Saturday, December 15, 2018

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" - A Song Not Worth Defending

Apparently the current chapter of the "War on Christmas" is the feminist objection to the song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Overall, it seems that conservatives have joined others in embracing the cause of defending the song, jumping at the opportunity to offend liberals. Now, I am not a feminist, but I will argue that Christians, at least, should not waste their time defending this song. Here are a few thoughts I have had on this whole controversy:

1. The main reason I do not think this song is worth defending is that even if the song does not promote rape (the current controversy), the song at least promotes fornication and a loose attitude to sexual sin. It's just not a good song by Christian standards, and if conservatives claim to hold Christian values (and they do claim that), then it is not a good song by conservative standards either.

2. This is not a freedom of speech issue. The government is not telling radio stations to play or not play the song. People can object to the song as immoral and radio stations can respond to the objections of their listeners and stop playing the song. It might be good if they took a lot of other songs off the radio as well, but that is really a different point.

3. It is ironic that in this issue, most feminists have taken the role of puritans and many conservatives have taken the role of defending sexual autonomy. If one needed proof that conservatives can fall prey to the temptation of defining themselves merely by what was popular several decades ago, this would be a good example. Christians ought to promote a consistent view of the world, rather than merely defending whatever liberals attack.

4. There is a reason that the mutual consent of the characters in the song is debatable, with some arguing that there is no mutual consent in the song, while others arguing that there is mutual consent in a playfully flirtatious manner. Consent can be rather complicated unless you wait until you hear something like, “I __, take you __, to be my lawfully wedded husband...” before having sexual relations. This is not to say that there is not a difference between consensual fornication and rape (see Deuteronomy 22:23-27), but it is to say that God’s law gives us clarity in a world made topsy-turvy by sin.

5. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is not the only Christmas song you won’t hear on the radio. At least in my experience with our local radio station that plays Christmas music, I almost never hear a religious song or a song written before 1900. There is a huge treasure trove of wonderful Christmas and seasonal music that is overlooked today. If you want to defend a Christmas song, there are much better choices than "Baby, It’s Cold Outside," such as carols like "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" or "Joy to the World." Or look to the more obscure, but also rich, carols like The Truth Sent From AboveSavior of the Nations, ComeRemember, O Thou Man, and Tomorrow is my Dancing Day.

And so I'll leave with Ralph Vaughn Williams's "Fantasia on Christmas Carols," a melody of three traditional English carols: 

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