Tortured

The Bible speaks, in Psalm 101, about the importance of maintaining a pure heart - I believe this passage can apply to our choices of entertainment; it says:
2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.
5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.

31 songs - a new album project by easily the most popular singer on the planet. 

It's called The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.  Writing for Plugged In, Adam Holz says:

A double album, she said. More like a triple album, really. And one can’t help but ponder the question: When on Earth did this 33-year-old singer have time to pen and record 31 more songs about heartbreak, love, heartbreak, tragedy, heartbreak and still more—well, you get the point. After all, she’s been jetting around the world for her Eras Tour for the last 18months and spending most other waking moments with her NFL beau, Travis Kelce.

By all accounts, they seem deliriously happy together. This album, though? More like deliriously tortured. It feels like reading Romeo and Juliet 31 times in a row.

Holz makes a number of observations about the project, stating: "With each album she releases, Swift seems more and more comfortable with casual profanity."  Plus, as he writes, "Songs breezily suggest sexual trysts that include lyrical references to shared beds and showers, as well as cohabitation when she keeps finding one ex’s stuff in her drawers."

 And, she veers into areas of religion, and not particularly complimentary of Christianity. Adam writes:

“But Daddy I Love Him” tells the tale of a rebellious girl’s love affair with a wrong-side-of-the-tracks kind of guy—and it paints a nasty picture of judgmental churchgoers: “I just learned these people only raise you to cage you/Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best/Clutching their pearls, sighing, ‘What a mess’/I just learned these people try and save you/‘Cause they hate you.” Later she adds, “I’ll tell you something right now, you ain’t gotta pray for me/Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy/He was chaos, he was revelry.”

Another song that spiritualizes love and intimacy is “Guilty as Sin?” Suggestive lyrics hint at sexual fantasy and masturbation: “I keep these longings locked/ … These fatal fantasies giving way to labored breath/Taking all of me, we’ve already done it in my head.” Swift then asks, “Without ever touching his skin/How can I be guilty as sin?” And then Swift takes a big leap, using Christian images and themes to describe her own romanticized religion: “What if I roll the stone away?/They’re gonna crucify me anyway/What if the way you hold me is actually what’s holy?/ … They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly/I choose you and me religiously.”

Wait, what?  But, this is Taylor Swift, the all-American, wholesome pop singer.  Buyer, beware.

Holz concludes his Plugged In review with these words:

At the surface level, I really don’t like all the harsh profanity here (more pearl clutching—sorry, Taylor), or the glorification of reckless intimacy. But I think I’m even more discomfited by the underlying worldview that millions upon millions of impressionable girls are ingesting: that romantic love is the capstone human experience.

That’s a worldview that Taylor Swift continues to lean into with all her might. And it’s one that deserves our parental attention and critique, lest it leave our daughters (and probably some sons, too) vulnerable to the kind of emotional devastation that Taylor herself plods through over and over again here.

Shane Pruitt of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, was quoted in a Christian Post article.  He...

...wrote in a Facebook post that there is a difference between being secular and being "Anti-Christian." He urged Christian parents to seriously consider if they should allow their children to listen to Swift's music.

"I'm definitely not the minister or parent that has the 'no secular music' stance," Pruitt wrote. "Also, I fully realize unbelievers are going to act like unbelievers. HOWEVER, there is a difference between being secular and being ANTI-CHRISTIAN."

The Post article also says:

The Christian entertainment review company MovieGuide believes the album "mocks Christianity."

"While it's no secret that Taylor Swift is not a Christian, she made her hatred for religion known through her newly released album 'The Tortured Poets Department,'" MovieGuide stressed in its review.

"The album is full of minor quips that elevate Swift above God while also featuring two songs devoted to tearing down the Christian sexual ethic."

Sean Feucht says, ""Almost half the songs on Taylor Swift's new album contain explicit lyrics (E), make fun of Christians and straight up blaspheme God. Is this the music you want your kids listening to?" He added, "You think I'm just being religious & overreacting? Read the lyrics & decide for yourself."

This comes on the heels of observations by a musician that were related in another Christian Post article:

Former Boyzone star Shane Lynch has accused popstar Taylor Swift of engaging in demonic practices and satanic rituals during her sold-out shows and warned of the damaging effects such music has on children.

“I think when you’re looking at a lot of the artists out there, a lot of their stage shows are satanic rituals live in front of 20,000 people without them realizing and recognizing,” Lynch recently told Ireland’s Sunday World.

The article describes Lynch as a "professing Christian," who also said, “Music attaches to your emotions...It has a connection to your spirit and how you feel. That’s why I’ve stopped listening to those types of music myself because it doesn’t suit my spirit.”

Music is and has been a significant part of my life; not only am I a musician myself, but I am involved in the decision-making process for song selection here at Faith Radio. So, I recognize the power of music...it's something that God intended for good; it's a wonderful expression of His creativity.  But, the enemy, who has been described as a worship leader in heaven, perverts what God has intended for good, and that is certainly the case with much of today's music. 

Music can be an effective carrier of words and emotions.  Those of us who deal with Christian music and especially Praise and Worship music recognize that music that is devoted to facilitating the worship of God can create a certain atmosphere that glorifies Him. But, wrong messages can be carried in a supercharged way through the music we consume. 

So, we have to be discerning. Parents are encouraged to talk with their children about their entertainment choices. And, if one is going to endorse the music of Taylor Swift, then you have to look at the lyrics. Look at what she represents, then choose from there - we should use Philippians 4:8 as a guide for what we allow to penetrate our minds: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."