Recently, I wrote a post titled How Christian Fundamentalism Robbed Us of the Opportunity to Listen to the Devil’s Music. A Fundamentalist preacher disagreed with what I wrote:
Really? Christian fundamentalism stopped them from listening to sinful rock and roll? Granted, the attitude when rock first came out was very rigid against that type of music, and in some cases, it was very warranted because the music was not the best.
But was it Christian fundamentalism that robbed anyone of listening to the music? It was played everywhere, so just about every child and teenager at the time could hear it whenever they wanted.
So it is highly doubtful that Christian fundamentalism was the reason. It may have been the personal beliefs of the people at the time that stopped them from playing this music. It could be that those beliefs were a bit misguided, not that classic rock was great music and people were missing out, but that they did not have a solid foundation in the truth to truly evaluate the music.
In other words, I am a liar — a false allegation this disgraced preacher has hurled my way many times. This preacher wrongly thinks that there is a difference between “Christian Fundamentalism” and the “personal beliefs” of the people at the time that stopped them from playing this music.” It is theological and social beliefs that drive Christian Fundamentalism. Objection to secular music was common, and rock music in particular was the subject of frequent criticism and attack from the pulpit.
While I listened to secular music on the AM radio in my car, and heard it when attending junior high dances, outside of that, my life was inundated with Christian music, at church and home. I only owned a handful of records, but all of them were Christian. Why would I not have obeyed what my pastors were teaching? The same goes for my partner, Polly. Both of us primarily listened to Southern gospel music and mixed-group Christian music. Sure, we knew the lyrics of a few secular songs, but our minds’ catalog of music was overwhelmingly Christian. We were, in every way, true blue, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Christians. Maybe the preacher quoted above wasn’t a committed follower of Jesus as a Christian. If so, that’s his problem, not mine.
You see, I actually believed and trusted my pastors. I never doubted that they were telling me the truth. So, if they said rock music was evil and listening to it was sinful, I believed them. When evangelists such as Bob Larson and David Benoit decried the evils of rock and roll, I believed them. When youth camp speakers brought the wrath of God down on rock music, I believed them. Dare I not trust and obey — for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus — these men of God? Over the years, I heard scores of sermons condemning “worldly” music, and I believed every word. This approach bled into other areas of our lives. Polly and I were virgins on our wedding day. Why? We heard numerous sermons about the evil of premarital sex. Rarely did a week go by without a teacher or a pastor mentioning the importance of chastity. Many of our churchmates listened to secular music and gave in to their sexual desires. Was rock music to blame? Our pastors said it was; that rock music stirred the passions, leading to fornication.
For good or ill, Polly and I believed and practiced what we heard from the pulpit. How could it have been otherwise? Were you a devoted Christian as a teen and young adult? Did you practice what your pastors preached? Please share your experiences in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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