I recently had cause to rewatch The Music Man, seeing as it was the Fourth of July and that timeless classic has always served to remind me of my youth spent in a rural farming community in southeastern South Dakota−a place not so far from Iowa, where every summer day might have been Independence Day for all the rippling of flags. Unlike River City, our town of 400 souls already had a marching band, and each September I’d don my band uniform−plumed hat and all−in preparation for another season of small-town revelries.
All this to say the disappointment was strong as the final credits rolled. Was this the same feel-good story I had fallen in love with? In place of a contented sigh, I had the distinct impression that “Professor” Harold Hill was not so much the huckster turned endearing suitor as I had remembered him to be, but instead a false teacher and prophet. We got trouble alright, but it don’t rhyme with ‘pool’.
Just as Mayor Shinn sought to verify the credentials of Prof. Hill, let’s determine if we should love or leave this smooth-talking anti-hero.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1, NIV
But before we begin, we need to understand that the New Testament term “antichrist” does not mean “opposed to Christ” as in a Rosemary’s Baby spawn of Satan sense, but “instead of Christ” as in replacing the Christ revealed in the Holy Word of God with a different idea of who Christ is (2 John 1:7-11). In this way, false teachers and prophets have the spirit of antichrist because they lead you after a different god than the true God.
So how can we identify the con man in our midst?
He teaches a false gospel.
Harold Hill: Oh, I now have a new revolutionary method called the “think system” where you don’t bother with notes.
“The Music Man”, 1962
In Galatians 1:7-8, Paul says there are some who want to distort the gospel of Christ, and that anyone doing so is accursed. He is emphatic that even if he or an angel of heaven comes preaching a different gospel, we are not to follow.
He’s all about the Benjamins.
Salesman on train: How far you going, friend?
“The Music Man”, 1962
Harold Hill: Wherever the people are as green as the money… friend.
The shepherds of the church are to receive financial compensation for the work they do in preaching and teaching the Word of God (1 Timothy 5:17), but teachers are not use ministry to exploit people for their own greed (2 Peter 2:3).
He’s a smooth talker.
Harold Hill: Ah, yes, my dear Mrs. Paroo. You must realize that only one out of every 78 adults has a ganglion that reaches the ligature clear down to the apex. This automatically turns your entire face into an amazing embouchure.
“The Music Man”, 1962
We’re warned in Romans 16:17-20 to avoid those who use “smooth talk and flattery” to cause divisions “contrary to the doctrine you have been taught.” These people seek to serve their own appetites and not the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians we need to hold fast to sound teaching instead of accumulating teachers who suit our own desires−a thing all too easy to do in the Information Age (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
He thinks compromise is no big deal.
Marian Paroo: No, please, not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
“The Music Man”, 1962
Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering.
Marian Paroo: Oh, so would I.
Compromise is the first step in the degradation of our theology and ethics. Instead of giving into what the world wants, we need to remember what God has revealed in His Word and strive to love Him and obey His commands this day (1 John 2:15). Marian would be wise to heed the words written in Matthew and not think about tomorrow, but “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. (Matthew 6:31-14).
He openly promotes and engages in sin.
Harold Hill: I cheer, and I rave, for the virtue I’m too late to save, the sadder but wiser girl for me… I smile, I grin when the gal with a touch of sin walks in / I hope, and I pray for Hester to win just one more “A” / The sadder but wiser girl’s the girl for me / The sadder but wiser girl for me.
“The Music Man”, 1962
In Jude 4 we learn about those who have crept into the church and perverted the grace of God into sensuality. This is in reference to the antinomians who believed they were not under obligation of the law but could use the grace of God as a license to sin, distorting the truth of the Pauline teaching that we are saved by faith alone. In balance, John 14:15 says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
His miracles don’t jibe with his teaching.
Oh boy, that final scene−brass gleaming, everyone marching in unison, playing to perfection with Harold at the helm. How in the world did he pull it off? It was nothing short of miraculous! But seeing as we’ve already proved his teaching to be bunk, we shouldn’t be deceived by the signs and wonders (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).
