You can't put them in a box, you can't put a label on them, they are not going to sell out, it is about the music and my art!!!

Until they start making money.  

Once they start making ENOUGH money, they get to go back to doing/saying what they want.
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Green Day is a prime example of this.   Their initial core audience got so pissed at them for going “mainstream” after getting famous. 

 
Archy1221 said:
Green Day is a prime example of this.   Their initial core audience got so pissed at them for going “mainstream” after getting famous. 
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Great example!

Their early stuff, from what I have been told, before Dookie, was super punk and of course, punk is against "everything"

Joan Jett literally made a music video sort of mocking how it all works




 
A few years ago I heard a gay man talking about his closeted youth. Being openly gay in the African American community was unthinkable. But singing in the gospel choir was highly respected. He said that fact tended to attract other gay young men because it was the socially acceptable place to loudly celebrate your love for another man, e.g. "He Touched Me" 

I had never thought of it that way. 

 
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