[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 110 (Friday, July 30, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1691-E1692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THERE IS A VIRUS LOOSE WITHIN OUR CULTURE: AN HONEST LOOK AT MUSIC'S 
                                 IMPACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. THOMAS G. TANCREDO

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 29, 1999

  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, it has been more than three months since 
the tragic event of Columbine High School occurred a few blocks from my 
home. As we here in Congress continue to struggle to find ways to 
prevent this terror from ever happening again, I would like to call 
attention to a report prepared by the Free Congress Foundation which 
will hopefully broaden our understanding of how cultural factors shape 
the lives of our youth.
  I would like to submit into the record the attached executive summary 
from the report, written by Tom Jipping, Director of the Center for Law 
and Democracy at the Free Congress Foundation, which details popular 
music's contribution to youth violence. Mr. Jipping has worked with at-
risk youth for a dozen years, and research and written in this area for 
over a decade. The report outlines research, survey data, and other 
evidence documenting how some popular music can lead some young people 
to violence. Many congressional offices have received a hard copy of 
the entire report already.
  The report does not advocate any specific policy proposals but 
instead provides comprehensive information that will make anyone, no 
matter what plan of action they pursue, better informed.

[[Page E1692]]

  The report has been endorsed by hundreds of grassroots organizations 
and religious leaders from the evangelical, Catholic, Jewish and 
Orthodox communities. I urge all Members to read the attached executive 
summary and the full report as we continue to address the problem of 
youth violence and delinquency.

   ``There Is a Virus Loose Within Our Culture:'' An Honest Look at 
                             Music's Impact

                         (By Thomas L. Jipping)

       After two teenagers killed twelve of their peers, a 
     teacher, and themselves at Columbine High School in 
     Littleton, Colorado, Governor Bill Owens said that ``there is 
     a virus loose within our culture.'' The effort to identify 
     that virus is properly focusing on visually powerful elements 
     of youth culture such as television, movies, and video games. 
     This report addresses whether non-visual media such as 
     popular music are also part of this cultural virus that can 
     help lead some young people to violence.
       Five days after the massacre, on NBC's Meet the Press, host 
     Tim Russert reported that the Littleton killers idolized 
     shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, described by even the music 
     press as an ``ultra-violent satanic rock monstrosity.'' They 
     were not alone. Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents and two 
     students in Springfield, Oregon, consumed Manson's message. 
     Andrew Wurst, who killed a teacher at an eighth-grade dance 
     in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, was nicknamed ``Satan'' because he 
     ``was a fan of rocker Marilyn Manson and his dark music.'' 
     Luke Woodham, who murdered his parents and a classmate in 
     Pearl, Mississippi, was a fan of Manson's ``nihilistic'' 
     lyrics.
       This pattern includes other violent youths whose plans were 
     foiled. A Leesburg, Virginia, boy suspended for making 
     threats against students who mocked his work was fascinated 
     with Marilyn Manson. Five Wisconsin teenagers who had planned 
     ``a bloodbath at their school in revenge for being teased'' 
     consumed Manson's message.
       Some claim this is all just a coincidence. Perhaps, but a 
     series of parallels suggests a more concrete connection. The 
     first is the parallel between the facts of these cases, the 
     motivation of the killers, and the themes in the music they 
     consumed. According to media reports, these boys all killed 
     out of hatred for, or revenge against, those who had 
     offended, harassed, or persecuted them. Luke Woodham, for 
     example, had said that ``the world has wronged me.''
       Consider what their idol Marilyn Manson told them to do 
     about it:

