If people want to be healthy, they should watch their diets - their musical diets.
"Music is the one of the most powerful teaching tools we know of," said Jack Christianson, seminary teacher and lecturer, at a recent Orem Council PTA forum."Music affects the circulatory, respiratory, hormonal and skeletal systems. Athletes know all about the effect of music. They wouldn't prepare for a big game by listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and they wouldn't prepare for a religious service by listening to Motley Crue.
"Can you imagine what would happen if a dentist played heavy metal music in the waiting room? There's a reason they don't."
Many people claim to choose music for the beat but don't realize the beat will reinforce the message in the lyrics, Christianson said. Whether they know it or not, listeners will remember and be affected by the words, he added.
Rock music that sends negative messages and talks of Satan, parent hating, drugs, human degradation and suicide is also remembered, he said.
"Some of us would never dream of saying the things we sing.
"I'm not saying all rock 'n' roll is bad; I'm just saying it's so powerful, we have to choose carefully what we want in our minds."
Christianson said most teenage drug or pornography users and Satan worshipers listen to heavy metal music.
"It's the one common thread. Wherever these things are, there is generally the same music. Music creates atmosphere and atmosphere creates character."
Hearing a negative message over and over will desensitize listeners, he said, and the message will seem more acceptable.
"There are satanic symbols all over the album covers. The groups involved know that will sell, and money is the name of the game. They don't care who they exploit."
Music videos can do the most harm of all, he said.
"There are many positive videos, but there are some negative ones, too. Teenagers listen to the music while witnessing deviant behavior, and every time they hear the song after that, the behavior comes back to their minds."
Christianson said teens may eventually be tempted to act out the deviant behavior they have seen on videos or heard of in songs.
"There is evidence all sexual deviations are learned, not inherited. We are as much what we listen to as what we eat.
"The choices we make in our entertainment may make all the difference in the directions our lives take."