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Religion, politics, and musical taste

40K views 191 replies 56 participants last post by  Johnnie Burgess 
#1 ·
Is there any relation between the political/religious ideas/beliefs of a person and his/er musical taste?.
 
#88 · (Edited)
Fred,

If one is to take any argument about religion and music seriously , isnt it obvious that one has to prove the validity of religion, otherwise what's the point in discussing something that isn't true or can't be proven?

I don't know, God knows I have not asked for this discussions even to exist, but if one really wants to engage in any debate that makes sense here, he can't really debate with one hand tied behind his back.

Best Wishes,

Saul
 
#89 ·
If one is to take any argument about religion and music seriously , isnt it obvious that one has to prove the validity of religion, otherwise what's the point in discussing something that isn't true or can't be proven?

I don't know, God knows I have not asked for this discussions even to exist, but if one really wants to engage in any debate that makes sense here, he can't really debate with one hand tied behind is back.
It all comes down to balance, and in this thread it has tipped. "Proving the validity of religion" is beyond the scope of this forum, if that means tying one's hands behind the back, then so be it.
 
#90 · (Edited)
I understand, but I will refuse to engage in any intellectual debate that openly declares that the topics are religion and music, while putting limitations on what can be said civilly about religion. Its a lost cause, and a waste of time from an intellectual standpoint. Given this is the case, I will refuse to participate in any of these topics, frankly I think that if any of us would want to be frank with ourselves, its better to dissolve these topics all together. You are rite, these topics with these restrictions are way too much for this site, I agree with you 100%.

Kind Regards,

Saul
 
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#91 ·
I may also disagree, as well, as to what should be allowed to be discussed, but ultimately, it boils down to his house, his rules.

Personally, I don't have an issue with these topics unless they veer into incivility. That should never be excused. But, as I said, I don't get to make the rules.
 
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#93 ·
Ultimately, with some exceptions, I don't think there is necessarily a link between one's political and religious beliefs and one's taste in music.

I have been Republican, either registered or in spirit, as long as I have cared about politics, veering more towards staunch conservative with some libertarian sympathies. I have also been a devout Mormon. And yet, throughout high school, if you stood my best friend - a staunch liberal - and I side by side and compared our appearance and musical tastes, you might have picked him as the staunch conservative Mormon. I listened to Metal in my younger days, then New Wave, then punk (everything from pop punk to hardcore). Now I listen to primarily classical, and have a much more conservative appearance (gone are the days of shaving the sides and back of my head and wearing combat boots), but I still like my punk. I do appreciate religious music, but as I said before, it has to sound appealing to me - the subject matter alone is not enough. There are numerous more modern, atonal religious works that I don't care for.
 
#94 ·
I am a Baptist with conservative views, both theologically and politically, and I can definitely see the connection between these and my musical tastes. I place a high value on intellect (which is why I only listen to art music), and I reject emotionalism (which is why I like almost everything except late Romantic music).

I also revere the most religious of composers (to name two, JS Bach and Messiaen) above others for their devotion to God and their commitment to their art in order to proclaim His glory.
 
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#96 ·
As a supplement, Wikipedia has a list of some of the proclaimed atheist composers, which includes

Bartok, Berlioz, Bizet, Boulez, Busoni, Delius, Grainger, Janacek, Ligeti, M-Davies, Prokofiev, Ravel, R-Korsakov, S-Saens, Shostakovich, Smetana, Tippett, V-Williams.
I knew about Janácek, which is interesting considering the Glagolitic Mass has become his most popular work. :)
 
#102 ·
I have what would be described as fairly conservative tastes in music (while respecting the more experimental composers,) fairly conservative leanings in terms of economic policy, very liberal leanings with regards to most social issues, and do not believe in the literal truth of any religion and am most likely an atheist.

Not sure what that all adds up to other than trivia.
 
#116 ·
One could say: agnostics don't believe or disbelieve in the existence of a deity, they just say "I don't know", although they may lean toward one side, whereas atheists believe that a deity doesn't exist. Key word being "believe"; they're not necessarily claiming to know.
 