  ``The big bully try to stick his finger in my chest, try to tell me, 
tell me he's the best. But I don't really give a good * * * cause I got 
my lunchbox and I'm armed real well. . . . Next * * * gonna get my 
metal. . . . Pow pow pow, pow pow pow, pow pow pow, pow pow pow. . . . 
I wanna grow up so no one * * * with me
  ``But your selective judgments and goodguy badges don't mean a * * * 
to me. I throw a little fit. I slit my teenage wrist. . . . Get your 
gunn, get your gunn
  ``I hate the hater, I'd rape the raper
  ``There's no time to discriminate, hate every * * * that's in your 
way.
  ``There is no cure for what is killing me, I'm on my way down; I've 
looked ahead and saw a world that's dead, I guess I am too; I'm on my 
way down, I'd like to take you with me
  ``I'll make everyone pay and you will see . . . The boy that you 
loved is the monster you fear.
  ``When you are suffering know that I have betrayed you
  ``Shoot here and the world gets smaller; Shoot shoot shoot * * *
  ``Live like a teenage christ; I'm a saint, got a date with suicide
  ``I'm dying, I hope you're dying too
  ``I'm gonna hate you tomorrow because you make me hate you today''

       The second parallel is the message Manson himself says he 
     tries to promote. Ordained in the Church of Satan, Manson has 
     said that ``[Church of Satan founder Anton] LaVey along with 
     Nietzsche and [British Satanist Aleistair] Crowley have all 
     been great influences on the way that I think.'' In a 
     foreword to the book Satan Speaks, Manson wrote that ``Anton 
     LaVey was the most righteous man I've ever known.''
       On CNN's The American Edge program, Manson explained his 
     message: ``God is dead, you are your own god. It's a lot 
     about self preservation. . . . It's the part of you that no 
     longer has hope in mankind. And you realize that you are the 
     only thing you believe in.'' Manson has compared Christians 
     to Nazis and insists that ``hate is just as healthy and 
     worthwhile as love.'' This message contributes to the 
     situation Vice President Al Gore described at a Littleton 
     memorial service on April 25, 1999: ``Too many young people 
     place too little value on human life.''
       The third parallel is Manson's own life, which looks 
     similar to those who consume and act on his message. In one 
     interview, he described it this way: ``Then I had to go to 
     public school and they would always kick my ass. . . . So I 
     didn't end up having a lot of friends and music was the only 
     thing I had to enjoy. So I got into [heavy metal rock bands] 
     Kiss, Black Sabbath and things like that.''
       While Marilyn Manson alone is not the problem, his brand of 
     music promotes violence more aggressively than ever. Indeed, 
     Manson's own response to the Littleton massacre raises the 
     issue to be addressed here. Television or even religion may 
     cause youth violence, he says, but music plays no role 
     whatsoever. In fact, he claims that he is actually a victim 
     when he asserts that the media ``has unfairly scapegoated the 
     music industry. . . . and has speculated--with no basis in 
     truth--that artists like myself are in some way [sic] to 
     blame.''
       Unfortunately, it appears that the music industry's only 
     response to this cultural crisis is simply to deny that its 
     products have any effect on anyone. One the June 29, 1999, 
     edition on CNN's Showbiz Today program, for example, musician 
     Billy Joel dismissed as ``absurd'' the idea that music 
     influences violent behavior. Elton John put it more bluntly: 
     ``It has nothing to do with the musical content or the lyrics 
     whatsoever. [The idea is] absolute rubbish.''
       No one, or course, argues that popular music is the sole 
     cause of youth violence. Something as complex as human 
     behavior does not have a sole cause. The question is not 
     whether popular music is the exclusive cause of youth 
     (something no one seriously argues), but whether there is any 
     ``basis in truth'' for the proposition that some popular 
     music makes a real contribution to youth (something only the 
     music industry denies).
       The affirmative answer to this question rests on three 
     pillars. First, media such as television and music are very 
     powerful influences on attitudes and behavior. Second, 
     popular music in an even more powerful influence on young 
     people. Third, some of the most popular music today promotes 
     destructive behavior such as violence and drug use.
       Effective prescriptions require accurate diagnoses. Whether 
     the solution involves parental involvement, public policy, 
     pressure on recording companies or retailers to change their 
     practices, or all of these and more, the effort must be 
     informed by a comprehensive understanding of the problem.

     

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