In early January, there was a bit of a thing on Facebook regarding Christian moms encouraging their daughters to listen to/follow/idolize Taylor Swift. I wanted to make a record of it here as I fully expect this topic to come back around in a big way in the next year or two, especially the idea of the Church of the Swifties.
I personally fail to understand the fascination Christian women have with Taylor Swift so none of what was said was remotely controversial to me. However, it was the catalyst for some good truth seeking among a number of Christian women.
Taylor Swift Is Not a Role Model
Here is the series of IG shots that set it off.
That series of images set off a firestorm on Facebook. I wouldn’t have known about it except the video I’m sharing below alerted me to it. (Even though I went back on Facebook as I wrote about in “Surely not, Lord!” – Returning To Facebook, I almost never look at my feed. I almost never read discussions. It’s physically painful for me to be on there, people. I drop bits of truth and leave as quickly as I can. Seriously.)
If by some chance you aren’t familiar with Taylor Swift, here is one of her music videos you can watch. (Disclaimer that it’s full of troubling imagery.) But if you’ve managed to avoid her except when hearing her music in public places and seeing her face plastered everywhere, I think it’s important to understand what she does so you have additional context for the video I’m sharing at the end of this post.
There is zero chance you are going to convince me that this is “art” or “expression” or “her comeback” or any such thing that makes the content and symbolism in that video appropriate for Christians, especially girls and young women.
Even if you are not a Christian, the video is full of MK Ultra symbolism (cage, butterflies, kittens, etc.). It’s simply bad news all the way around.
So here’s the conversation I’m recommending. Krista Bontrager (Theology Mom) did a dive into the “Swifties” and what is actually going on with the Taylor Swift obsession. Her guest was Amy Davison from Mama Bear Apologetics. From the CensorTube description:
A couple weeks ago, I shared an IG slide sequence from the Raising Apologists account about Taylor Swift not being a role model for Christian girls. I was not prepared for the responses. The string had over 150 comments! Who knew that TS is a high interest topic among Christian mothers?! I’ve asked my friend Amy Davison to come on so we could talk the tricky question: Is Taylor Swift a witch and is she promoting witchcraft?
Church of the Swifties
Here’s the video. You will get the most out of it if you watch the entire thing. I say that because it takes a little bit to get going so don’t give up on it. (My post continues below the video.)
Members of the Church of the Swifties
I pulled this image off Facebook. The CensorTube description has many links with details to back up what they discussed in the video.
Peggy
My husband and I watched the Eras video. It is a very long concert, and the imagery was just as they say in the video you have above. There was only one song I liked. I noticed that none of her back-up singers and very few of the dancers were white. The band was out of view most of the time.
I’ve seen a fan video of one of her early outdoor concerts, and her singing was not good. She has had a LOT of training and polishing in every way since then.
Her fans following her through all her postmodern role-playing can’t be healthy, and as the video says, she sends them off in the wrong spiritual direction. Even watching the concert with detachment and some disgust, I felt like I was being influenced by it.
Sallie Borrink
Hi Peggy,
That’s interesting that even when watching her video with a critical eye and being detached you still felt like you were being influenced by it. It speaks volumes to me since we’ve known each other a long time and I know what a great analyzer and careful thinker you are. If you care to answer, how did you feel it was influencing you?
Sallie
Sallie Borrink
I wrote in March:
“I wanted to make a record of it here as I fully expect this topic to come back around in a big way in the next year or two, especially the idea of the Church of the Swifties.”
This isn’t exactly how I envisioned it playing out, but I knew we would get there eventually.
Correct me if I”m wrong, but I’ve NEVER heard President Trump say he hates anyone. Especially not in all caps.
He’s said things like he hates what these people have done to our country, but never specifically named a specific group of people – let alone a celebrity.
Whatever is coming is significant and probably aimed at waking up the women who are oblivious to reality.