Remonstrans

Good Night!

11/07/07

05:23:22 am, by dissidens

, 343 words, 8585 views

Categories: Old Main

Good Night!

Well, I've come back to my desk to find several genuinely disturbing things.

First of all there was this—as though I needed more reason to hate the season.

It's hard to say which is my least favorite song; they are all about as charming as finding a severed head under the Christmas tree. I think if someone held a dull knife to my throat I would have to say Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. That goofball piano-bar-in-the-manger arrangement could ruin a wise man's Christmas. Kenon Renfrow reminds me of a Christmas jack-o-lantern: there's just some vague incongruity that is hard to put your finger on.

Dr. Fro, as he is known among his friends, is on the piano pedagogy faculty at Bob Jones University where it is reported that the more insightful staff member looks down on Patch the Pirate's chanties. And a seasonal Ho ho ho! to all, and to all a good night.

But it's still a tough choice. I keep thinking of that ditzy little music box/electric piano version of Still, Still, Still. If there were a loaded shotgun in the room, it's the trigger I would put my finger on.

What is it with these fundamentalists? Have they no standards at all?! They make Mannheim Steamroller look like the Magi.

Winter Wonderland is a real gem destined to be a Christmas classic wherever Christ is held dear. It is about as appealing as a razor blade in a fruit cake—but it is easy to dance to.

Ken's hobbies include dirt biking, air boating, snake hunting in the Everglades, classic cars and antique clocks. So it's another fundamentalist renaissance man, basically.

He charges $16.98 for this CD.

Seventeen dollars!

You could get Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio, Op. 12 for $5.65 at CD Universe. Or the Michael Praetorius Christmas Vespers for $14.38.

Seventeen dollars! Just think how much gas that could put in your dirt bike.

I'm just grateful these people are serious.

If I had a degree from Bob Jones University, I'd use it to light ye olde Yule log.

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1 Comment from: JamesR [Visitor]

Isn't their religious music about as fluffy? I reference for example the music they were promoting in their last newsletter from sacredaudio.com (Soundforth). It was for a pianist named Gregg Howlett. I listened to the samples and it was definitely emotional fluff.

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 08:01

Reply to comment 4419 by JamesR

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2 Comment from: dissidens [Member]

“…about as fluffy”?

Santa Claus gives out toys, or so it has been reported to me, to all the children of the world. That, by my reckoning, would qualify as generous, but not nearly as generous as calling Renfrow’s work “fluffy”.

And there is a place for fluffy. Immature females like fluffy; I could see myself giving something fluffy to a four year old girl. I would not give this CD to anyone. I would not want anyone to think of the Advent this way.

There seems to be a determined hostility toward masculinity in Greenville, S.C. I think this explains all the talk about guns, dirt bikes, snakes and such. I think the shrinks call it compensation. I really don’t know how men in that circle are expected to act in the presence of beauty; they give every impression that when confronted with the sublime or the transcendent they are to become feminine.

If a man lacking in gravitas wants to say something “precious” about the holidays, I think we should let him. I don’t think we should encourage him or pay him, but we should not stop him. We should consider his noises and think quietly to ourselves, “There but for the grace of God…”

But if he attempts to trivialize spiritual things, I think he should be left severely alone. I think it should be stopped.

So in a word, I don’t call it fluffy, I call it idolatrous.

But what can you tell the little nutcracker soldiers at the Fortress of Faith?

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 10:22

Reply to comment 4420 by dissidens

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3 Comment from: exlibris [Member]

But, ya' see this is sort of shtick in the world of modern music. It seems to be a leftover from when the recording industry positively left anything other than pop/rock/country out of their repertoire (somewhere in the 70's to 80's). I remember looking hither and yon for a good recording of Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave and only coming close to finding it in old Deutsch Grammaphone LP's.

Recently, we seem to find much better recordings and even sheet music laying around (thanks to BMG and MHS). This begs the question why do institutions like this put up classifying as art what would barely pass muster in Junior High Band? It's as if they watched "Mr. Holland's Opus" one too many times and thought that this was a modern allegory of J.S. Bach's career.

They don't really know the difference between Bach and Barber Shop.

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 14:52

Reply to comment 4421 by exlibris

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4 Comment from: Jonathan [Visitor]

· http://www.gmail.com

If you haven't talked to my teacher, Dr. Renfrow. Then I think you should all remove your comments until having confronted him. Phil. 1-2. How about some unity around the Gospel?

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 19:10

Reply to comment 4422 by Jonathan

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5 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]

Jonathan, what does the music on Dr. Renfrow's CD have to do with the Gospel and whether or not we have unity around the Gospel?

While you are at Bob Jones, may I kindly suggest that you pay careful attention in your English classes? You owe it to your arguments to state them in such a way that your grammar does not distract your reader from the point which you wish to argue.

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 19:39

Reply to comment 4423 by a hungry soul

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6 Comment from: Austin [Visitor]

While you are at Bob Jones, may I kindly suggest that you pay careful attention in your English classes? You owe it to your arguments to state them in such a way that your grammar does not distract your reader from the point which you wish to argue.

