Christians rock too!
There’s a simple reason why Christian rock music is never going to be convincing: rock n’ roll is about rebellion, and evangelical Christianity is about obedience.
The initial fundamentalist response to rock music was to ban it entirely. In fact, that’s still the diehard fundamentalist position. One of the main differences between evangelicals and fundamentalists is that evangelicals allow Christian rock music, whereas fundamentalists say the whole style is inherently ungodly. After a while, when it became obvious that banning rock music was not going to work, some Christians started using it as a tool for evangelism.
There was a lot of fairly decent Christian rock that sounded like Journey and Bon Jovi. That makes sense because those bands are already inoffensive. It says a lot about evangelicals that there is even a market for Christianised versions of a band whose biggest hit is called “Don’t Stop Believing”.
Evangelical rock is for kids whose parents won’t let them listen normal music. It exists purely as a mechanism of control. The bands probably wouldn’t put it that way, but even the ones who claim to preach the Gospel to ‘the Lost’ actually play to Christian audiences. As a child in the early 90s, I was curious about Guns n’ Roses, Michael Jackson, and Def Leppard. Listening to them was out of the question, so instead I had Bride, Carman, and Petra. They weren’t as good, but because I almost never heard the real thing, I didn’t know that. If I listened to secular rock music, evil spirits in the music would lead me away from God and into a life of sin.
Eventually, that’s what happened, so maybe those fundy preachers knew their stuff after all.
Even though the height of my Christian rock obsession was 1993-1998, almost everything I heard sounded like the 80s. The marketing departments of Christian labels made no bones about providing a Christianised equivalent of secular music. This meant they waited for a style to get popular, and then went and signed a Christian version. Christian rock always lagged a few years behind the secular market, and there was a further delay as I waited for the good stuff to arrive in Britain, in that pre-internet age. In the secular market in 1994, a band that looked and sounded like Extreme couldn’t get arrested, but that was a banner year for Christian AOR.
So Christian rock is powerfully lame. Christian bands had to find a way to seem subversive (so they appealed to the youth) while actually maintaining the status quo. The main way they did this was by pointing out that evangelicals are actually a minority. If you sin and do drugs and have sex and listen to NWA, they told us, you’re just going with the flow. The true cool kids follow Jesus. That’s real rebellion.
Here are some Christian rock classics which try to paint Christianity as the counterculture.
DC Talk – “Jesus Freak” (1995)
People say I’m strange
Does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger?
If you’ve ever heard a song on this list, it will be this. I thought DC Talk’s exposure on MTV, and resultant platinum sales, would be the trigger for international revival as sinners everywhere realised for the first time that faith in God need not involve singing hymns.
Steve Taylor – “I Want to be a Clone” (1983)
If Steve Taylor weren’t a god botherer, rock critics would now be talking about his lyrics in the same breath as Elvis Costello’s. On the face of it, this is a scathing attack on religion:
The language it was new to me
But Christianese got through to me
Now I can speak it fluently
I want to be a clone
But actually Taylor is only criticising denominational Christianity – what evangelicals call “dead churches”. Taylor contrasts this with his own real, living relationship with God. It’s clear from the other lyrics on his debut EP that he is otherwise keen to prop up the establishment, as in “Whatever Happened to Sin“, which satirises liberal views on abortion and homosexuality:
Say it ain’t none of my business, huh?
A woman’s got a right to choose
Now a grave-digger
Next you pull the trigger
What then?
Whatever happened to sin?
[Side note: I once recited the above lyrics from “I Want to be a Clone” to my ACE supervisor when she came to dinner. There was a long silence at the table, and then conversation resumed as though I hadn’t said anything.]
DeGarmo & Key – “Rebel for God” (1994)
Never ones for subtlety, D&K opted to spell it out.
