The Devil's Music

Pope Benedict XVI's views on rock n' roll in 1985:

"Rock music seeks release through liberation from the personality and its
responsibility ... [it is] among the anarchic ideas of freedom which today
[1985] predominate more openly in the West than in the East. But that is
precisely why rock music is so completely antithetical to the Christian concept
of redemption and freedom, indeed its exact opposite. Hence music of this type
must be excluded from the Church on principle, and not merely for aesthetic
reasons, or because of restorative crankiness or historical inflexibility. Rock
music seeks release through liberation from the personality and its
responsibility ... [it is] among the anarchic ideas of freedom which today
[1985] predominate more openly in the West than in the East. But that is
precisely why rock music is so completely antithetical to the Christian concept
of redemption and freedom, indeed its exact opposite. Hence music of this type
must be excluded from the Church on principle, and not merely for aesthetic
reasons, or because of restorative crankiness or historical inflexibility."

Basically, rock music promotes anarchic freedom (the kind I like). The pope thinks freedom means strict obedience to God and Church. I guess I'll have to burn my Hotel California album. I never really liked the Eagles anyways.

Well, the pope's view of freedom is better than that of President Bush who thinks freedom means invading sovereign countries and killing non-Christians. I think Orwell described both Ratzinger's and Bush's views on freedom when he said Freedom is Slavery.