Heavy Metal, Halloween, and Southern Gospel Music

What do these things have in common?

Perhaps the comparison between Heavy Metal (the music genre, not lead or iron :) ) and Halloween is somewhat obvious. Heavy Metal and Halloween are seen by some as satanic and evil. Horror movies like Maximum Overdrive use Heavy Metal as a backdrop.

Whether we want to believe it or not there is at least one similarity between Heavy Metal and Southern Gospel. They are both forms of music, genres if you will. After that, the similarities fall off rather quickly, though.

Since today is Halloween I thought a discussion of the holiday and its religious impact was in order.

Halloween is without doubt a pagan holiday. It encourages the celebration of witches, demons, monsters, etc. So should a Christian have anything to do with this holiday? (I use the term holiday loosely) Should Christian parents allow their children to "trick or treat"? I hope you're not looking for a yes or no answer from me, because I am of two minds on the issue. I can see both sides.

I grew up celebrating Halloween and honestly never thought anything about it. I never considered becoming a devil worshipper or a wicken. I just assumed it was all make-believe and was just one night of escapism. We would dress up, go to friends and families homes, and get candy. Pretty simple stuff for a kid like me. The only evil I ever saw from the holiday was the upset stomach I got from eating too many sweets!

What do children of today think about the holiday? Do they see it the way I did when I was a child? I believe that has a lot to do with their parents and how it is presented to them. It also probably depends on the demeanor of the child. I certainly believe some children are more susceptible to the dark connotations around the holiday. In these cases it could be a great tragedy for a child to become wrapped up in the occult type of world.

So, I don't have any answers. Obviously everyone has to make up their minds based on their individual circumstances and the maturity and understanding of their children. Some of the recent activities that churches are sponsoring as an alternative are great ideas. This allows children the opportunity to participate in something Christ-centered and also to get the treats and fun of a holiday.

What are your thoughts?

Saturday opinions

In order to get to know me better, I thought I would give a list of some of my favorite things.

My favorite message board: SoGospelNews, the whole website is great.

My favorite mixed group: Currently it is The Perrys

My favorite quartet: George Younce, Glen Payne, Mark Trammell, and Danny Funderburk. Of course that group doesn't exist anymore, so my current favorite is Gold City

My favorite Blog: AveryFineline, even though I don't agree with him much (Sorry Avery!), he is fun to read.


Keep checking back and I'll add more favorites as time goes by ...

Around the horn

I know, that names already been taken...

I wanted to say thank you to the folks over at SGBlogNews for the nice welcome and for answering my first post's questions with another question! LOL Why another ANONYMOUS Blog?

I'll answer that: Mainly because very few people would know me if I did identify myself. But also because I think sometimes that part of the fun (at least I hope it's a little fun) is trying to figure out who the blogger is. They even made a guess as to whether I'm a boy or a girl. Wasnt' that fun? Oh well, maybe not...

Thanks also go out to fine blogger over at A Very Fine Line, or is that Avery Fineline? Either way, thanks for the mention and the good luck wishes!

Singing News threatens lawsuit

OK, this one is going to be short.

Most of you already know about the Singing News / AMGS controversy, so I won't go into any details.

My opinion:
Is it trivial and kind of silly? Yes.
Do they have the right to ask people not to copy their copyrighted material? Yes.

Solution: Now that you know it's wrong, just do it the right way by posting a link, or paraphrasing part of the story.

Triumphant

Since this is a SG Blog, I'd better get some SG posts up here.

First of all, I want to say I am a very big fan of the group formerly known as Integrity Quartet.

I think Clayton Inman is one of the best lead singers in the business.
Scott Inman is a wonderful up and coming baritone, and I'm sure his father is very proud of him.
David Sutton is a very talented tenor.
Eric Bennett absolutely BLOWS ME AWAY every time I hear him. His song (He Loves ME) on the Greater Vision Quartets Live DVD is awesome.
Jeff Stice has been one of my favorite pianists since his time with The Nelons.

Having said all that, I just don't like the name Triumphant. Maybe it will grow on me? I hope.

I know many people did not like the name Integrity and there was even some talk of a "hidden meaning". I will plead ignorance to that, but I did like the name Integrity.

Triumphant sounds to me like they should have just won some sporting event.

Either way, I will continue to listen because they are one of the best Southern Gospel Quartets out there.

Comments?

Introduction

Blogs Blogs everywhere...

Why not another Blog? Why another Blog?

Both good questions. Unfortunately, I don't have a really good answer to either one.

I guess the first question can be considered rhetorical! :D My response to the second is because everyone else is. LOL. Well, that and because I want to do it.

This Blog will mainly be about Southern Gospel music and my feelings about it. (Past and Present). I will also include personal comments, etc. as I see fit.