Throw away the garbage you’re eating
Throw away the lies you’re believing
Throw yourself into the saviour
Be a rebel for God
One Bad Pig – “Godarchy” (1989)
One Bad Pig were a Christian punk band. Given the inherent opposition between the punk aesthetic and fundamentalism, this was never going to end well. This is a perfect example of a band who appear to be singing to the unsaved masses, but whose audience are in fact almost entirely Christian. My admiration for One Bad Pig (as a fundamentalist child who’d never even seen anyone drunk) came from how perfectly I thought their lyrics spoke to the needs of punks. I can’t find “Godarchy” on YouTube, but it’s on myspace and spotify.
Tell me what you believe
Jesus or anarchy
Get down on your knees
Let’s live for godarchy
Anarchy is prison
Let’s live for godarchy.
Their tracks “Hey Punk” and “Thrash Against Sin” were similarly incisive. And their classic “Smash the Guitar” somehow managed to link bands trashing their gear with Jesus cleansing the temple.
As you can see, readers, it is we who are the squares.
Related posts:
- Vlog: In conversation with my 8 year-old self (much Christian rock content)
From elsewhere on the web:
- Thrashing for Jesus, rapping for science (Rationalist Association)
- Upon This Rock (GQ)
- Creationism Rocks (my guest post at Laughing in Purgatory)
Posted on May 6, 2013, in Atheism, Christianity, Fundamentalism and tagged Christian rock, DC Talk, DeGarmo & Key, music, One Bad Pig, Steve Taylor. Bookmark the permalink. 47 Comments.
Leaving Fundamentalism 
Hah! I had a couple Carman albums, some Petra. In retrospect, how dire were they?!
The pastor at my parents church, the Reverend Doctor Stanley Jebb, BA, Cert, ThD used to keep books reminding us that since rock songs increased the pulse rate and had other physiological effects, it was evidence that they were to blame for the rise in pre-marital sex.
I actually think the Petra albums On Fire, Beyond Belief and Unseen Power are great. Seriously. And there are a few tunes on some of their other albums I like too. A lot of Christian rock is completely terrible, but in some cases I think the amount of opposition the bands received both from other Christians and secular critics forced them to be good. I sometimes spend a conflicted hour on Spotify listening to Christian rock and being offended by the lyrics. Some of it I like for purely nostalgic reasons, and some of it I think I could seriously listen to today.
I positively loved Beyond Belief growing up, it was my favorite album of all time … kind of. I’m kind of debating now, but I loved it growing up.
It has some great stuff on it. It was kind of a blow to my faith to realise that “Seen and Not Heard” was a total rip-off of “Heaven’s on Fire” by Kiss, and “I Am on the Rock” was a lot like Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”.
Now that you mention it, IAotR sounds like Pour some sugar on Me. But still good music.
Years ago in the early 90s, I was wandering through State College, PA and happened upon a Christian alternative music store. I was stunned. Here was an entire store of not crappy Christian bands. No Carmen, Petra, or Stryper anywhere to be found. I was in heaven. I left with Sixpence None the Richer’s original album on the REX label, Michael Knott and Lifesaver’s Underground, and even a Christian technoband called Deitiphobia. If my heaven had its own soundtrack, that is what it would be. I also later discovered Hoi Poloi, Dig Heyzuss, the 77s, and November Commandment. For a short while, there was a great underground movement of non-sucky Christian music that didn’t sound like Christian music. It was so good, I could play it around my secular friends and they didn’t notice it was Christian. Of course Sixpence hit the bit time with a major record contract and are now totally “secular”. But at least I can say I listened to them way back when. Most people don’t know they started out as Christian in the first place.
Don’t diss Stryper! 😉
I remember seeing some of those bands’ names in Christian rock magazines (I mainly read HM), but not seeing their records in any shops. The guy who worked at my local bookshop was into the The 77s, but I never heard them.
I remember being really excited when Sixpence None the Richer had a big hit with “Kiss Me”. It felt like a real breakthrough for ‘my people’.
