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We began addressing the topic of profanity in Christian music in a newsletter a couple of weeks ago, and then readers chimed in with their reactions. Here's a more in-depth commentary on the subject.

It was the summer of 2003, and I was midway through one of the most enthralling albums I'd heard in a long time. One I couldn't wait to share with readers, filled with beautiful melodies, varied musical styles, some of the most expressive singing around, and artful lyricism that often touched on the spiritual. It seemed like a shoe-in for our Best Albums of the Year list.

And that's when the f-bomb dropped.

The album was Over the Rhine's double-disc masterpiece Ohio, and the expletive appears in "Changes Come," a powerful and haunting ballad that mournfully prays for the Second Coming:

Jesus come
Turn this world around
Lay my burden down
Bring the whole thing down

It's an apocalyptic petition worthy of Jeremiah, lamenting a fallen world that can only be redeemed and reclaimed by our sovereign Lord. But then lead singer Karin Bergquist expresses her concern about having a baby in a world that's "too [messed] up for any firstborn son"—only, of course, she didn't sing "messed." Of all the word choices, I thought, why did it have to be that word?

Christian Music Today decided to cover Ohio as part of our Glimpses of God series, which features spiritually themed albums that don't necessarily fit traditional parameters of "Christian music." Some readers expressed their frustration, saying that one word should not override the thoughtful content of the album's 21 songs, or the personal beliefs of the artist. (Bergquist and her husband, Linford Detweiler, who make up Over the Rhine, are Christians, but they're not on a Christian record label.)

In a recent online poll at Christian Music Today, 64 percent of voters feel that profanity is always inappropriate in the music they listen to, while 29 percent said it depends on the context, and another 6 percent are completely unfazed by profanity. Obviously it's fodder for debate.

Profanity in music actually has some historical precedent in the CCM world. It rarely occurs with mainline Christian artists, but is more typically used by those on the fringe of the industry. And not all of them have employed it in the same way.

Bruce Cockburn is a perfect example. Some regard the acclaimed singer/songwriter as an important part of the Jesus Movement in the '70s, with overtly Christian songs like "Joy Will Find a Way," "Can I Go with You?," and "Lord of the Starfields." That last song inspired the name for worship band Starfield nearly twenty years later, and numerous other Christian artists have covered his music over the years. CCM magazine placed Cockburn's Humans and Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws on their 2001 list of The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.

Yet despite his influence on Christian music, Cockburn's provocative ideas and lyricism don't always conform to traditional Christian ideology and theology. All along, Cockburn has occasionally peppered his songs with profanity. "Tell the Universe," from his new CD Life Short Call Now, is a tirade against President Bush for the war in Iraq—"You've been projecting your sh-- at the world/Self-hated tarted up as payback time."

Here, Cockburn conveys his frustration over the political climate. The same could be said of Over the Rhine's "Changes Come," which is, interestingly, virtually identical to U2's "Wake Up, Dead Man," from 1997's Pop—one of the few in their catalog that uses profanity—in theme and word choice, expressing disdain over a fallen world. Bono sings:

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