Tom Petty’s Pettiness

                Well, I won’t back down, no I won’t back down.

                You can stand me up at the gates of Hell,

                But I don’t back down.

                No I’ll stand my ground, won’t be turned around . . .

                I won’t back down.

But let’s get one thing straight. I won’t be buying his latest album Hypnotic Eye. Why? Petty has taken a sudden turn in the direction of attacking Christianity. Petty calls the release a “moral album” about “social betrayal.” You’d think that there’s enough social betrayal out there to sing about: abortion on demand; Obamacare chipping away at personal, spiritual liberties; child sexual trafficking; the rapid acceptance of legal weed, to name a few social ills. (Have you heard? The New York Times last week endorsed marijuana legalization.) But Petty had to get petty and go after Christians. He attacks the Catholic Church and its sex abuse scandals and rails against “every man of God that lives with hidden devils.” He also infers that faith in God starts “all wars.” But he’s really past the pall when he claims that “no one’s got Christ more wrong than the Christians.” For such a smart rocker, that’s downright dumb. But it will play well with the cynical millennial crowd. For a guy who admits being raised in the territory of Southern Baptists, he’s awfully selective in his ignorance of religion. Instead of a clever tunesmith, he’s starting to sound like a cynical, old rocker.

Not all that’s on the album is bad. He laments drug deaths at concerts and financial corruption that is “power drunk.” But whether he mean it or now, he’s fighting the culture war on the wrong side. The devil likes songs like this that buy into the anti-God bitterness of this generation that is soaked in social media, progressive politics, and demonic entertainment. It reinforces a hateful attitude toward Christianity that is demonically self-serving. I still like his earlier stuff, but as far as listening to Petty’s petty, new rant against the Lord, count me out. And I won’t back down!