To be fair, an off-topic grammatical critique should include exlibris's comment, which demonstrates ignorance both of what it means to beg the question and of the proper use of "laying."

Just as the grammar of exlibris and Jonathan does not characterize all librarians and BJU alumni, respectively, so too one can't attribute Renfrow's musical tastes to all of the BJU music faculty.

Permalink 11/07/07 @ 22:50

Reply to comment 4424 by Austin

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7 Comment from: dissidens [Member]

exlibris:

This all presents an interesting window to fundamentalism. It never really was about the good and beautiful, it was always about market forces. This is why we must teach children how to distinguish music from schtick. It is clear that there is no accountability at the supply end and very little discrimination at the demand end.

We are outraged at St. Patch the Beloved Pirate, we are scandalized by Calvary’s Blood and the shabby Oscar Wilde, we shudder at Pettit’s Skunk Holler Praze Band, we reject Renfrow’s Kick Line Christmas…sooner or later the thoughtful—or should I say serious—separatist will be forced to answer a simple question: by what set of concessions did we get to this point? We need to ask the defenders of this calamity at what point they think a line was crossed.

But I think we should pack a large lunch.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 06:34

Reply to comment 4425 by dissidens

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8 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]

[Sigh] Wow, Austin, I must have missed the post where Dissidens made you a moderator on Remonstrans! ;)

I was sincere in my counsel to Jonathan. Am I remembering correctly that two sentence fragments in an English assignment at BJU would earn one a failing grade? Fairness by no means requires that I henceforth edit the posts of every adult member and scold them for their shortcomings.

Dissidens, I do apologize for the digression from the subject at hand, which is serious and worthy of much sober reflection. I wholeheartedly agree with you that we must teach our children to distinguish between music and schtick. One of the best ways we have found for doing so is by giving them a steady diet of the very best music, so as to shape their taste and affection for that which is true and excellent.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 08:09

Reply to comment 4426 by a hungry soul

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9 Comment from: danofsteel [Member]

We need to ask the defenders of this calamity at what point they think a line was crossed.

They can't stay "tight" with BJU if they find fault with its music (or anything else it does). Then again, if BJU does it, then no line has been crossed by definition.

That's the way it works. Separation is about "us" and "them" - not right and wrong.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 08:48

Reply to comment 4427 by danofsteel

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10 Comment from: dissidens [Member]

hungry:

No problem.

But yah, this is where it’s at. Bob Jones University and fellowshipping service organizations continue to demonstrate that a) if your kid doesn’t leave home with a Christian sensibility, he will not get it while in their care, b) no one need be held accountable for the trash they extrude, and c) the defenders of this rubbish are not inclined to take seriously the objections of those they claim to serve.

I go back to our very first post: “Today’s Christianity is an eccentric thing, an ad hoc something or other intended to meet some parochial enthusiasm or some idiosyncratic taste.

dan:

It is revealing that when these examples of fundamentalist shabbiness are produced all we get is this wheeze that the whole movement is not like Tim Fisher, Kenon Renfrow, Pettit, Galkin, Patch, Dave Jaspers…you’d think these names represented some fringe, ostracized malcontents long banished from the hallowed confines of the righteous.

There is a lot that doesn’t “check” in this movement, but these guys do. It seemed good to the administration at BJU to place Renfrow in the classroom. It is not a “good” vs. “bad” kind of movement; it is very much an “us” vs. “them” kind of movement.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 11:29

Reply to comment 4429 by dissidens

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11 Comment from: blackmambaprof [Visitor]

Hungry soul: We all make grammatical errors in our posts sometimes. I've made them. You have a pronoun/antecedent error in yours. I find comma splices in Dissidens' posts sometimes (there's one in this thread, although it might pass on stylistic grounds). Jonathan's post is definitely written poorly.

But if you raise the topic of one's grammar only when you disagree with him, of course that opens you to the charge of being unfair--which is similar to Dissidens' basic charge against fundamentalists in the first place. Hopefully your advice will urge Jonathan to greater righteousness and grammatical accuracy though.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 11:46

Reply to comment 4430 by blackmambaprof

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12 Comment from: a hungry soul [Member]

Blackmambaprof, you are correct that my post had a pronoun/antecedent error which I should have caught before posting. Thank you. You have, however, entirely missed my (much) larger point. This is not a game of "gotcha" anymore than it is a discussion of "fairness" or "agreement/disagreement." Students should be taught how to construct their arguments both grammatically and logically so as to maximize persuasion and minimize distraction. It should have been quite obvious to any discerning reader that I was speaking to an exceedingly narrow category of people which could not possibly have included Dissidens and exlibris unless they are BJU college students named Jonathan.

Is it not interesting how many side topics people would prefer to explore rather than discussing the quality or lack thereof of Majesty Music's offerings? For some of us, this is not a game, but a deadly serious battle for the souls, piety, and discernment of our (and others') children. May God help us.

Permalink 11/08/07 @ 12:30

Reply to comment 4431 by a hungry soul

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Good Night!

11/07/07

Good Night!

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