Al: "look at all the religious paintings that were done to glorify a church that burned people in the market place. do you say well that does it for me, renaissance painting is of no value, because it pushes the values that i don't agree with?"

Al, that's a spurious analogy that's not worthy of you. No one is saying "All trad songs are of no value because they push values that I don't agree with."

The question was, "Are trad songs sexist?" and the consensus is, yes, some are. And surprise! they reflect the values of their context of composition.

Forgiveness doesn't come into it, and yes, we all have feet of clay. I think as you point out, it's distance that makes the difference, rather than any withholding judgment of archaic values. So Vic Smith's examples of dispelling that distance are much more fruitful than back-and-forth about cultural relativism.

To tell the truth, however, I'd rather look at Michelangelo's Pieta than the anti-semitic paintings of Jews mocking Jesus by Bosch and the Master of the Karlsruhe Passion. Once you know the purpose of these paintings, and how well they succeeded, it sort of takes the fun out of it. Nor do I care much for Pedro Berruguete's portrayal of St. Benedict presiding over an auto da fe, even if "Berruguete's way of representing the platform, and the delicacy, elegance and harmony of his colours are all indications that the innovations of Italian art of the fifteenth century had already found their way to Spain." Burning of the Heretics

Life is so short, and there is so much great art and music. Why bother with this sort of stuff?