I think most of those bands were on really small, indie labels and didn’t get a lot of exposure outside the US. No mp3s and Internet back then. Looking up the REX label and the Blonde Vinyl label, I now remember listening to Circle of Dust, Code of Ethics, and Dead Artist Syndrome. A lot of those artists didn’t set out to make “Christian rock”. They were just Christians who made music and all of them wanted to make music that didn’t suck.
My fundie disowned Amy Grant when she “sold out” and went “secular”. They really didn’t like her before that because in one interview, she mentioned that she occasionally drank a beer. Horrors. I could never choke her music down anyway because I thought it was just awful, like most of the mainstream Christian music out there. They concentrated on the Christian part instead of the music and thus the result.
The thing is, the Christian market didn’t want bands to be remotely original. I wanted to listen to AC/DC, but I wasn’t allowed, so the Christian industry gave me X-Sinner, the Christian AC/DC. That was exactly what I wanted, a Christianised version. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for artistry.
“Don’t diss Stryper!”
I was glad to see you say that (though perhaps you were being facetious). I was going to ask if you considered Stryper the same as the others you mention. I took my young son to see them live in Memphis around 1985 and I thought they were very good. However, as I really did not listen to secular music I could not really compare them with those artist, but they were MUCH better than the leading Contemporary Christian artists.
I have mixed feelings about Stryper. Their image was powerfully lame, and sometimes they lyrics bordered on nursery rhyme levels of triteness. But then, that was true of most other 80s rock bands, and they were certainly no worse in that regard than Poison.
Musically, I could take or leave most of their songs, but they are almost unbelievably tight live. Sometimes I get distracted watching their videos on YouTube, and I can never believe how good the musicianship is. I don’t think there’s another band in their genre that sounds as good live as Stryper does even now. This is from earlier this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSsTgM75DQg
Thanks for the video! I enjoyed it. I have not kept up with them (or any artist) for many years. I didn’t even know they were still together.
I listened. I shuddered. I shuddered some more. I have only one thing to say (definitely NSFW!):
Yay Cramps!!!
On Johnny’s post above, about the late 80s, early 90s, the indie Christian music scene didn’t try and clone any mainstream bands at all. They were all original and did their own music. It was refreshing. Many of those bands still hold up pretty well today because they did try to do their own thing first, aka “musicians who are Christians” as opposed to “Christian musicians.”
Oh and there is also the old U2. Totally Christian.
Yeah, in that regard Christian and secular music are the same: The mainstream is where all the lame, corporate crap hangs out.
This is such a great post! I have this argument with myself all the time..How can rock music be “Christianized” when it represents “rebellion” in the first place…I was a kid who wasn’t allowed but did it anyway and now into adulthood I feel guilty when I listen to rock but I don’t like much Christian music either. It sounds dorky or stupid most of the time (christian rock). Then there’s the whole “manufactured” issue. Today more and more stories are coming out about how the music today, most of it anyway, is 100% manufactured! It’s not real …in the sense that people get together who know how to play their instruments and write these songs from the heart…Today, you really do have the music industry (who many say are illuminati satanists) controlling the artists, their look, their lyrics ….all of it. I did not want to believe it at first but one night I was watching this guy on tv who became a christian after being a satanist, he was telling his story about how he was in so deep (satanism) that he did not know how to get out and he was scared of being killed…he started talking about some of today’s artists being heavily into satanism and how the industry was controlled by it…he named names like Jay z, 30 seconds to mars, etc. I did not believe it so I started looking it up myself and I found this website called vigilant citizen ( I don’t think it’s a Christian website just a guy tryin’ to expose stuff) and I read most of the articles on this site…I have to say the evidence is there to support what this guy says…you should check it out.
