Michael Shirley says so. And I don’t mind one bit.
First, yes you are a snob, but so am I: I would cheerfully drive across three counties to avoid a Latin mass, and tend to walk out of church if I find out that only the organ will accompany the choir. Takes all kinds, doesn’t it?
It sure does!
I have to say that you’re being unfair to Mr. Haugen. He qualifies nearly everything he says as being colored by his own bias, and that his examples are simplistic but should provide a basis for discussion. Where’s the problem?
Problem one is that I’m a snob. I don’t like most of his music because it is pedestrian. If there was a beat (and their frequently is) you can dance to it. I don’t think it belongs in the Mass. The second problem is theology. Someone who does not share in our beliefs as Catholics has more airtime in Mass than the priest in his homily. That has been dumbing down the faith for a quite a while. I think it is an influence that we have not fully understood. I might write more about this later today if time allows. I would love to hear other thoughts.
BTW, have you read Kathleen Norris’s “Cloister Walk,” wherein she talks of church as being “the place you go to sing”?
I have not read that book. If I do I’ll keep my cheese grater at close hand!