UNITED STATES
Mennonite World Review
July 13, 2020
By Paul Schrag
Hymnal committee stands with abuse survivors
Can we separate the art from the artist? This is one of the questions raised by the removal of seven songs by Catholic composer David Haas from the forthcoming Voices Together hymnal. Haas is credibly accused of sexual misconduct, which he denies.
The question brings to mind a similar one that some Mennonites have thought carefully about: Can we separate the theology from the theologian? This question is asked about John Howard Yoder, whose sexual abuse of women contradicted his identity as the leading Mennonite ethicist of the 20th century.
These questions have two answers: 1) Yes, some people can separate them; and 2) Those who decide about publishing the works should not separate them.
The first answer recognizes every person’s freedom to decide whether an artist’s or writer’s personal life matters. The words and music themselves contain whatever value anyone finds in them. Most worshipers don’t know or care about the source of a song. The reader of a theology book knows the author’s name but might not be interested in the author’s life.
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