Well you heard it here first, folks: Professor Harold Hill is an antichrist! Watch as he slithers his way into River City, creeping down Main Street, captivating the youth and charming the ladies with his forked and flickering tongue! Guard your sons. Lock up your daughters. No one in the great state of Io-way is safe from his advances.
In all seriousness, my biggest gripe with the film wasn’t that Hill was a slimy character, but that his sliminess was rewarded and condoned. There was no redemption. He was never repentant for the way he behaved, and the one character who was meant to be immune to his advances−the doe-eyed Marian Paroo−was not only taken in, but enabled him every step of the way, even going so far as to use her womanly wiles on a traveling salesman to cover up Hill’s crimes.
It seems Thomas Wolfe was right. You can’t go home again. And while I’ll forever feel that pang of nostalgia watching The Music Man, I don’t think I can ever see it in the dreamy soft-focus I once did.
Bone of Bones 
Both Hill and Jesus used the threat of social decay to get public sympathy for their ideas – Hill
scared people with pool tables and offered up the boy’s band as a solution; Jesus( if you believe the gospel narratives) threatened death and Hell for sinful behavior, promising Salvation and eternal life to those who then repented and abandoned sin to live righteous lives. Both characters take an initially benign situation and infuse it with fear to affect a certain outcome. Hill is actively conning his audience for money. Jesus (the historical Jesus) was a Jewish religious reformer looking to put a more human face on a confused and corrupt faith, and in the process, created an even more confused and corrupt one. By the way, Donald Trump tried the exact same thing in 2016, listing all the trouble America was in and assuring us “I’m the only one who can fix it”.
LikeLike
Hi Randy,
A couple points: most importantly, Jesus urged His followers to “repent and believe.” This message is very different from the works-based systems of most (arguably all) other world religions and philosophies. Almost all people recognize the need for some moral system whether they actively recognize the inherent sinfulness of man as the basis behind that need. The difference in Christianity is that Christians understand that man is utterly incapable of being good on His own (no lifting yourself up by your moral bootstraps, so to speak). Instead, God Himself became man and lived a perfectly righteous life (something we could never even come close to achieving) before dying on the cross for the sins of His people. All those who trust in Him are thus connected to Him by faith alone through grace alone and put into right relationship with God. That’s the beauty of the gospel: it’s not about what I can do, it’s about what He has done.
Secondly, it’s one thing to have a con artist like Hill espousing the supposed evils of the pool hall for his own profits. Quite another to have the Creator of all things honestly warn you of the just retribution for your sin, namely eternal punishment in hell. It really comes down to whether the threat is real or not. If your toddler was going to run headlong into traffic, you wouldn’t be conning them to urgently point out the danger. Nor would it be an abuse to insist they hold your hand if they desired safety. Yes, there are always problems with analogies, but the point remains. It all comes down to what is true and what isn’t.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
LikeLike
If a person were tasked with inventing the ideal belief system for taking the average human mind, cleansing it of reason, and using it for political purposes, he/she could do no better than through the Christian Church. It is the perfect amoral “moral system” that comes in, often unannounced or uninvited, substitutes nebulous group-think for independent, individual thought, and then masquerades as the moral wealth of the world. It wrangles a sense of of devotion in people by convincing them that they’re shameful, pathetic living fountains of sin, incapable of living moral lives. After that, they’re told the story of Jesus, and how the very Son of God himself loved them so much – in spite of themselves – that he offered himself up as human sacrifice to save their souls.