Now I just tell people I try to listen to nothing satanic…not always christian ( they say many of the christian artists are 100% controlled by this Satanic industry too like Toby Mac who wrote a song called il am i or something like that- check out the lyrics to see what I mean) very interesting stuff …It’s a shame because the real artists don’t get as much airplay as the ones who (sign away their soul) whether to satan or the industry…no one should have to sign away their soul to play music and become well known! I mean whether a person believes in Satan or not If the heads of the industry do and do questionable things in the name of Lucifer well …that’s not good. It’s a shame to see so many people sell out too but of course no one knows what pressure they are put under to do so.
Speaking as one whose main music taste is for the ‘satanic’ (google the term ‘psychobilly’), I’d say you need to learn the difference between what’s presented as fact and what’s presented as fiction. Would I listen to music “in praise of” the devil if I thought he existed? Of course not.
Now, the devil or ‘the illuminati’ as metaphor for the suits promoting bland, character-free, ‘soul-less’ music, yep, I agree. But as metaphor only.
Funnily enough, I’ve already done a post about evangelical worries over the Illuminati and Satanism. I wouldn’t worry, my friend. The conspiracy theories are not very credible (and nor are the people spreading them). Many of the people claiming to be former Satanists have been exposed as frauds. It’s a great way to make money. No evidence of claimed “Satanic Ritual Abuse” has ever been turned up by police investigations (and I’m sure you can insert your own conspiracy theory about why if you wish).
The post is here: https://leavingfundamentalism.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/fundamentalists-the-illuminati-freemasons-and-the-un/
I was never a hardcore rocker, Christian or otherwise. I did love opera, however. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when someone invited me to see Carman, and it was NOT an opera, but some Christian schlock that passes for music. I quit being friends with that person quite quickly.
That’s actually hilarious!
As a listener of black, death, and doom metal, I would openly acknowledge how tritely “evilllllll” (LOL) some of the lyrics are. On the other hand, there is fascinating stuff in a band like Dark Tranquility. Anyway: there IS great Christian music out there. On the fringes.
Circle of Dust had one pretty tight and enjoyable album!
for more modern bands, check out My Silent Wake (British), who are absolutely amazing doom metal band (from the UK!)
For Americana (experimental/bluegrass/doom/country/psychedelic) music from an unabashed Calvinist (Nazarene) who looks like a younger, crazier, and thinner Tom Petty: check out WOVENHAND. I’ve seen his band twice and can overlook with ease the more dour Calvinism because he is so amazing musically AND lyrically! In the same scene are Jay Munly (and the Lupercalians) and Slim Cessna. Creative, rollicking, fascinating stuff.
One final note: if one accepts the argument (not just Christian) that the REAL God of the western world is Mammon, not Yahweh, then arguably original (not modernized) Christianity can be defined very easily as more rebellious than sleep around and buy a lot of merchandise.
That’s an interesting point about mammon, but the mainstream Christian bands I’m blogging about are barely any less corporate than New Kids on the Block.
True that! 🙂
American Megachurch fundamentalism is a very profitable industry! Niche markets must be served, profitably!
Okay …so I read your other post Jonny. I don’t like Pat Robertson or Tim Lahaye and Frank Paretti I don’t know so much about although I have read two of his books. I think Pat Robertson & Lahaye or fakers and wolves in sheeps clothing. My point is this. I’m not trying to argue for a literal Satan (although I do believe in one) but how do you explain in video after video and one album cover after another they all flash the “all seeing eye, pyramids, etc. etc. They even sing about the illuminati so why are they doing this if it’s just another conspiracy theory…why are all these stuffed suits making them do this? That’s my question. For those who don’t believe in Satan but like Satanic themed music my question is why? If you don’t believe in it then why do you listen to people who sing about it and probably do believe in him( Satan/Lucifer) , I sure wouldn’t listen to Christian music if I did not believe in God.
Same reason I read/watch/listen to other fiction; because it’s entertaining.
And yet, May The Circle Be Unbroken is one of my favourite songs. Also Abide With Me and Rock Of Ages.
Oy. Christian fiction is another level of drek,
Yeah, some idiot I used to work with kept trying to make me read the Left Behind series, after finding out I read SF. No bloody thanks!
