Be Careful - What You Sing You Will Believe

Today during the offertory we sang a hymn written by Carl P. Daw Jr., an Episcopal "priest".  In good conscience I had to cease singing at this line: "But God reveals to searching faith the truths that pious dogmas hide".   See the problem?  Authentic dogma does not hide truth; rather it proclaims and clarifies truth.

When I returned home, I did some research and learned that he is Episcopalian.  If he had in mind Episcopal tenets when he penned that line, well, I can concede that some of them do obfuscate truth.  All protestant denominations have as beliefs some forms of heresy, to varying degrees.

I'd wager, however, that many Catholics just passively sang the hymn without being aware of what they were singing.  Even more so do I believe that many did not think to do any research into the background of this song.  They could well have believed that the hymn referred to Catholic dogma.  Thus, in their subconscious minds was introduced the idea that authentic dogma and objective truth can sometimes be at odds with one another.

Music is a powerful tool.  As with anything else, we must subject to strict scrutiny what music we allow to form us.