Now, if this isn’t enough to inspire an overwhelming sense of gratitude, guilt and obligation from them, there’s more: the dual promise/threat of Paradise and eternal life vs Hell and everlasting damnation. Here God’s expression of ultimate love for humanity is exposed for what it actually is: a thinly veiled threat of continuous, ongoing torture for non-compliance. You may say, “But it’s a choice. No one is forced to follow Christ. Nonsense. This is pure coercion. One might also ask why a just God would do this to an unsuspecting soul? The obvious answer is that God is not doing it. The Church is – a church obsessed with power, earthly status and an ability to bend an increasingly large empire to its will. Some liken the institution to an insurance policy. I think it functions very much more like a protection racket. “Nice little soul you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it…”
So Professor Hill and Christ Inc. have functioned in similar ways at various times by latching onto simple townspeople and peasants, giving them a few nominal tasks to perform in exchange for money or land or labor, allegiance to the state, access to their children, etc. Funny, too, how both parties planned to live comfortably acquiring their wealth in the here and now while assuring their victims of a much greater reward to come. Happily, Hill DID end up being redeemed by love. Christianity? Not so much.
LikeLike
Hi again,
Well, there’s a lot there to go on so let’s see if we can tackle some of your arguments. The biggest distinction I see you making is between “the Church” and Christ Himself. While there are and have been gross abuses of power within churches who claim Christ, this is by no means a solid argument for a throwing off of Christian doctrine as a whole. In many cases, these types of “Christian” churches (“Christian” by their own proclamation) are anything but Christian in either theology or practice. Roman Catholicism is the perhaps most notable example, exhibiting the types of corruption, greed, and extortion that we should all oppose (e.g., selling of indulgences during the Middle Ages). The megachurch prosperity gospel movement is another prime example of manipulating congregants for individual profit. We’ve all seen examples of wealthy pastors cruising in private jets touting a false message of health and wealth to those who empty their pockets to “receive the blessings of God”. All these practices are wicked and an abomination to God. Jesus Himself chastened the religious leaders of His own time for their greed and hypocrisy, calling them a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33) and “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27). In fact, His harshest language was reserved for those who practiced religion and yet had no real regard for the souls of their fellow men. False teachers and false teaching destroy lives, both in the temporal and the eternal.
Next, you raise concerns about the Christian moral system. How many of your concerns are tied directly to the corrupt practices of false churches and how much is the extension of a worldview that believes humankind is generally good, I’m not sure. I can only speak to the moral law as revealed within the God-inspired words of Scripture. The Christian looks at the law as given to us by God Himself as an extension of His character, His holiness. Not one of us has perfectly obeyed even one of the ten commandments so we see that man transgressed this law and that the just penalty of that sin is death and separation from Him. Unholy men cannot be in the presence of the Holy God without a mediator. Justice will be done. You might oppose the concept of sin or evil, I don’t know, but one needs to look no farther back than the atrocities of the last century to see the supreme wickedness man can contrive. For an atheist, any discussion of morality hinges on a “so-what?” proposition. If we are just meat and water bags, then why can’t I do whatever I want to whomever I want? For anyone who believes in any other philosophical or religious framework, then the question becomes, “who sets the standard?” Is it every man decides what is good for himself? Can the rapist decide if it feels good for him, it is good? Or can we say with certainty there are things that are objectively right and objectively wrong? On what basis? Allah or Buddha? Christ? Again, we come back to what is true and what is false. Let’s say the triune God of the Bible, the Christian God is the only true God, that Jesus was who He claimed to be (God) and that He really did rise from the dead (please go with me here for sake of argument), then doesn’t He have the right to determine what is right and wrong for the creatures He created? Mustn’t that law then have punishments for those who transgress it? If not, where is the justice? You might think it unloving for God to punish men for their sin. I think it would be only a wicked God who would let the unrepentant child rapist walk away free and clear.
I doubt we’ll find agreement here at this time, but since it is only the power of God that saves, I will continue to sincerely pray that God will open your eyes to His truth, the only truth.
“Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” -John 14:6
LikeLike
“ If Jesus could see the mess of supernatural nonsense that two thousand years of both intent and error have done to his simple message of civility and love, he’d be spinning in his very, very human grave”.
– Randy 13:66
LikeLike