(That does remind me though: I keep meaning to get ahold of Patrick Tilley’s Mission. It’s s’posed to be pretty good.)
to answer Andy:
For me, one answer is that I find Yahweh so appalling I find…intriguing…the story of the universe’s great hopeless rebel. It’s thus a matter of “romanticism”, to some extent.
Of course, the “ethics” of “Satanism” are even more ridiculous than those of its opponents, but…the doomed angel thing is artistically interesting, at least.
For a unique perspective, see here. (This is a fascinating site in general).
http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2013/02/is-devil-hero.html
Which raises another kind of interesting side-issue. Have a look in your Bible some time, and count up how much death and destruction is attributed to the God character, versus how much is attributed to some form of devil/demon etc. Read the OT literally, but without a preconceived idea of God being the good guy, and Yahweh-worship starts to look a lot like devil-worship, to me.
Not just the Old Testament. During the Temptation of Christ in the Desert, Satan describes himself as having dominion over the entire world and all its kingdoms.
I think we can see here a vestige of the old Gnostic thread which was running amuck in the Middle East/Roman world of the time!
I always jokingly claim to be a dualist Gnostic, and that Yahweh (the Demiurge) is the devil. Gnosticism answers the Problem of Evil far better than Christianity, imo!
But seriously, read Benjamin Cain’s essay. He points out (truthfully, I think) that modern “Satanism” is really very, very orthodox in supporting the pathologies of the modern economic, social, and even theological structures. Interesting stuff.
Should I get you started on Hillsong? Hahaaha.
Just some random thoughts:
Sixpence None the Richer did a cover of Petra’s “Road to Zion” that was pretty good.
I was never a fan of Stryper’s singing, but I Ioved their guitar playing, especially on “The Way”.
The first lead singer of Petra turned down the lead position of REO Speedwagon. He actually went to my church in the early 80s, and he would lead the church band. He had a 4 octave range, and hearing him sing live was pretty impressive even if you weren’t in to that type of music.
That same church that I attended was also an ACE school during the week. Terrible place.
I enjoy reading the articles on this site. Keep up the good work!
I actually went to church with one of the later guitarist, Pete Orta. All the girls were so in love with him!
Oh to reminisce of the ol’ Christian rock bands!! Life was cool when you could listen to rock just because it was “Christian”. I so remember the Violet Burning, 77’s, Hoi Poloi, Blackball, Ghoti Hook, All Star United, Charlie Peacock, Jars of Clay, W’s….there were some good ones 😀
I still enjoy some good “Christian” rock music now and then, but now I listen to it because I like a particular band/song not because it is Christian. There are some pretty good bands out there, but I’d never listen to the mainstream Christian music–it all sounds the same.
My kids hardly know what “Christian” rock music is, nor will I ever make them listen to Christian only. Growing up listening to it never made me a better person and so much of it is the same as “the world” only with different lyrics. So I’d rather them listen to good music by good musicians–whether it be by a Christian or other. My husband is a musician, so the my kids have the freedom to enjoy all types of music. They actually seem to enjoy the older rock music like Journey or Uncle Kracker.
Here’s this little tidbit – Frontman of the Christian metal band “As I Lay Dying” arrested for trying to have his wife killed.
http://moralcompassblog.com/2013/05/08/christian-rocker-sics-hitman-on-his-wife/
If you liked this post, you might be interested in my new guest post on creationism in Christian rock at http://www.laughinginpurgatory.com/2013/05/guest-post-by-jonny-scaramanga.html
A bit late commenting on this (I’ve been following you are a few months now Jonny), I’m a former YEC living in blighty.
In my Christian days I listened almost exclusively to Christian music and owned most of the Petra albums. I didn’t like the new line up though and after God Fixation I lost interest in them. I agree on the three albums you mention as being great ones.
