As I stated on my "Music Preferences" page, I believe an artist's good talent can be admired without endorsing a lifestyle, not unlike a Michael Jordan fan admires Michael Jordan's tremendous talent for basketball, yet may not agree with how he spends his weekends.
Sadly, the high school I graduated from, Upper Bucks Christian School, does not hold this view. They espouse only classical and sacred music, and they hold that all other genres of music are ungodly. Such a view is not able to be supported Biblically without first assuming the negative view. Artists should be evaluated on an individual basis, not be lumped into some sweeping stereotype.
In the end, Upper Bucks Christian School does not endorse contemporary music, since they abhor anything with the "sinful" anapestic beat, which many contemporary pieces contain. I consider this view narrow-minded at best, but when students are brought to tears by some chapel speaker telling them (or implying) that they are going to hell because of this, I consider it blasphemy of the Bible.
Doctrine is a much more important issue than music, yet Upper Bucks Christian School does not even teach the very basics of Dispensationalism, the foundation on which most of their Biblical interpretation is built on. Instead of teaching students the very basics and allowing them to arrive at their own convictions, other people's convictions are preached to the students as if they are "God's Commands", when in reality they are convictions which cannot necessarily be supported Biblically when examined. A conviction should be something God, through your reading of His word, convicts you of, not something that someone else, by showing you carefully selected verses lumped with his opinion, convicts you of.
At the conclusion of my senior year, I brought this issue to the attention of the administrator, Randal Hurst. Since then, Mr Hurst has moved to another school, and I have seen no indications of any changes in policy and/or curriculum.
Certainly, Upper Bucks Christian School is entitled to require certain
behavior from its students, including the refraining from certain "questionable"
activities including: going to movies, consuming alcohol in moderation,
dancing, dressing for certain occasions in certain ways, etc. But,
when it is stated or implied that such behavior is the "Biblical standard",
not just their standard, I have serious problems with it.
Upper Bucks Christian School is an excellent academic institution. I am proud to have attended, yet I must write this page to express to them my opinion on their methods and to warn those that may attend. If they refuse to talk to me from now on, then so be it. Most of them do not anyway, for whatever reason. It seems that if I do not attend their church, I am not suitable for company. In any case, I try my best to maintain relationships with several friends I met while attending school at Upper Bucks who attend Bethel Baptist Church, the parent church, even though they treat me as an outsider and not as a Christian brother, an obvious contradiction of the Bible.