Church teachings on music, and food

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Flopfoot

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I have seen threads about music and food in ‘Catholic Living’ but all I seem to see there is people making ‘recommendations’ or suggestions, asking questions like what would Jesus listen to, and ideologies like that. I’ve had enough of all these suggestions - all they are doing is making me feel guilty about things which I don’t even know for sure are wrong!

So what I want to know is what are the official Catholic Church teachings on what we listen to and what we eat? Can you please put in references (Catechism, papal encyclicals, Imprintaur and that other thing, etc.) so that I know it’s not just your opinion?

To be a bit more specific -
  • I like listening to rock and heavy metal music. Some of this has bad lyrics in it (satanic, swearing, sexual, dissing of God, etc.) although lyrics of songs are not really of interest to me, I hardly even notice them. Can I listen to pretty much whatever I like or are there rules against this?
  • I like to eat sweets, which probably don’t have lots of nutritional value. I also normally eat more than I strictly need, but not so much that it makes me sick. Is the only rules against eating, when what you eat makes you sick and when it hurts someone else?
If you’re just going to leave it up to me and my conscience then, I’ve had enough of feeling guilty, I’m gonna believe that the food I like and the music I like are gifts from God and I’m going to enjoy them. But if it’s clearly written somewhere that it’s a sin, then I won’t do it. Simple.
 
from Catechism on the Summa (Pegues, Roman Catholic Books pub)

virtue of temperance
viture which keeps man’s sensitive appetite within the bounds of reason so that it may not be carried away by pleasures, particularly those that refer to the sense of touch in those acts that are necessary for the conservation of bodily life. (the pleasures of the table and of marriage)
what sin opposes this virtue?
gluttony
the inordinate desire to eat and drink may bear upon the quality of the food, the quantity its preparation or its consumption.
fruits of gluttony
dulness of mind intellectually, inept mirth, immoderate speech, buffoonery and impurity
these sins imply the absence and almost total lack of reason and are the outcome of gluttony because thereby the reason becomes sluggish and almost paralyzed, and can no longer guide man in the way that he should go.

[what is true in regard to food and drink for the body is also true for food and drink for the mind - music, video, TV, books, movies etc.]

goes on to discuss sobriety, chastity etc. and the virtues that are fruits of temperence such as clemency, mercy, continence, meekness and modesty.
Summa section CXL ff.)
 
Thanks. I will have a read of Catechism on the Summa if I come across it.

But with my question on music, it wasn’t so much a question of ‘temperance’ (although that does help) as a question of can I listen to it at all if the lyrics are not good?
 
scripture says, “he that is not with me, is against me. and he that gathers not with me, scatters abroad” mat12:30. so, if the music you listen to is not for God, or glorifying His name, than you should not listen to it. Anything glorifying the devil is deffinately out of the question. anything degrading a gender or a race of people (weather it be blacks, whites, hispanics, asian, etc) it doesn’t matter if you listen to the words or not. weather you know it or not, the lyrics are getting into your mind and can affect you in one way or another.
 
That’s a bit of a ‘leap of interpretation’ of the scripture… it’s not necessarily Catholic teaching that Jesus meant anything about music when He said that. It sounds more like He was talking about people.

Anyway, my carpet does not glorify the name of God either. Does that mean I should throw that away too, according to your logic???

Please, if you post scripture, only post authentic interpretations (ie, Catholic Church endorsed).
 
does your carpet offend God? no. my point was that music that is blaspheaming the name of the Lord is bad music. Is it against Catholic teaching to take the Lord’s name in vane? Is it against Catholic teaching to lift up or approve someone else taking the Lord’s name in vane? ask yourself those questions. I don’t have the numbers from the chatacisim to quote you, but the Cathoic church I was raised in tought me weigh everything in the light of scriputer and the church’s teaching. It sounds to me that you are simply trying to find approval for your choice of music. well, if that’s the case, I’m sure someone else on there will gladly give it to you.
Your carpet doesn’t glorify god. would you ever see carpet like it in a Cathlic church? maybe. it’s a newtral thing. would you ever hear “black sabbath” in a catholic church? I seriously doubt it. but I’m sure you’ll come back with some smart reply to my post here, I was only trying to give you an honest answer. take it or leave it, but keep your comments on my feelings about scripture to yourself. I’m not judging you for your music, but you did ask.
 
I think that it is an individual decision. In Romans Paul discusses the fact that meat that was sacrificed for idols is alright for Christians to eat but that for some, eating such meat can become a stumbling block and therefore the Christian who is stronger in this particular area should respect the weaker Christian.

I like horror movies, for example. Some Christians are very troubled by them. If I invited such a person over, I would not put The Ring in my DVR for them to view.
 
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Flopfoot:
I ?

