Textual Criticism and Lyrical Acceptance

Why your favorite singer is preaching your sermons.

"As God has shown us by turning stone to bread, So we all must lend a helping hand." - We Are the World by Michael Jackson

By nature, we are evaluative creatures. Very few of us start eating a meal without gaining a pretty good idea of what is sitting in front of us. We want to know what we're getting ourselves into. And we want to know the truth.

So it's really no surprise that when we hear a speech or a sermon, we immediately evaluate what the speaker is saying. And woe to the speaker who misspeaks. After the lecture, the halls will be filled with people asking, "Did you hear him say that Asia is the largest country in the world? The guy doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country." or, "His comment about economics was totally wrong - I'm an accountant, and he was way off-base." Whether intentional or mistaken, any known error is likely to be evaluated and criticised. The same happens with print. For example, a promotion was just placed in front of me on the plane. Though produced by a major company, the promotion includes a logo that has the human heart located in the wrong place. Though I noticed quickly, my reaction was not to the degree that it was a few weeks ago when I saw inaccurate information presented in our newspaper regarding a case for which I was a Jury member. We are "textually critical" of words we hear spoken or see in print.

The real surprise is in the words we don't evaluate. I submit to you that words couched as lyrics are accepted without the same degree of evaluation. In fact, I would argue that they receive little evaluation at all. Why is it that songs are so readily accepted? I have heard songs with lyrics that are dumb. I have heard songs with lyrics that are untruthful. I have heard songs with lyrics that are morally bad. But consistently, if these songs are criticized, others defend them. In fact, it seems to be a social taboo to speak badly of a song. "If you don't like it, then don't listen to it," we're told.

It appears to me that our recording artists have more of a ready pulpit than our preachers. Our pop stars have a more accepting audience than our professors. And our favorite bands' words are more quickly accepted than those of the world's greatest professional.

Textual criticism. Lyrical acceptance.