#117 · (Edited)
Precisely. Most atheists will only claim to "know" something if there is sufficient evidence. One cannot prove that God does not exist so it would be unwise to say that one knows for certain that God does not exist. That means that agnosticism is the only rational stance. But equally, one cannot prove that unicorns do not exist so it would be unwise to say that one knows for certain that unicorns do not exist. So really we must be agnostic about unicorns as well. In fact, there are hundreds of propositions which we must be agnostic about. But just as no-one seriously contemplates their agnosticism over unicorns, I'm not sure why one would be seriously agnostic about God.
 
#120 ·
For a good explanation about atheist, agnostic, etc, take a look at this post, it is great and explains it well.

An atheist agnostic is someone who does not believe in gods and also thinks that the existence of gods cannot be known. This might mean that they don't believe in gods because they haven't seen any evidence that supports their existence.

A theist gnostic is someone who believes in a god/gods and thinks that the existence of gods can be known. This position is usually referred to as just 'theist', since people who believe in gods, usually also think that their existence can be known.

An atheist gnostic is someone who does not believe in gods, and who thinks that we can know that gods do not exist. A fairly unusual position, they might think they have found proof of the non-existence of gods, or might have been persuaded by life experiences.

A theist agnostic is someone who believes in gods, but thinks that they could not know for sure that their god exists. Another fairly unusual position, as people who have faith in gods usually also think that their god can be known to be real.


 
#127 ·
I doubt there is much of a direct correlation between one's views on government intervention in the market and taste in classical music. Religious/social views may have more relation to classical music than economic views.

However, people who listen to classical music average higher iq's and tend to be older. Individuals with higher iq's tend to have more extreme economic views and be less religious. Older people tend to be more religious and more conservative. Given this, I'd imagine classical music listeners are unlikely to be moderates and perhaps lean to the right as a group. I'm not even going to bother trying to imagine the political demographics for demographics of different composers.
 
#132 ·
I thought you might be referring to the Haidt type studies. I guess ultimately someone would need to do the study you mention. I'm not really sure what that study would show. It's not obvious from the moral intuitions how each group would "perform". We think of conservatives as more set in their ways and less open to change, but that might not work with music.
 
#138 · (Edited)
Absolutely not. I am a devout catholic, and the main thing that got me into music was ozzy osbourne and black sabbath. I believe music is entrrtainment. Although it has become more like a lifestyle to me, i can honestly say it has had little/no effect on my religious beliefs.

There was a point in time where my parents became highly concerned about me, because of the music i would listen to when growing up. They even tried to blame it on a short spout of depression i was going through.

I specifically remember them getting pissed when i asked for a "trio of doom (feat john mcluaghlin, jaco, and tony williams) for christmas years back. I had to explain it was an instrumental album and they chilled out.

Nevertheless, as i have said - i listen to a ton of metal (most recently death metal) and it has had no effect on me religiously. As a responsible adult and law biding citzen, i think my parents and other family members are kicking themselves for fast judgement.

The judgements family pushed on me had more of a negative effect than music ever did.

Sometimes i question myself when looking at album and song titles, but i know deep in my heart it is just a form of entertainment that is not having me do evil things
 
#139 ·
In my own case, my spiritual/religious journey has been a long and winding road.
Learning about and embracing Judaism, Buddhism, the United Methodist and Congrgationalist churches, the Unity church, the Unitarian Universalist spectrum, and Roman Catholicism with stops along the way at agnosticism and atheism, and so on - the search continues. Yet Chopin has been a constant since I was a wee bairn.
I have voted Republican and Democrat, considered myself to be apolitical, explored Libertarianism - you get the picture. I have pretty much settled down these days into a socially liberal and fiscally sorta-conservative person, attend religious services occasionally but without buying into the narrower strictures of any faith tradition. And Chopin has been there with me through it all.
My point? Whatever part of my brain is tickled by music doesn't seem to be at the mercy of my religious and/or political interests. And I thank whoever designed my brain for that!!
 
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