ch2f#@andrew.cmu.edu (Charles Huff) (03/17/87)
[I was unable to find a UUCP address for andrew.cmu.edu. If you have trouble reaching it, please send the message to topaz!hedrick and I will forward it. --clh] Greg@wheaton writes in his post: ...there is a possiblitiy of our sub-concious picking up a backwards message, even if it was placed there unknowingly, bu Satan, should we take a chance and listen to it. The human brain is good at trying to make sense of even gibberish. For this reason, almost any speech played backwards may produce the illusion of (some) intelligibility. I would suggest to your friend that he listen to lawrence welk backwards (or jimmy swaggert). You will notice the same phenomenon. Thus, since most recorded speech works this way, it is improbable that there _are_ any backwards messages (and more unlikely that they inhabit _only_ rock music). Another problem with the 'encoded evil in rock music' hypothesis is that most people listen to thier records forwards, and _intentionally_ decoding a 'backwards' message would be difficult under these circumstances. It would seem reasonable that unintentional decoding would be even less probable. I think there is some literature in the psychology journals regarding this. Finally, similar reasoning (if there is any possibility of my falling away, I should avoid it) would lead christians to avoid all risks in the world we are to be _in_ but not _of_.. There are some risks we just have to take. If the risks are very small, (like backwards messages) we can usually ignore them. If your friend isn't convinced by listening to swaggert backwards, I will try to get some references for you. This is not to say that there are no other arguments against rock & roll for christians. Your friend should stick to them (though I think they are weak also) if he wants to have a credible case. Isn't wheaton where the CS Lewis archives are kept? Can anyone have access to them? In Christ, -Chuck Huff