Talk:Jeff Godwin

Untitled
Many Christains are Rock Artist, and it doesn't even have to be Christain Rock. --68.90.234.113 16:43, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Evidently Profound
I made a change from this:

"The change was evidently profound, as his first book, The Devil's Disciples (1985) was published the following year."

To this:

"His first book, The Devil's Disciples (1985) was published the following year. His story of rock-n-roll debauchery and subsequent conversion brought him to the attention of fundamentalist comic publisher Jack Chick. Chick Publications continues to distribute Godwin's books to this day, even though many have not been updated since the 1980s when they were originally written. The cartoon covers are also drawn very much in Chick's style."

It's not the editor's place to purport that the change was "evidently profound". The veracity of his conversion is to be thought out independently by the reader.

June 30, 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.6.164.52 (talk • contribs)

Critical of rock music
I changed the line saying he was "especially" critical of Christian rock. It now reads: "He is best known for his numerous books critical of both secular rock music and Christian rock music." He's extremely critical of both, but more critical of secular rock. He believes secular rock artists are nearly always in explicit allegiance to Satan, but would be more prone to believe Christian rock artists are simply being duped by Satan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.6.164.52 (talk • contribs)

Sour grapes of wrath?
I have read The Devil's Disciples and What's Wrong With Christian Rock?. Both contain numerous factual inaccuracies (such as a claim that "The Beatles' song 'Revolution 9' was recorded in Abbey Road Studio number nine" (they only had three studios at the time, and still don't have nine of them), and a general sour-grapes attitude toward popular music; my personal guess is that Godwin couldn't make it in the music business (or the Gospel music business after he got religion), and decided to go on the attack. He repeatedly claims in Devil's Disciples "I sold my guitars and amplifiers" to distance himself after his conversion; if they were used for such Satanic purposes, why didn't he burn those engines of the Devil? Did he sell them to people in church, or to other "pawns"? Did the proceeds go in the collection plate, or in his own pocket? One has to wonder.

Godwin also claims that The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a recruitment tool of Satan's, and that the punk-rock lifestyle is a training ground for zombie soldiers of the Last Days, teaching them to ignore pain and accept disfigurement, etc. as they do the Devil's work. (With both having long fallen from wide popularity, and their fans having gone on to day jobs, families, etc., without the grace of being "saved" or converted away from those things... what went wrong? Did the Dark One jump on the boy-band wagon in the Nineties?)

I had to laugh at much of Godwin's approach: He warns his readers in Devil's Disciples about the "dangers" of investigating backwards-masking in rock records (summoning evil spirits, risking demonic possession, etc.)... then on the very next page shows his readers techniques for just such investigation. (Is he hoping to get someone possessed or troubled, so he or another Fundamentalist can rescue them?) The book has several such examples of logical inconsistency, but I don't have it handy. - Godwin's works may anger some people, and give others a treasure-trove of mirth, but I find them largely a waste of time, for both readers and the author. Zephyrad (talk) 19:28, 17 December 2009 (UTC)