Reader's Poll: What's the Deal With Christian Music?

Craig Hlavaty July 20, 2012 5:00AM

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So you are disgusted, angry, and outright righteously pissed that your beloved 103.7 is gone with the wind, replaced by 24 hours of Christian music. Gone are your usual playlists full of Wilco, Soundgarden, Sheryl Crow and Death Cab For Cutie, not to mention your favorite DJs and personalities.

This week 103.7 FM changed over to Christian alternative format Air 1 Radio, playing cuts from Flyleaf, Thousand Foot Krutch, Switchfoot, and former DC Talk member TobyMac. The station is commercial-free and funded by pledge drives and carried on 105 stations nationwide and heard by more than two million listeners weekly.

What happens to displaced 103.7 FM fans now?

You may not have the luxury of a smartphone with online radio apps, or maybe your car doesn't have auxiliary inputs for said smartphone, and you hate/loathe every other terrestrial radio station in Houston.

The notion of the same classic rock on two stations, 107.5 The Eagle and 93.7 The Arrow, is confounding, and 94.5 The Buzz plays music you would rather forget from the '90s. You don't like rap or hip-hop, country bores you, pop is detestable, and you don't speak or enjoy Spanish language music.

Don't even start when it comes to talk radio; old, fat guys talking about sports or politics. No thanks.

Keeping track of your vitriol on our blogs has been fun and eye-opening. We've never talked much on Rocks Off about Christian music, save for maybe a few pieces on Stryper, gospel, a nostalgia piece on DC Talk or a Creed review. Ahem.

In my opinion, Christian music has always been for folks who want to stay sheltered and for parents trying to hide the dirty ol' world from their kids. How you could keep magical things like Led Zeppelin, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones from your kids because of perceived evil hurts my soul, not to mention being way behind the times. But as they say (gratingly), "different strokes for different folks."

But now Christian music and your hatred for it is all the rage. In two hours you guys loaded our Facebook wall with more than 40 messages. Jesus Christ, indeed.