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Maxwells at the *symphony!*


Marian the Librarian

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1 hour ago, FunFunFundie said:

Well, unless there are female musicians there that are working outside the home and leaving their children alone, women conductors ordering men around, music that is so pleasurable as to create an "appetite" or "idol" in their children, etc.  Oh, and the other concert-goers!  They don't take their children swimming, ever, for fear of seeing scantily-clad women.  What if there are women there in low-cut dresses?

I think many fundie think non-fundies only exist to serve them, so the Maxwells could compartmentalize the things they would otherwise find objectionable about the performance (i.e., female singers, immodest fashions among the audience, the possibility of having fun) with the notion that they're being enriched by a performance based on the Bible. This interpretation comes from the hypocritical attitude the Duggars have about education, where they think anything other than a SOTDRT diploma is ungodly and a waste of time, but have no problem with using the services of doctors and the like who did get conventional educations. Or how the Duggars think TV is evil, but are desperate to be on it. The examples are endless.

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5 minutes ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I think many fundie think non-fundies only exist to serve them, so the Maxwells could compartmentalize the things they would otherwise find objectionable about the performance (i.e., female singers, immodest fashions among the audience, the possibility of having fun) with the notion that they're being enriched by a performance based on the Bible. This interpretation comes from the hypocritical attitude the Duggars have about education, where they think anything other than a SOTDRT diploma is ungodly and a waste of time, but have no problem with using the services of doctors and the like who did get conventional educations. Or how the Duggars think TV is evil, but are desperate to be on it. The examples are endless.

It's possible, but they don't even let their kids read books where the father is not the clear and ultimate authority, and their brand is based on this  extreme isolation, so it would be easy for them to find objections with any concert.

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10 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

Babies in arms usually aren't such a problem as are toddlers. If Melanie sat where she could easily take the baby out if she got fussy and was prepared to latch the baby on if she got hungry, then Calia should be easy to manage.  I took my second daughter to see Return of the Jedi when she was tiny and had no problems.  Many years ago, LLL Leader Jody Nathanson completed an opera season with her baby in tow.  She wore a long cape and some ushers thought she was still pregnant.  Jody just nursed if the baby was hungry.

It's possible to take babies to events without disturbing anyone but it's not certain and so I think it's quite inconsiderate for the other attendees.  And sometimes inconsiderate for the baby. Even if not hungry, there might  be, eg. loud moments that scare the baby.

But perhaps she was just there for the photo ops and someone took care of her elsewhere during the concert.

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I think it is absolutely ridiculous for fundies to think of classical music as appropriate to listen to.  (Cue Gothard.)  The Messiah lyrics are straight from the KJV Bible, so there's that and I personally LOVE this piece.  It's great to listen to and perform.

Back to other classical music though:  Yes, many of the composers were immersed in ribaldry of all sorts...much like the rock stars of today.  I'd like to see the Maxwell's attend Bizet's Carmen.  

While I don't know the members of the KCS, I'd be willing to bet among the musicians there are LGBTQ members, imbibers, those who enjoy porn, addicts of varying types, divorcees, tellers of filthy jokes, etc.  In other words, PEOPLE.  What I'm trying to say here is that trying to describe certain genres of music as holier or more godly than others is just ridiculous unless you knew the heart of the composer at the time the music was written, the inspiration for the lyrics, and the hearts of each individual performer of the music.  God didn't make our ears so pristine that we can only tolerate one style of music, did He?

(Rant over.  Sweeping off my soapbox...)

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17 hours ago, iweartanktops6 said:

Sarah wore a FLOWER headband! 

Said it before & I'll say it again: the Poor Thing has so little with which to really express herself or doll herself up, if she's wearing a flowered headband when she's 60, it'll be okay with me.

