Satanwatch by Kathleen Klenetsky AMA ties rock to Satanism and drugs However timidly, the

Satanwatch
by Kathleen Klenetsky 
AMA ties rock to Satanism and drugs 


However timidly, the American
Medical Association has drawn
attention to the causal link between
rock and dangerous behavior.

For the first time, a
non-religious ``mainstream''
organization has drawn a direct link
between rock music and
experimentation with sex, drugs, and
Satanism. 
	The prestigious American Medical
Association's Group on Science and
Technology has issued a report,
``Adolescents and Their Music,'' which
counsels physicians who treat
teenagers to be aware of the
connection between rock music,
especially of the heavy metal
variety, and aberrant, anti-social
behavior. 
	The study was published in the
Sept. 22-29 edition of the 
(). 
 	``One aspect of the adolescent
environment that has been a source of
concern since its appearance in the
1950s has been the role of rock
music, specifically its lyrics,''
says the report. ``This concern has
been enhanced by the visual imagery
of rock music videos,'' whose
``violent and sexual content ... are
disturbing to many.'' Heavy metal
music ``features a loud pulsating
rhythm and abounds with lyrics that
glorify hatred, abuse, sexual
deviancy, and occasionally
Satanism.'' 
	Although the report is extremely
conservative--it concludes by
claiming that no substantive evidence
exists which actually proves that
rock has a deleterious effect on
adolescent behavior, it nevertheless
performs a useful function by citing
numerous studies which have implied a
causal relationship between
adolescent fascination with rock
music, and participation in drug use
and other destructive behavior. 
	Asserting that ``as an important
agent of adolescent socialization ...
the negative message of rock music
should not be dismissed,'' the study
warns that for teenagers heavily
immersed in the heavy metal
subculture, there is ``evidence,
although anecdotal, [which] suggests
that these adolescents may be at risk
for drug abuse or even participation
in satanic activities.'' 
	The study cites several murders
which ``have been correlated with a
fascination for heavy metal music,''
including the case of the ``Night
Stalker,'' serial murderer Richard
Ramirez, who left Satanic slogans and
symbols at the sites of his crimes,
and ``was said to be obsessed with
the heavy metal band AC/DC.'' 
	 It also makes reference to
numerous studies which link heavy
metal and other kinds of rock music
to drug abuse and premarital sex. 
	One such study, of chemically
dependent adolescents, found that 60%
named heavy metal as their first
choice of music, leading the author
to suggest that such music is
associated with and may promote
destructive behavior in susceptible
teenagers. 
	Another, on the effect of music
television (MTV), discovered that 7th
and 10th graders, after watching more
than one hour of selected music
videos, ``were more likely to approve
of premarital sex compared with a
control group of adolescents.'' One
behavioral study ``found that violent
music videos desensitized viewers to
violence immediately after viewing.'' 
	But perhaps the most frightening
finding reported by the  report,
is that, between the 7th and the
12th grades, the average teenager
listens to an astonishing 10,500
hours of rock music. This is just
``slightly less than the entire number
of hours spent in the classroom from
kindergarten through high school.'' No
wonder there has been such an
explosion of Satanism, drug use, and
suicide among adolescents!
	The study contains two major
flaws. First, it fails to recognize
that, in the case of rock music, the
medium is indeed the message. There
is no ``good'' rock. The music itself
is anti-human, and therefore must
incite anti-human behavior. 
	Although explicitly Satanic or
perverted lyrics and visual images
undoubtedly exacerbate the negative
effects of rock, it is the nature of
the ``music'' which is objectionable.
Attemping to substitute the words
``God'' and ``love'' for ``Satan'' and
``kill'' in a typical heavy-metal
piece, may produce even more
devastating effects upon the human
psyche, because it subliminally
equates the idea of goodness with
what, by virtue of its mindless
chaos, is essentially evil. 
	Not only do the  study's
authors neglect to make a value
judgment against rock, period, but
they also fail to propose the kind of
cultural renaissance, based on
promoting great classical music, which is
the obvious antidote to the banality
and depravity which characterizes
popular culture in general. 
	The study's second major
drawback is its treatment of rock as
a sociological phenomenon, rather
than a deliberate conspiracy against
the human mind. 
	Despite these problems, the AMA
has done an important service by
drawing attention, albeit timidly, to
the dangers inherent in rock, and by
providing useful ammunition to those
who are trying to expose the rock
movement as cultural warfare against
Western civilization.