6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too focused on stereotyping other religions and not on his own conversion, February 20, 2010
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
This book follows the author through his youth, college and young adult years. He was raised by parents who practiced an extremely conservative religion and his college years were spent trying to find what he himself believed. The theme of Christian music runs throughout the book, as the author majored in music business at a Christian college.
I have to say that I was disappointed with this book. I struggled to read it, as I felt that it stereotyped many different religions. The book focused much less on music than I would have hoped. The focus was more on the Christian Music industry, as opposed to the influence of music. As a lover of music, I had really high hopes for this book and was sadly disappointed. Having said that, I did find the author to have a fun, unique voice. I just wish that it had been less judgmental of other religions and more focused on his own conversion. The book skipped from his continued confusion to several years in the future when he seemed to have it all figured out.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hear No Evil is Now Here, February 2, 2010
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
In his new book "Hear No Evil," Matthew Paul Turner establishes some of his current thoughts towards the blending of religiosity and music, and then proceeds to illustrate the pitfalls through stories of his childhood through his early writing career. Though the world of music was an easy theme for Turner to focus on, Hear No Evil also covers other aspects of art and expression such as movies, television, fashion, performing, and Calvinism.
Like his book, "Churched," Turner's writing is full of hilarious anecdotes and very clever observations, while at the same time the stories are a sober reminder that there is no fun in fundamentalism, whatever its particular brand. As the chapters proceed and the little boy grows up he must figure out what to do with all the religion he has soaked up over the years. He journeys through college, living in Nashville, booking music for a Christian coffee shop/concert house, and having a job as a writer and editor for CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) Magazine.
While his inside view of "the business" provides insights to the Christian music scene (especially thoughtful are his interactions with Amy Grant, a musician he calls "James" who left the industry, and a church worship leader named Kyle) Matthew's writings aren't an expose on others as much as they are a tell-all book about himself. As he says, "Honesty can sometimes sound judgmental to those who don't fully understand the topic of conversation." And that is what this, an honest conversation from a man who is walking out his faith in sincerity, even when it means being uncomfortably raw, in hopes that tomorrow's songs will be sung in freedom.
I highly recommend this book.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
interesting read but without a clear enough point, February 16, 2010
This review is from: Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost (Paperback)
Hear No Evil is a collage of stories from Matthew Paul Turner's past. A former independent fundamental Baptist (IFB), Turner chronicles his spiritual journey with special attention to the role his love for music played.
As a former IFB myself, I could identify with many of his experiences. I was raised KJV only, and also used my Bible as an autograph book (for the great men of God who I was privileged to hear). One of Turner's memories is particularly relevant to the audience of my blog. Sadly it rings true, to some extent, of my own experience and many others. He recounts:
"I didn't study God. I just memorized Scripture verses and practiced Bible trivia. I could have told you the names of the twelve sons of Jacob or offered you a biblically accurate play-by-play of the events that led up to King David sleeping with Bathsheba. I learned facts. I knew a thousand Bible verses by heart, but I couldn't explain why God's story was important to me, personally. (pg. 122)"
Clear and extremely well-written, the book makes for easy reading. In a light-hearted manner, with equal parts humor and candor, Turner recounts his escapades expertly. The stories are interesting and to some extent comical.
Unfortunately, Turner's tone is rather disturbing. As I read the book I was struggling to find a point in it all. Some of the stories seemed a bit over the top. Even granting for some authorial exaggeration, some of the scenarios he described stretched the limits of reality. Often the humor seemed self-serving. And Turner spared no punches in his shots of fundamentalists and other wider segments of Christianity.
Several scenes were painted without a clear resolution. What really is Turner's assessment of all of this? Where did he end up on the other end of the story recounted in the book? He was not timid in his insinuations about the state of Christian rock music. A Christian bass player ejects from his group and considers himself agnostic. Turner doesn't try to win him back, rather he empathizes with the pressure the Christian rock industry puts on its performers to remain virgins, albeit only in a "technical sense". Biblical literalists like the stern publisher of CCM (the magazine Turner edited for a while), have an agenda and aren't to be trusted. A gay former worship pastor, who visits his church on Easter Sunday indiscriminately receives Turner's cheerful welcome.
I do want to be careful not to judge the book too harshly. It is a personal recounting of events and nothing more. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from it. The flavor of the book is perhaps best captured in the following excerpt. Speaking of a fellow Amy Grant aficionado and staffer at CCM, Turner says:
"The story of Michael's early years is nearly identical to mine. Different parents, different churches, different states, but our experiences were the same. Both of us were raised Independent Fundamental Baptists. When we met people who hadn't heard of our form of Baptist, we told them it was Christian for 'scary beyond all reason.'
"By the time we turned twelve, Michael and I were convinced we knew everything there was to know about God. If that information wasn't already stored in our brains somewhere, our parents had flashcards to help us memorize it. People who told us that God was more or less than what we'd been taught were liars sent by Satan to deceive us. Our teenage years brought questions, college brought doubt, and we spent the better part of our twenties in therapy, trying to reconcile our understandings of God, sex, relationships, and what we believed to be true.
"But there was one consistent thread of grace in our lives, a trail we could follow all the way back to when our memories began: music. Music reminded us that we could trust God even when "his people" failed us.
"And at some point, our paths crossed with Amy's music, which gave both of us hope that God wasn't nearly as hateful as we'd been taught. (pg. 200-201)"
This book will resonate with many. But some will be emboldened by it to continue along a trajectory outside of confessional Christianity and orthodox faith. The book is good reading, but must be read with a discerning eye.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, as part of their Blogging for Books program.
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