Wait, maybe by the time she's 60 Steve & Teri will have been long gone to their Heavenly Home and Sarah will have actually, y'know, been able to enjoy life on whatever terms she chooses.  Yep, I'd still be okay with her wearing a headband.  With a flower.  Or without.  Or a cloche.  Or a Tillie hat.  Or a hooded affair like Audrey Hepburn in the opening scene of "Charade."  Rock on, Poor Sarah, as much as you can, in your narrowed, pinched world!

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All this post has really accomplished is me realizing my proofreading skill's aren't totally dead (you know how you read your own writing so many times and it just starts to glaze...) and I have a new crush on Dashon Burton. My heart is not pure but his voice is heavenly. 

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I have to say I'm really shocked that they went to this performance. It seems so worldly especially since based on everything we know about them, Steve seems to view anything other than bluegrass-tinged songs of praise as inappropriate and of the devil. If they have no knowledge of classical music—and that would seem to be the case—I can't imagine how they'd respond to this. (In my head, I'm imagining something along the lines of their reaction to lobster.) This one definitely has me scratching my head in wonder…

Dashon Burton has a beautiful voice (plus, Oberlin Conservatory—YAY!) and I'm definitely going to check him out further. I wonder if the Maxwells would be posing with him if they knew he performs Considering Matthew Shepard with Conspirare, the group formed by composer Craig Hella Johnson. A "passionate musical response to the tragic death of a young man who has become an American icon and a symbol of hope and empowerment." Yeah, not exactly Maxwell approved.

About Sarah's writing…just, no.

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It's a neat family picture in what I'm assuming is the lobby. But...sigh...could they not have asked somebody to take the photo for them so Sarah could be in it?? There are so many "family" pictures that do not include Sarah.  Is Steve trying to make his followers forget that a thirty-something unmarried woman is part of their "successful courtship" family?  Do they not trust anybody to take a photo for them?  Is Teri not allowed to speak up and say "I'd like a photo with ALL of my kids in it"?  Does she not care? 

I'll repeat what I said in the shelter - there's no way Steve would give a pass to any other young couple bringing a baby to a concert if that baby cried. But since Calla Lily is a holy Maxwell child, well; others can just sit back and enjoy the soft blessed glow that child emits as they listen to the music. She MIGHT have slept through the whole thing, but she also might have become fussy and disturbed other concert goers.  I guess if she cried, they could have handed tracts to those around them to make up for it.  "Ooops, the baby is crying...here...consider your own death for a moment. That makes it better, right?"

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Did anyone else think PHJ and Dashon Burton would make a cute couple in an alternate universe? Burton could teach the family how to sing Trust EEEEEEND Obey properly.

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It's possible they went to a family friendly performance.  Or Calia is predictably quiet.  I have taken my new born babies many places,  but I dont think I would risk the symphony. 

Have they ever posted about going to a similar cultural event before? 

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How funny! I went to the Messiah yesterday and about halfway through wondered if this was something the Maxwells would ever do. It's KJV-only, after all!

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While I don't know the members of the KCS, I'd be willing to bet among the musicians there are LGBTQ members, imbibers, those who enjoy porn, addicts of varying types, divorcees, tellers of filthy jokes, etc.  In other words, PEOPLE.  What I'm trying to say here is that trying to describe certain genres of music as holier or more godly than others is just ridiculous unless you knew the heart of the composer at the time the music was written, the inspiration for the lyrics, and the hearts of each individual performer of the music.  God didn't make our ears so pristine that we can only tolerate one style of music, did He?

Bingo!

It's SO amusing when fundies get on their classical music high horse, proving again and again just how little they know. I've witnessed several examples in my time here on FJ - Vision Forum released some sort of CD compilation of the most "Godly" classical selections; the Botkins, somewhere, (wish I could find it now) posted that they only let their precious homeschooled darlings listen to classical music that Geoff and Victoria deemed "orderly." But my all-time favorite remains Steven and Rebecca Loomis, self-appointed hymn re-writers, who once blog posted that parents should proceed with extreme caution when introducing their chilluns to the works of Aaron Copland, because (wait for it...) "he did not lead a Christ-honoring life." There's no snobbery like SOTDRT fundie snobbery...

