Evangelist Exposes 'Darker Turn' of Taylor Swift's Music, Sounds Alarm

An evangelist going viral for his response to pop star Taylor Swift's latest album is explaining why he spoke out and why he's hoping to encourage Christian parents to be discerning. "I'm not an anti-Taylor guy," Shane Pruitt told CBN News. "I'm [a] pro-Gospel guy." He continued, "Anything that I know is largely affecting parents, or Christians, or people in the church that seems to ... be anti-Gospel, I think we lovingly call it out." Pruitt did just that in a April 22 tweet, gently raising concern over some of Swift's lyrics on her "The Tortured Poets Department" album. "LYRICS MATTER," Pruitt tweeted. "Disclaimer, I’m definitely not the minister or parent that has the 'no secular music' stance. Also, I fully realize unbelievers are going to act like unbelievers. HOWEVER, there is a difference between being secular, and being ANTI-CHRISTIAN." He then pulled lyrics about people "in their Sunday best" who "try to save you 'cause they hate you," among other related sentiment. Pruitt also quoted Swift as belting out the following lines in another song: "What if I roll the stone away? They're gonna crucify me anyway. What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy?" Pruitt concluded his tweet by asking Christians whether it's appropriate to be "entertained by, sing with, and expose our kids to lyrics that aren’t just different than what you believe, but are actually mocking what you believe." The evangelist and preacher told CBN News he believes Swift's music has changed over the years, with her songs becoming "more and more explicit" and taking a "darker turn" in the process. It's a concerning matter, Pruitt said, considering the music is consumed by many young and impressionable girls. "I think we just need to be very aware and very careful of what we're exposing our kids to and how we're even engaging with things and being entertained by things that are really anti what we say we believe," Pruitt said. Of course, Pruitt said Swift isn't the only vice exposing some Christians' poor spiritual priorities. In fact, he said some people even struggle with sports teams and athletes, elevating these to a higher position than they should. Calling this out doesn't always go well, he said. "In recent years, I can say this — especially in the American Church — if I go, 'Hey, here's what the Bible says about sexuality, here's what the Bible says about marriage, here's what the Bible says about being pro-life, here's what the Bible says about God determining sex and gender,' you'll get some hardy 'Amens,'" Pruitt said. "People are emboldened by that."