Mute the Undeserving Mathematicians
By Sally Bishai (03/10/06)
It's a sad day when a rock band actually files a lawsuit against their record company just to avoid being labelled "Christian."
I first heard about this ridiculousness on AOL News, in an article called Buzz Band Takes Legal Action Over Religious Tag.
For those of you who aren't on America Online, let me sum up the article: A "buzz band" (meaning "an act who hasn't yet hit the big time") called "Mute Math" (I ain't making that up) is breaking the silence and pulling out the calculators in an attempt to shake up Warner Bros., the label that they're signed with.
Why? Because Warner and crew have made the oh-so-painful mistake of labelling MM a "Christian band."
What a simply wretched thing to be called! (Though Sally, die-hard fan of such Christian music giants as Petra, DC Talk, and Newsboys, doesn't agree.)
Now, since I'm sure most of my readers aren't up on what's down in the Christian Music Scene, let me share a little something with y'all; this is NOT the first time the label "Christian band" has caused an uproar.
Didn't vocalist Michael English's fling with a member of a Christian singing group rock the world of CCM? (That's Christian Contemporary Music, for you provincial types.)
Didn't songbird Sandi Patti's extramarital affair make a dent in her career, didn't Amy Grant lose fans after her split from husband Gary Chapman?
Yes, to all of the above. This is not to mention the Jim Bakker scandal (though he was never much of a singer, so maybe I was right to leave him out..) and Jimmy Swaggart.
I know what you're thinking... "Whose side are you ON, then, Sally?"
It's not about sides, lovey, it's about the fact that, well, as Christians, we're not PERFECT, merely FORGIVEN.
You will never be sin-free, and neither will I. That doesn't mean we aren't supposed to try to live as close to the example of Jesus as we can (if we're Christians, anyway), and it doesn't mean that we can go on planning to sin (as I did the other day, when faced with the question "Should I have the Olive Tapanade and Hummus on pita for lunch, or the less-salty but higher-calorie Provolone and bruschetta on Asagio Sourdough?" and ended up snacking on both) and expecting consequence-free forgiveness.
Back to what I was saying, though, people are human, and they will err, sin, and make good-ole'fashioned mistakes.
For this reason, I think it's a mistake to go around saying "I am a Christian Whatever," (where "whatever" equals "artist in the area of X"), since it's just opening oneself up to intense scrutiny and the sort of "I hope they get one wrong!" sentiment that all teachers feel the first time they take a red pen in hand.
Like, Cher and Madonna are hardly role models, but no one goes around calling them hypocrites or immoral wenches because they've never tried to pass themselves off as "holier than thou," although the aforementioned stars in the CCM firmament have never enjoyed as much success as they once did, pre-fall-from-grace.
And Jessica Simpson (as you'll see in a future article) has done LESS for the Christian cause than anyone I can think of--even though she actually started out AS a "Christian singer."
You know, I'm not mentioning these people to be gossip-mongering or industry-obsessed; rather, I'm trying to make the point that it's hard enough trying to be a garden-variety Christian in front of your handful of friends and family members, and must be that much harder when the whole world is watching. (Or, at least, all of the state of Tennessee.)
Hence, I don't fault "Mute Math" for not feeling up to the moniker.
What I DO fault them for is the fact that 1- they continue to play Christian venues and sell to a (largely) Christian audience, whilst making it seem as though the CCM genre isn't really big enough for them. (The Christian audience-members' MONEY is good enough, though, is that it..?) A band member was even quoted as saying, "I had no desire to be the Christian version of a real band."
(So a Christian band is a fake band. Oh, the humanity.)
The other thing I fault them for (the whole "publicity stunts" thing aside) is the actual "lawsuit" bit; after all, it's not Christian to file a lawsuit in general, and it's even less Christian to sue someone for labelling you an, erm, Christian.
(Not that I'm the Grand Arbiter of All Things Christian, mind, but you know what I mean.. don't you?)
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