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1 hour ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

I think it is absolutely ridiculous for fundies to think of classical music as appropriate to listen to.  (Cue Gothard.)  The Messiah lyrics are straight from the KJV Bible, so there's that and I personally LOVE this piece.  It's great to listen to and perform.

Back to other classical music though:  Yes, many of the composers were immersed in ribaldry of all sorts...much like the rock stars of today.  I'd like to see the Maxwell's attend Bizet's Carmen.  

While I don't know the members of the KCS, I'd be willing to bet among the musicians there are LGBTQ members, imbibers, those who enjoy porn, addicts of varying types, divorcees, tellers of filthy jokes, etc.  In other words, PEOPLE.  What I'm trying to say here is that trying to describe certain genres of music as holier or more godly than others is just ridiculous unless you knew the heart of the composer at the time the music was written, the inspiration for the lyrics, and the hearts of each individual performer of the music.  God didn't make our ears so pristine that we can only tolerate one style of music, did He?

(Rant over.  Sweeping off my soapbox...)

I agree. I listen to a lot of classical music myself, and a lot of it is racy. Carmina Burana  is quite filthy, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since the words are essentially the medieval equivalent of men's room graffiti. I wonder sometimes if audiences actually pay attention to the words or if they just get swept up in the music and don't care. Most operas center around torrid love stories that end in the deaths of almost all of the main characters. Verdi himself was very anticlerical (this comes through very clearly in Don Carlo), and Mozart's The Magic Flute can be read as an allegory about the triumph of Enlightenment values (and freemasonry)  over absolutism.

I think conservatives, not necessarily fundies, who brag about only listening to classical music are trying to show that they are above pop culture, especially those aspects that have been influences by black music. Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" is a good example of this. Yet, even the waltz, the polka, and many other types of "classical" dance were all considered "vulgar" when they first came out. After enough time has passed, almost anything becomes "classy." Two hundred years from now, symphony halls will have programs that read "Mozart: Jupiter Symphony; Wagner: Siegfried's Idyll; Michael Jackson: Thriller/Billie Jean  melody.

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8 minutes ago, VodouDoll said:

How funny! I went to the Messiah yesterday and about halfway through wondered if this was something the Maxwells would ever do. It's KJV-only, after all!

My daughter, my mother and I went to the Met's Lulu a couple of weeks ago and I also was thinking about the Maxwells! I think they'd probably still be praying for their souls…

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1 hour ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I agree. I listen to a lot of classical music myself, and a lot of it is racy. Carmina Burana  is quite filthy, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since the words are essentially the medieval equivalent of men's room graffiti. I wonder sometimes if audiences actually pay attention to the words or if they just get swept up in the music and don't care. Most operas center around torrid love stories that end in the deaths of almost all of the main characters. Verdi himself was very anticlerical (this comes through very clearly in Don Carlo), and Mozart's The Magic Flute can be read as an allegory about the triumph of Enlightenment values (and freemasonry)  over absolutism.

I think conservatives, not necessarily fundies, who brag about only listening to classical music are trying to show that they are above pop culture, especially those aspects that have been influences by black music. Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" is a good example of this. Yet, even the waltz, the polka, and many other types of "classical" dance were all considered "vulgar" when they first came out. After enough time has passed, almost anything becomes "classy." Two hundred years from now, symphony halls will have programs that read "Mozart: Jupiter Symphony; Wagner: Siegfried's Idyll; Michael Jackson: Thriller/Billie Jean  melody.

I knew you and I were kindred spirits!  

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As for the baby, my daughter would have been able to handle it, she was quiet and happy as long as she was fed and had something to see.

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41 minutes ago, MamaJunebug said:

Here's a thought: the Maxwells and "The Mikado."  Would the poor things catch ANY of the humor??

Nope!

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I am really shocked any Maxwell took a picture with a man with long hair, especially dreadlocks. 

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The Maxwell's at The Marriage of Figaro:

"What are they pretending to measure?"