To be a bit more specific -
  • I like listening to rock and heavy metal music. Some of this has bad lyrics in it (satanic, swearing, sexual, dissing of God, etc.) although lyrics of songs are not really of interest to me, I hardly even notice them. Can I listen to pretty much whatever I like or are there rules against this?
  • I like to eat sweets, which probably don’t have lots of nutritional value. I also normally eat more than I strictly need, but not so much that it makes me sick. Is the only rules against eating, when what you eat makes you sick and when it hurts someone else?
If you’re just going to leave it up to me and my conscience then, I’ve had enough of feeling guilty, I’m gonna believe that the food I like and the music I like are gifts from God and I’m going to enjoy them. But if it’s clearly written somewhere that it’s a sin, then I won’t do it. Simple.
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In my zeal to be a good Christians, I used to be frustrated that there weren’t more rules. When I talked to other Christians there was such a variety of opinions and so many people who viewed their individual likes and dislikes as the basis for being a good CHristian that I was confused.

Take the issue of clothing. One person said modest dress, was simply wearing enough clothing to cover yourself. Another said that you must wear only dresses-if you are female, still another said those dresses must be knee length and another said a good Christian only wears dresses that reach her ankles. And there were still more christians who advocated that no indication or outline of the female form should be seen.

I still don’t have everything straight in my head, but I have noticed that there are wonderful, kind hearted sincere Christians who are very strict in what they watch and wear and equally loving and good Christians who aren’t so careful.

My only conclusion is that I can’t judge anyone or decide what another CHristian says or does. I can only watch myself and pray about my decisions.
 
I am like you in that I simply ignore most lyrics (I can’t really hear them…another story). So, what to do about music with off lyrics? If you are not affected by them, they are no source of temptation to you, they don’t harden you, your neighbor doesn’t have to hear them, etc., then I don’t see why you can’t listen. I don’t listen to music often, but I will listen to things that are probably not perfectly pristine. I enjoy them, and they do me no harm.

However, I would consider the possibility that if you didn’t listen to off lyrics for awhile and then you went back to them, perhaps you might see that they affect you and you didn’t realize. It is worth thinking about. Also, avoiding a number of unnecessary things can be part of a journey to being more holy (read spiritual writers for more on that).

Here is a blog topic by Jimmy Akin to think about your exact question (re music).

However, I must add that I would avoid Satanic lyrics.
 
Thanks for the Jimmy Akin blog link, it was good (and not just because I agreed with it, but because he explained it well). I’ve got no idea who he is though… is he a Catholic, does the Church normally support the things he says? (Coz I doubt that a blog would have Nihil Obstat and Imprintaur on it).

PS SueKrum, I was not trying to offend you. I just wanted you to give something stronger to back up what you were saying… because it just felt like all the people in the other threads, making me feel guilty about something without proving to me that it was wrong.
(I know scripture is ‘strong’, but I’ve heard so many bad interpretations of it before - used to hang out with Protestants - that I have a hard time trusting anyone’s interpretations, regardless of who they are, unless they’re a bishop, coz of CCC 100).
 
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Flopfoot:
Thanks for the Jimmy Akin blog link, it was good (and not just because I agreed with it, but because he explained it well). I’ve got no idea who he is though… is he a Catholic, does the Church normally support the things he says? (Coz I doubt that a blog would have Nihil Obstat and Imprintaur on it).
Click to expand...
Sorry! We are on the Catholic Answers site, so I just assumed you would know who he is. :o He is one of their apologists. He appears on their radio show to do Q&A, usually appearing on Thursday. He is generally quite reliable and has knowledge. However, he is just an apologist, and not a bishop or anything. But to give you something to go on, I thought he’d be helpful for a start. He was the fastest on hand reference I had. He is likely to be right, from my experience, but he is not authoritative. I checked my moral theology text, but it didn’t have anything directly to the point (it has an imprimatur, etc). It was more principles to apply toward your question only. But again, that requires interpretation or discernment.
 
Hey bro, I myself am a Catholic metal head as well. I also used to really question wether or not i should listen to the music that i did…so rather than sit there and worry, i just agreed with the fact that i dont want to do anything that even might be wrong in the Church’s eyes so i changed some things but not all. First of all i did stop listening to the bands that were in conflict with the church. But i did not stop listening to metal by any means. There are TONS of amazing christian metal bands out there that are just as hard/harder than what you listen to now. Trust me on that one. Those bands are just as metal as any others but the lyrics are positive and follow church teachings.

Some bands that i love that you should check out:

The Showdown (<–personal favorite) almost all the songs tell a different biblical story

Haste the Day

As Cities Burn

As I Lay Dying

Look around and you will find many more. Good luck.
 
I also should have listed :

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster,

and

Chasing Victory

to that list of Christian Metal bands.
 
Along with The Showdown, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Haste the Day and As I Lay Dying, there’s also Winter Solstice, Nodes of Ranvier, Underoath, Still Remains, Norma Jean, Sylvan Fortress and Bloodlined Calligraphy.

As well as Catholic bands Illuminandi, Eterna and Uniao.
 
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