When Does This Get Fun?

In my writing, I find myself continually 'dropping' into youth culture. I write about other things, yes, but youth culture comes up frequently.

So, in studying this week for a story involving Christian concerts I came up with mosh pits. My first search led me to mosh pits in general, but I found nothing Christian about them. So I did a search for 'Christian mosh pits.'

As an aside, some time last year I spoke of this topic in our church kitchen and a young man walked past just as I asked if anyone knew about them. His comment? "Mosh pits are awesome!" This young man graduated from high school this year. I am going to see if I can interview him. He also calls himself emo, another aspect of youth culture that I looked into last year. Something else about this young man...last year he wore a very long Mohawk. Though still accepted in our church setting, there were obvious signs of people backing away from him. Once, he shaved his head, leaving a long strip on either side of the Mohawk that had not previously been exposed and then spent some time in the sun...I'll leave the rest of the details to your imagination.

But, back to mosh pits. I found it interesting that the general consensus, at least on the Internet, is that there is very little difference between secular and Christian mosh pits. The biggest difference is lyrical. The style of music? Usually punk, metal or something similar. I did not catch any reference to Techno, but it could be part of the mix too, I guess.

One You Tube I watched showed the dancers on the floor in front of the stage. While the band played, the kids began to jump. This is no two-step, ladies and gentlemen. A large trampoline would serve the purpose well. And, something distinct about the jumping - Their heads loll. Like rag dolls. The jumping began to draw more dancers in, like water droplets that are attracted to others and slide into the larger, congealed mass. The bulk of the crowd in the center held, writhing and twisting, until, as if according to some unseen signal, floor began to appear in the middle, like the parting of the Red Sea. The opening widened. For a moment, the jumping was maintained on the two sides of this expanse and I began to think of clicking off the video. Is this all it is? Then, suddenly, whatever invisible restraint that held them apart dropped away and both sides of the pit ran, ran! into each other: collided without any attempt to soften the impact. I stared, and I think my jaw dropped onto the keyboard. Ouch!!!ouchouchouchouch!

Mosh pits include such activities as slam dancing. This phenomenon involves the jumping of two or three people, as high into the air as they can, and then violently (their word, not mine)slamming their upper bodies together while in the air. Okay....

Then there is crowd surfing. Ever been passed from hand to hand, over the top of a crowd? My daughter saw this once when she was twelve. They dropped the boy on his head. Skull fracture.

The one that made me really wonder, however, was stage diving. Typically, this is done backwards, to avoid injury to softer body parts. I'm sure I don't need to explain this. So if you dive off the stage, backwards, into the wall-to-wall crowd, how do you know they won't drop you? Apparently, this is not a big problem for the kids. I think my chiropractor would cringe, however. Security is typically not in favor of this activity. Just let them try to stop it. Do the words 'mob' and 'riot' sound similar? If not, you need to find a better dictionary.

A recent interview on WayFM revealed yet another injury caused by these activities. The lead singer of a popular Christian band dove off the stage during his last song, microphone still in hand, and broke both of his front teeth out when the mic was violently thrust into this face. Ok, maybe it's just me, but I wanted to say 'duh!'

The scene includes large, flashing lights and music so loud that you can't hear for days afterwards. Stimulus overload. Sensory bombardment.

Mosh pits have etiquette rules, too. The main one? If someone falls down, pick them up. Now, I ask you, why does this even need to be said?

I see two reasons. One, the kids who are jumping are not using their consciences. Or they are not expected to. If they were, they would not need to be told to do this. Two, this is a highly emotional experience. Can you feel the beat? Throbbing and pulsing, reaching into your head, stirring your feet, energizing your soul? Don't we all tap our feet (or at least one foot!) to music? Adrenaline rush, to the max! In fact, they call this 'adrenaline music.'

It's extreme sports on the dance floor.

The emotional, adrenaline-induced high that is achieved first by the music and then the gyrating movement, and then the painful physical contact is unequalled. It's addicting. Literally. Emotionally. Spiritually.

So if you're addicted to extreme dance, I'll bet 'regular life' can seem kind of boring...

Another fact I came up with in my research - this is a wonderful place for pedophiles and gropers. But ladies, if you raise your voice and point your finger, rest assured that your honor will be defended, violently.

So, a question. In the secular community, at least at the Raves that I researched, there is heavy use of energy drinks and stimulants, such as Ecstasy. The purpose of these stimulants is to give them the energy to maintain the activity level for long time periods. At the Raves, the kids often dance with a water bottle in their hands. They have learned that the prolonged excess energy has put many of them in the hospital for dehydration. Another serious side affect of the stimulants is heart failure. The body wasn't meant to sustain that level of activity, and adrenaline for long time periods. My question is this: Are these stimulants prevalent in the Christian scene, too? I use the term Christian loosely here, you understand. Christian means 'of or pertaining to Christ.' What would Jesus do? Would he jump into the pit and throw himself violently against the others, pushing and shoving? I'll let you answer that one.