"I don't know.  They're singing in Italian."

"I sure would like to know what the older man is saying to the younger girl."

"Who's got the program notes?"

"I do but it's too dark to read them."

"We'll look at them when we get home."

 

Quote

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

The Maxwell's at The Marriage of Figaro:

"What are they pretending to measure?"

"I don't know.  They're singing in Italian."

"I sure would like to know what the older man is saying to the younger girl."

"Who's got the program notes?"

"I do but it's too dark to read them."

"We'll look at them when we get home."

Most Opera House have an electronic screen that translates the opera into English. They are trying to reach a boarder audience. The operas that I have recently seen have extremely witty dialogue. It would turn the Maxwell's red in the face.  Even traveling Broadway shows do at least one closed-caption performance during their run in that city. 

Since driving around town, I came up with a crazy idea for Steve Maxwell to reach and convert more Christians to his brand of Christianity. Do a Holiday Lights Show like the homes on the ABC show The Great Christmas Light Fight. People would come to them. The family can provide hot chocolate and give out tracks. Maybe even make balloon animals. I saw a house with a sign that said free hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. Steve would have to pay the electric bill, buy holiday lights, and deal with some immoral holiday songs. The Duggar children recently played the song Sleigh Ride at their holiday recital. It could happen since Steve purchased a clown costume to get children to talk to them at the county fair. The boys could start a new business with decorating homes for Christmas. It is big business in my neighborhood to get your house professional decorated. This idea would keep the girls busy. Just an idea.

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4 hours ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I agree. I listen to a lot of classical music myself, and a lot of it is racy. Carmina Burana  is quite filthy, which shouldn't come as a surprise, since the words are essentially the medieval equivalent of men's room graffiti. I wonder sometimes if audiences actually pay attention to the words or if they just get swept up in the music and don't care. Most operas center around torrid love stories that end in the deaths of almost all of the main characters. Verdi himself was very anticlerical (this comes through very clearly in Don Carlo), and Mozart's The Magic Flute can be read as an allegory about the triumph of Enlightenment values (and freemasonry)  over absolutism.

I think conservatives, not necessarily fundies, who brag about only listening to classical music are trying to show that they are above pop culture, especially those aspects that have been influences by black music. Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" is a good example of this. Yet, even the waltz, the polka, and many other types of "classical" dance were all considered "vulgar" when they first came out. After enough time has passed, almost anything becomes "classy." Two hundred years from now, symphony halls will have programs that read "Mozart: Jupiter Symphony; Wagner: Siegfried's Idyll; Michael Jackson: Thriller/Billie Jean  melody.

Not to mention that Mozart wrote a bunch of songs full of scatological humor. Including one called Lick My Ass. Though then again, if I was a musical prodigy from age 6, I'd totally be using my talent to write songs about poop and farts.

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Aw, I can't snark on this.  Looks like the Maxwells had an enjoyable night out, in a beautiful venue.  Just like numerous other families do this time of year.

I don't recall them doing anything like this before either, but maybe it was to make up for not being able to do some of their usual activities.

The guys at least have lives, but these activities are all the sisters have.

 

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1 hour ago, Gimme a Free RV said:

The Maxwell's at The Marriage of Figaro:

"What are they pretending to measure?"

"I don't know.  They're singing in Italian."

"I sure would like to know what the older man is saying to the younger girl."

"Who's got the program notes?"

"I do but it's too dark to read them."

"We'll look at them when we get home."

 

 

The Met's recent production of Figaro opened with a topless woman running around the stage. No one at the Met—or even the old peeps at the Live in HD performance either—batted an eyelash despite the fact that there were GASP! children in the audience. The Maxwells would have clutched their pearls so tightly they would have asphyxiated themselves. 

Nudity at the opera seems to be a thing these days, at least at the Met. No one cares. I bet they wouldn't in KC either (where they are, of course, up-to-date and have gone about as fur as they could go), offense collectors excepted.

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