Religion in the Southern United States
To start, let me explain where in the Southern United States I will be focusing on for the purposes of talking about Religion in the Southern United States. This area is referred to as the Bible Belt (as shown in the picture on the left. This region, as described by James R Shortridge is defined as:
"The Atlantic Seaboard through Texas and
Eastern New Mexico; its Northern boundary
[is] the upper State lines of Virginia, Kentucky,
Missouri, and Oklahoma, extending into
Southern Illinois...Kansas is not in it." (Wilson, 1312)
Religion, mainly Protestant, in the Bible Belt began with a period of mass revivalism that flew through the South between 1799 and 1820 (Hill, 121). The two main subgroups of this sect of Christianity that were seen to have spread the most throughout the South were Baptists and Methodists (Hill, 122). This Protestant background grew over the years to become a key part of the Southern culture. This religion also became quite important as it became noted that the South was (and quite possibly still is) the most religious and Protestant area of the United States (Hill, 121). This fact makes it easier to understand how religion has become a part of country music.
In the Southern Protestant Church, the religion is full of "guilt, defiance, and a deep attachment to sacred places and heroes, a strong positive sense of mission and a painful memory of the bitter combination of choseness and inexplicable defeat" (Hill, 121). By looking at these key factors to religion in this area, it can be seen by anyone who listens to a few country songs that these ideas are present in a multitude of country songs. For example, defiance: the cheating lover in Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats; attachment to heroes: those who died in an attempt to make things better, such as in Alan Jackson's Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning; positive sense of mission: the line "and I'll proudly stand up, next to you and defend her still today" in Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA and so on. Preachers in the South also possess the gift of rhetoric and come across as great leaders who bind their congregations together with a personal, family feel. These preachers tend to focus on a few key points in religion, simplifying Christianity in the South to the bare bones notions of "sin, guilt, conversion and forgiveness" (Hill, 122).
Although Southern Protestant preachers tend to give a feeling of family to their congregations, they also seem to dissolve the idea of religion as a whole, and focus more on the idea of a one on one meeting with the Almighty God. This religion also carries a "moralistic ethical style" that connects Biblical principles with moral choices on an individual level (Hill, 122). Southern Protestantism also focuses on the importance of assurance. This becomes important as the worshippers look for the assurance that a religious life will lead them to salvation when they pass on (Hill, 122).
This is where this website comes in. I plan to look at the focus on death and salvation as it relates to faith based lyrics and imagery in country music. Is this link important? Why is it there? As the audience of this aspect of popular culture, are the religious tones in country music something we should pick up right away, or is it supposed to be more subtle? I believe that the usage of faith and death is something that is meant to be seen, adn that this link is present in the music for the purpose of not only sharing the artist's beliefs through song, but also as a way of showing the Southern roots of such a large part of popular culture to the rest of the nation and beyond. This faith and death/salvation link in country music is clear, as the reader will determine through my analysis of some example songs.
"The Atlantic Seaboard through Texas and
Eastern New Mexico; its Northern boundary
[is] the upper State lines of Virginia, Kentucky,
Missouri, and Oklahoma, extending into
Southern Illinois...Kansas is not in it." (Wilson, 1312)
Religion, mainly Protestant, in the Bible Belt began with a period of mass revivalism that flew through the South between 1799 and 1820 (Hill, 121). The two main subgroups of this sect of Christianity that were seen to have spread the most throughout the South were Baptists and Methodists (Hill, 122). This Protestant background grew over the years to become a key part of the Southern culture. This religion also became quite important as it became noted that the South was (and quite possibly still is) the most religious and Protestant area of the United States (Hill, 121). This fact makes it easier to understand how religion has become a part of country music.
In the Southern Protestant Church, the religion is full of "guilt, defiance, and a deep attachment to sacred places and heroes, a strong positive sense of mission and a painful memory of the bitter combination of choseness and inexplicable defeat" (Hill, 121). By looking at these key factors to religion in this area, it can be seen by anyone who listens to a few country songs that these ideas are present in a multitude of country songs. For example, defiance: the cheating lover in Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats; attachment to heroes: those who died in an attempt to make things better, such as in Alan Jackson's Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning; positive sense of mission: the line "and I'll proudly stand up, next to you and defend her still today" in Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA and so on. Preachers in the South also possess the gift of rhetoric and come across as great leaders who bind their congregations together with a personal, family feel. These preachers tend to focus on a few key points in religion, simplifying Christianity in the South to the bare bones notions of "sin, guilt, conversion and forgiveness" (Hill, 122).
Although Southern Protestant preachers tend to give a feeling of family to their congregations, they also seem to dissolve the idea of religion as a whole, and focus more on the idea of a one on one meeting with the Almighty God. This religion also carries a "moralistic ethical style" that connects Biblical principles with moral choices on an individual level (Hill, 122). Southern Protestantism also focuses on the importance of assurance. This becomes important as the worshippers look for the assurance that a religious life will lead them to salvation when they pass on (Hill, 122).
This is where this website comes in. I plan to look at the focus on death and salvation as it relates to faith based lyrics and imagery in country music. Is this link important? Why is it there? As the audience of this aspect of popular culture, are the religious tones in country music something we should pick up right away, or is it supposed to be more subtle? I believe that the usage of faith and death is something that is meant to be seen, adn that this link is present in the music for the purpose of not only sharing the artist's beliefs through song, but also as a way of showing the Southern roots of such a large part of popular culture to the rest of the nation and beyond. This faith and death/salvation link in country music is clear, as the reader will determine through my analysis of some example songs.
(Spilka, 169)