Steve Ozark, leader of Lawrence Community InterFaith Initiative and music talent agent:

I’ve loved music as long as I’ve loved Jesus and sought to live his teachings and heart – all my known life.

I’ve listened to every kind of music I can get my ears on. From Stravinsky to Jacques Brel to Prince, there is plenty of music I love that many people of faith might find offensive. Music is a most special salve I’ve been given to feel comfort, to feel peace, to express anger, emptiness and the desire for something more.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 reminds us that, “I know there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live.” I try to open myself fully to enjoy all the music I hear.

So for myself, I am not concerned about the content of popular music. I know that popular music is largely aimed at being popular, so what might be considered radical by some is oftentimes just big-business marketing.

As a parent, I talk with my kids about what they like and why. We talk about why a songwriter would write a certain lyric and what that means to them. One big difference I see from my childhood to theirs is that everyone knew that Alice Cooper was telling a horror story of make-believe, while some songwriters today are living lives of celebrity by preaching hate, misogyny, drugs and violence. And while some people may find that to be entertainment, promoting those real-life attitudes is not entertaining to me.

As adults, we need to make choices of what we support and pay attention to and what we do not. Given the chance, music finds its level of audience for its length of time. The choice of what is popular and for how long is for each of us to choose.

– Send e-mail to Steve Ozark at oztalent@aol.com.