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I've lived in the South most of my life and as a result I must admit that a few variants of country music have grown on me. I will say that it does indeed seem like country music now has more references to "God", "The Good Book", etc... than I remember in the past. But, it doesn't really bother me so much because it's not always what the song is based on.
I remember in Kenny Chesney's song "Back Where I Come From" he sings:
"We learned in a Sunday school
Just who made the sun shine through
I know who made the moonshine too
Back where I come from."
In this case, yeah, he references God but he quickly mentions moonshine which doesn't bother me. Now, if the song went:
"We learned in a Sunday school
Those who believe evolution are a fool.
Learning about Creation makes me drool.
Back where I come from."
Then, that might be a little different. It's all about the context of it. So, certain references don't bother me. Part of the southern lifestyle I've learned to accept out of necessity and there are a lot of songs that reference that and can be enjoyable. I'm not country music's biggest fan but I can deal with it and I don't screech when it comes on the radio.
Can we have an "I agree with GCSTroop" smiley? Something like this? lol
I'm from the school of thought that most country songs follow the same story, anyhow. Something like "My wife left me, my dog died, and my new truck belongs to her new man." I'm not a country fan, but I do remember listening to Hank Williams Jr ("A Country Boy Can Survive", one of my husband's favorite songs.) and actually stopping at the "We say grace" part. I was like "Wait...Damn." lol
I'm from the school of thought that most country songs follow the same story, anyhow. Something like "My wife left me, my dog died, and my new truck belongs to her new man."
I really like blues but that same statement can be applied to alot of blues lyrics. I remember there was an old song with a line where some guy is talking about either his wife or girlfriend and he says: "I asked her to take out the garbage can but she took out the garbage man".
One thing I have no problem in bashing though is music that is mediocre and that would include most of the pop music from the last twenty years, almost all of rap and a few others.
Well, in the last few decades, the mainstream (of everygenre) has been mediocre. It's now cool to do bubblegum pop and make Pepsi commercials. These people (well, a small few of them do) in the mainstream have no point of view. Nothing original at all. There is hope though. What's "hot" in the mainstream changes all the time, because the mediocre artists fade away after they run out of catchphrases that get stuck in people's heads. Not only that, but the underground scene in every genre is larger than the mainstream. For every rock/pop/rap/whatever genre artists you can name that sucks, I can name 20 that are good.
Well, in the last few decades, the mainstream (of every genre) has been mediocre. It's now cool to do bubblegum pop and make Pepsi commercials. These people (well, a small few of them do) in the mainstream have no point of view. Nothing original at all.
I agree with that and I think alot of the blame is due to the big record companies who promote a certain type of product that doesn't allow artistic freedom. The newer country music has merged with rock into a kind of country pop and all of it seems to sound the same. Songwriting is pathetic and the songs you hear are bland and predictable. It's too bad because there's some really talented musicians and vocalists where I live but very few will even be able to make a living at it.
I agree with OP that mainstream country seems to be making more religious references of late. It’s probably more about the money than sending a message. Songwriters and producer see an opportunity to tap into the feelings among their fan base that Christianity is under attack. I bet they've also noticed the growing popularity of Contemporary Christian music and hope to tap into that fan base.
I like a lot of country music; I think there is good and bad music of every genre. I don't listen to Christian rock because I don't agree with what it is trying to sell, but some of it is very good musically.
The song Jesus Take the Wheel did nauseate me. Carrie Underwood is quite a good singer, and it's a shame that she turns her talent to such claptrap. Much country music is simply too et up with Jesus. I'm sure it's a commercial decision for many C&W performers.
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lol 
