New Beliefs?

[Ipsen]

So I've been reading about here and I think there's a fair amount of believers in some form or religion or another as well as non-believers, so I figured I would ask the question: Is music replacing religion?

You've always had people from different walks of life staying within their own cliques and it's now spreading throughout the musical world. You have musical lovers sticking to their favourite genres of music as if it were a religion whereas it seems like the olden days of religious beliefs are fading away.

Opinions?

 

[DarkShadow]

First time I've heard of music replacing religion.............

So I wouldn't say it's replacing normal religions......

Like I don't think religions like Islam,Christianity Judaism will ever fade away.

No way..........it's just believing in music.........Most religions have their own music anyway.

Music is a completely different thing to religion............it's like saying is sport being replaced by gaming??


Is there any links with hip-hop here?(I'm a big fan)

 

[Shu]

Well Music is somewhat what folks call their own private gospel. I'll touch up on the subject as soon as I think about what I have to say. This is a pretty good topic, because I think most people identify with music these days than with a holy book.

 

[Dionysos]

People have always identified with music and enjoyed it, but nowadays there are so many genres and subgenres, and many different looks and types of fans that music can at times be compared to cult.

I don’t believe that music is replacing religion though. I think that most people keep their beliefs separate from their music, unless there is a song that fits with their beliefs in some form. Not all lyrics are suitable for people to identify on a semi-religious level. Some lyrics are deliberately nonsense, and others are far too normal and down to earth. It’s true that people can connect with some lyrics, but I think that most people like the tune or song behind the music and find lyrics that express what you believe to be a plus, and therefore I don’t think that many people really pick and choose their music based around their beliefs. It would be hard to do that as even among subgenres you will have different bands sending out different messages.

Even among those groups of people who hang around each other based on genre, they will have their own individual beliefs too. They ultimately flock around each other for the similar tastes in music, and also for the image that may go along with that particular group. Among them may be atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims or other religious groups, and they keep their love of their music separate from their faith. This may not be true in all cases, but I know that it is with many groups of people who find their identity in music.

What music is doing is giving us another way of expressing ourselves, of finding our identity and either conforming to a group / look, or deciding what we want to be for ourselves. We do this through other things too, faith being one, what we read, play and watch will be others, but music is perhaps one of the most powerful ways through which we do this.

People hold high importance to the music that they love, and some people will say “Music is the name of my god”, but that’s just another way of them saying that they enjoy the music, and they feel some sort of a strong connection with it.

 

[kitcatpawed]

~I believe before the govenment is ruled by androids that are moody, robotic, emtionless, phycopaths who drink oil, we will always be tormented by countless religious differences and problems everywhere.~(note: the first have of that first run-on sentence was a joke i am not that crazy )
~But i put 'No' mainly b/c i never really put music into a large religious factor of mine i mean religion is more spiritual and mental standpoint. While i kinda put music in the more physical and also mental standpoints ike i cant workout without music thats why i put it in physical lol.
~But i never really thought of music as what i should do with my life but their have always been people different about this like in the case of Charles Manson who was obsessed with the beatles had talked about a revolution just b/c of the songs in one of the Beatle's albums(im not mentioning the horrible things manson has done later in his life but im sure a few of you know)
~But i honestly dont believe that religion based music people would go anywhere near those extremes so id have to say i disagree and say that religion i somewhat hope will not be replaced by music.
~Because music is just vibrations or sounds if you will

 

[Harlequin]

Absolutely not. Music, Gaming, Literature and Drawing are art forms, Religion is a much deeper concept. If you can conceptualise to me how music can carry you onto another life by how you live the one you're given, then maybe we can discuss how on Earth it's replacing Religion.

 

[Ayumi Hamasaki]

STEVIE NICKS IS MY GODDESS!

No, but seriously I don't see it. I think that music can move you on a spiritual level just as much as religion but I'm not going to have an altar in my room with a large painting of Stevie's Nicks' face that I make offerings to.

I think that music can influence you just as much as the bible, but saying that it's replacing religion isn't true.

 

[Sum1sgruj]

Music is not replacing religion. Music is a product of beliefs. Without them, there wouldn't be much music.
Muslims and Jews share two different forms of Judaism. Catholics and Christians share two different forms of Jesus.
Music is also divided, just like food, clothing, and any other cultural element. Is music America's new religion? No, it shares the same religion as many others do. Money

 

[Trismegistus]

I don't know... it may bring about a new belief system centered solely around music somewhere, but I don't think it will replace any of the currently existing religions.

And Sum1sgruj, Catholicism is a branch of Christianity.

 

[alec]

There's a popular quote made up by some music enthusiasts that goes: "Some people believe in God, I believe in music. Some people pray, I turn up the radio."

IMO, people nowadays feel very strongly about music. As said previously, it can even be likened to a cult. But I personally think it's not something as strong as religion.

 

[SaShman]

I wouldn't say that music is replacing religion. Also I wouldn't say that various genre associated cliques can be compared to different religions. But I will say that the music industry/mainstream media is used in a similar fashion to religion (as a means of social control).

The character of music has changed significantly over the past 80 or so years. Thanks to the inventions of TV, the Radio, CD's and more recently the Internet; music has obviously become more accessible. The music industry has emerged as a way of distributing music as a commodity, profiting from the (relatively) new found availability of music. The music industry markets its products through all avenues of media as a result; popular musicians have received large amounts exposure which has essentially perpetuated the message that musicians should be idolized to a certain degree.

I'd argue that the music industry is more or less used by the ruling class as a means of social control. Songs are on constant rotation with top 40 countdowns and the like, yet the messages that these songs contain rarely change. It is rare to find a song in the mainstream media which outright challenges or questions the widely accepted norms of society. The messages that are put forward are mostly concerned with hedonism, escapism and romance. At the same time, the "artists" who spread these messages are treated as role models, thus making these ideas easier to absorb.

Music (by which I mean the music industry) is similar to religion in the sense that it is used as a means of social control in an effort to maintain the status quo. However, I don't think it has the potential to replace religion as a belief system.

 

[Demon]

People who give up religion for music would probably just fall into some loose category when their religious beliefs are described. Something like "atheist", I assume.

Other than that, I find the two hard to compare, religion and music. Some followers of music will probably be labeled one way while others, another way.

 

[PhilipO'Hayda]

I thought about it befor. Must peolpe when things were going wrong would tune to god,and prey for it to go away. Now there tuneing to Music, to get rid of the feeling.