"Repudiating the Boogie Woogie and Marching for the Lord!"

Once upon a time, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians,

"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations - 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) - according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." (Col. 2:20-23, ESV)

Apparently, our brother Alan Ives missed that one (or at least the principle behind it). I recently came across his misinformative gem on YouTube (link), where he explains the difference between godly and ungodly music. His distinction between godly and ungodly melodies is a bit hazy, but it seems that in order for rhythm to be godly, it must not contain any of the following: (1) boogie-woogie, (2) backbeat, (3) breakbeat. Why? Because any of those could lead to dancin'.

Basically, according to him, stressing the 2 and 4 beats is evil, so we need to return to stressing the 1 beat, and march for the Lord. I'm not quite sure what the scriptural basis of that is - oh wait, there's not any. I also highly doubt that he'd be able to make this case in any African-American churches.

Labels: music, religion/theology/philosophy