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Re: 19 personal notes on the 'christian v. secular' debate
On Fri, 26 Jul 2002, Dan Temmesfeld wrote:
> Subject: "18 personal notes on the false dichotomy of the 'christian v.
> secular' debate"
Hmmm, did the original post assume a "versus" there?
> there should be no christian music.
> there should be no secular music.
> it should be a false dichotomy.
I'm not so sure. A "false dichotomy", to my mind, is something like, "Is
he a Viking or a human being?" Obviously, Vikings *are* human beings.
One is a sub-set of the other. But it is quite feasible to distinguish
between music created for religious purposes and music created for
non-religious purposes. Yes, like all attempts to describe the world,
such distinctions are a bit of a fiction, but "false dichotomy"?
Obviously, music created for one purpose can be used for another. When I
listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, am I listening to Muslim music? Well,
yeah, in some sense -- he comes out of a musical tradition which has roots
in Muslim spirituality. But I don't listen to his music for instruction
in Muslim beliefs; I don't speak Nusrat's language, anyway. :)
> limiting one's own musical intake (just like any other intake) based
> solely on style, creed, form is a narrow view of the possibilities
> abounding.
Agreed.
--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
"I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom
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