{"id":174,"date":"2024-06-06T12:17:13","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscenteredfamily\/?p=174"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:17:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T17:17:13","slug":"taylor-swift-and-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscenteredfamily\/2024\/06\/taylor-swift-and-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Why My Daughter Thinks Taylor Swift Won’t Destroy Her Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A few weeks ago, my household was turned on its ear and shaken to its very core. Our 15-year-old daughter started listening to Taylor Swift. The transformation was almost overnight. If I hadn\u2019t known better, I would have thought TayTay and my daughter were brand-new besties. The real question was, would Taylor Swift destroy her faith?<\/p>\n

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Which got me wondering. Would this be a problem for her faith?<\/h2>\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It took some time to figure it out. What we thought was dying cats stuck in our attack turned out to be a tone-deaf teenager\u2013headphones in and totally unaware of her ability to project clear across the street from the neighbors.<\/p>\n Now, as parents, we have all suffered through our kids enjoying music we would rather not listen to. Growing up, I was a huge Metallica and Pearl Jam fan. My mom, not so much. I spent many summer afternoons with a sore neck from head-banging in my room.<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t the creepy noises emanating from her room that caused me concern. It was her choice of music and where that choice may lead her in the future.<\/p>\n Troll the Christian side of the internet for a hot second with the keywords Taylor Swift, and it won\u2019t take long to find some far-fetched conspiracy theories of demon-worshipping nonsense. Cue a flashback to Madonna in the 80s. Remember those days of trying to play records backward and searching for hidden messages? And we think our kids are crazy.<\/p>\n I digress.<\/p>\n Fostering a conversation rather than an all-out ban in fear that Taylor might destroy their faith.<\/h2>\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But rather than being the parent who bans their kid from listening to a certain kind of music or specific artist (my parents did that, and I can tell you from experience that it didn\u2019t work), I asked my daughter to provide me with a sound list of reasons she believes it\u2019s OK and how she intends to listen with a clear mind, filter it with a biblical worldview, and strengthen her faith as a result.<\/p>\n To be clear, these are straight from her words.<\/p>\n \n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t actually say bad things about God.\u201d I cannot verify if this is entirely accurate. But I\u2019m thrilled she is thinking along these lines. It tells me she allows her biblical worldview rather than her own opinion to guide her.<\/li>\n\u201cShe shames boys who abuse and torture women.\u201d Taylor Swift is a strong independent woman who, from the looks of it, doesn\u2019t take any crap from anyone. While I want my daughters to fully understand and submit to the role of a godly wife, I also want them to be strong and confident.<\/li>\n\u201cShe doesn\u2019t dress immodestly.\u201d Swift certainly doesn\u2019t dress like a Baptist woman from the 1980s, but I also haven\u2019t seen her sexualize herself on stage. So, this one\u2019s a draw.<\/li>\n\u201cShe uses inappropriate words, but not in a bad way.\u201d Honestly, I\u2019m not entirely sure what this means. But here again, we have an opportunity for a conversation because I want to know what she means by this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/h2>\n**** Building faith is not always ensuring they do the right thing all the time.<\/h2>\n \n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Then, convinced Taylor Swift wouldn\u2019t destroy her faith, my daughter took her assignment a step further.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can I make it ok to listen?\u201d<\/p>\n \nLook up the lyrics of the song and what it means. Then, if it\u2019s bad, don\u2019t listen to that song.<\/li>\nIf you don\u2019t know what they mean, ask an adult what they mean.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n There is a magic word in here that every parent wants their kid to exercise: discernment. We know we can\u2019t control everything; we just try to in hopes our kids will learn how to discern what\u2019s acceptable and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Do I think these are all stellar arguments? Nope. But parents, here is the win: getting your kids to think. Rather than just blindly liking something their friends do or falling victim to the latest social trend, make them think it through. We all talk about giving our kids a biblical worldview, a lens, a filter\u2014whatever you want to call it. But they need opportunities to practice it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Taylor Swift won\u2019t destroy your faith. Be a fan, but be mindful of what or who you worship.<\/h2>\n Make no mistake: Swifties recognize talent when they see it and have become hypnotized through some incredibly catchy, well-written songs. But rather than just issuing a blanket statement banning all potentially dangerous music in your home. Use their odd obsession as an opportunity for a conversation. Because it\u2019s in the conversation that you begin to build that biblical worldview, they need to grow their faith in a hostile world.<\/p>\n While I appreciate Swift\u2019s talent, I am not a fan\u2014not even a little. In fact, I\u2019m not all that thrilled that my daughter is a fan. However, I am thrilled that she is thinking about the right issues, picking and choosing which songs she feels are OK, and welcoming the conversation\u2014even pushback from me.<\/p>\n Taylor didn\u2019t destroy her faith. To the contrary, she is flexing her faith muscles, which can only make her stronger.<\/p>\n In post update: While I was working on this post, she came downstairs and wanted to read it so we could talk about it more. Dad, for the win!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few weeks ago, my household was turned on its ear and shaken to its very core. Our 15-year-old daughter started listening to Taylor Swift. The transformation was almost overnight. If I hadn\u2019t known better, I would have thought TayTay and my daughter were brand-new besties. The real question was, would Taylor Swift destroy her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5468,"featured_media":177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,8,66],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-discipleship","tag-family","tag-jesus-centered"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy My Daughter Believes Taylor Swift Won't Destroy Her Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rather than ban my kid from listening to Taylor Swift I asked her to tell me why she believes Taylor Swift won't destroy her faith.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscenteredfamily\/2024\/06\/taylor-swift-and-faith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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