“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul” (Matt. 16-26). Justin Bieber’s U.K. meltdown is a sign that he has become a shameless victim of his own idolatrous popularity and degenerate music.
Bieber’s pop-rock-rap music is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as the cult of the banal. Rock music in general is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe leaving little room for the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation.
Rap and hip hop music in particular are condescending in nature, projecting rhythmic elements of braggadocio and ritualized insult. They were both largely influenced by rock music (slang for sex). Bieber’s music ultimately degrades morals, sexualizes young girls and is disrespectful to women.
Whatever happened to the once clean cut boy from Ontario, Canada?
Paul Kokoski
