In the liner notes of two recent LPs by Rob Hood and Suburban Knight they both wax (no pun intended) very religious--I would say evangelical in fact. For some reason this really surprised me because I always thought about Detroit techno as kind of atheistic (death of god) type music. Anyway, it doesn't really bother me that these artists were inspired by God or some higher power. It gives me a different appreciation of their art.
I agree that the Lutheran church is pretty non-threatening for the most part. They tend to lean toward the liturgical side (keeping the sacraments of the Catholic church) as compared to Baptists (who came out of the counter-reformation) who are suspicious of ritual. The Lutheran church like other major denominations is split into a million factions--liberal, moderate, and conservative. Musically my experience with the Lutheran church is that it tends to be quite extraordinary, though leaning toward the classical side of things. They will often have several choirs and a small orchestra--often with professionally trained musicians. As a generalization I would say that the Lutheran church tends to stress the more classical aesthetic aspects of worship, than the Baptists or example. However, the Baptists would likely respond that they leave more room for freer, more participatory expression, like gospel. Of course there are a million different kinds of Baptists too. As for Detroit, I'm only a transplant here so I can't say what it was like 20 years ago, but it seems that there are alot of Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian (ie, liturgical) churches around. Many have lost much of their membership due to white flight but many African Americans choose to worship at these churches. In fact there are very large numbers of African American Catholics in Detroit (and Chicago). In fact our former mayor (Dennis Archer) is Catholic. While all of these churches have no doubt been influenced by gospel many still maintain the more grandiose classical music tradition. So for example, it wouldn't be unusual at all if Carl Craig grew up in one of these more liturgical/classically oriented churches. Scott -----Original Message----- From: Phonopsia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 9:47 PM To: Cyclone Wehner; 313 Detroit Subject: (313) Religion ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cyclone Wehner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "313 Detroit" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 31, 2003 2:10 AM Subject: Re: (313) Does the Surgeon.. > Since I am on off topics but on topic, I read Carl Craig is a Lutheran, he > was talking about not having been exposed to gospel when younger. Is there a > Black Lutheran church? > I looked at 'Detroit Lutheran Church' on the Web and couldn't find much. Or > is it a mixed congregation in the Detroit Lutheran Church (es)? > Does anyone know much about the US Lutheran church at all? I had assumed > it's small in the US and confined to people of Scandinavian, Teutonic or > Slavic origin. I would expect it to be bigger somewhere like Minneapolis. > I know one of the Geto Boys was Lutheran and that would be the South. > I've always been fascinated by the cultural role of the Church in the US, > and the rise of the Black church, so if anyone can shed light I'd be > interested. I think this is really topical actually, especially when you look at TP's transformation. The Lutheran church in the states is not very racialized, like the Baptist church, for instance - but the Lutheran church is quite large and generally has an appeal for those who might question other aspects of society, while looking for a metaphysical solution with a group behind it. It's one of the most inclusive sects that I've dealt with. For instance, I was never Lutheran, but I sang in a Lutheran choir when I was a kid - went to church with Lutherans, etc. From the outside, I think it's looked at as quite an innocuous religious choice, in my experience anyway. There are tons of examples of the influence on techno and house, and I totally agree that it is fascinating, and a very interesting issue for discussion. It typically gets lumped into agree/disagree mode, which I think is quite small minded. I'm not religious in any way, but I love the effect that passionate involvement in religion has on music for everyone. As a listener, I don't really care what someone is passionate about, as long as it transfers into their expression. Obviously, I still invoke my own political views, but religion can be deeply personal, and I think it serves some people very well - just as it harms others. Tristan ======= http://www.phonopsia.co.uk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