I also had most of the WWMT albums, I prefer the tracks with Deronda Lewis doing vocals. I’m more of a dance person than a rock person, so loved stuff like Hydro and Pura. I’ve even got a rave album somewhere (Ravenous I think).
I lost my faith about four years ago now and I’ve not listened to any of these albums since before then. I will often see an album cover and instantly start humming some of the tracks and fondly remember when I used to enjoy it, but now I simply can’t bring myself to listen to them again.
Thanks limey. I remember that rave album coming out – the band was called Zero, and the album Ravenous. Or the other way around. We must be about the same age.
I can bring myself to listen to them, but there are definitely parts that make me uncomfortable.
That’s the one, the band was indeed Zero. I remember one time I was listening to it on the way to work very loudly (yes I was one of those!) and the track with the sirens on it came on while I was stationary at traffic lights. The motorcyclist in front of me immediately started looking around for the emergency vehicle, giving me something to chuckle about for the rest of the day.
My vintage is shortly after man landed on the moon, if that puts us in a similar ballpark!
Oh I never really got into Stryper or One Bad Pig, I knew folks who would talk enthusiastically about them but I never really got into them. Wasn’t there also a band called Half Man Half Biscuit?
I didn’t go to a couple of Fat and Frantic gigs though!
Sorry, did, not didn’t. Doh!
I disagree that rock is entirely about rebellion. “Rebellion” stopped as soon as the money started coming in, and it’s been commercial and profit-driven since Bill Haley’s day. Rock is about ‘faux rebellion,’ but even that’s too pointed. Generally rock is, and has ever been, about drinkin’, partyin’, and gettin’ laid, preferably at the same time. Which is pretty much the same thing Country’s always been about. And Rap. And whatever. It’s not a deep genre, generally. Things aimed at 14 year olds seldom are.
The best and worst you can say is “This song generated some emotional response in me,” and that’s not limited to secular or Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or French or whatever kind of music you happen to be listening to. It’s a property of good music: it moves you, regardless of the agenda (Which, again, is mostly to make money)
Firstly, Christian Rock has gotten better than it was in my youth. I still won’t listen to it, just as a matter of principle (I am a Christian, by the way), but it’s better than it used to be.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but here’s the story we were told: Once upon a time there was a secular band who sucked. They said “We suck, we need to find a captive audience who either won’t notice we suck, or will feel it’s their duty to put up with it.” So they started recording Christian music, which would generally be purchased by grandmothers, who gave it to their grandsons to keep them away from the dungeons and dragons and the hippity-hop music. The grandsons never listened to it, and probably threw it away. But you’ve got an audience who feels it’s their duty to buy crap because it’s furthering the Lord’s work. Initially I was going to name the band this story is associated with, but honestly it fits several, and I don’t suppose it matters. My beef with Christian music is a pretty dated, ’80s thing, which appeared to be rather mercinary, and may not be the case now.
Anyway, my concern is simply about wolves in the fold using Christians as an easy source of revenue for substandard products. We are frequently easy marks.
I perceive that the people that say that rock music is of Lucifer are of Lucifer themselves. Let me tell you all why this is so, people. The reasons for this are because these people may make all of the arguments about beats and of tempos and drums that they want, as well as every other silly little argument that is merely calling out themselves to promote their own religious ritualistic, occult, and Lucifer originated theories, and their general push for you to buy into their own evil merchandise and to promote their OWN Lucifer promoting agendas, as well as to simply play a shell game upon the deluded and simple-minded lay people of Christianity, Judaism, and everything else in this world, but they never ask the really important questions, such as who created Lucifer, who created the angels that were in charge of music in the realm of Heaven, who created all of the different musical genres, or, more accurately, the concepts of said genres, who created the different musical instruments, or, more accurately, the concepts of said musical instruments, and who created all of the different musicians that had ever lived? The answer is quite simple and that is YAHWEH EL ELOHIM (JEHOVAH GOD or I AM THAT I AM, and no, this is NOT a reference to Popeye the Sailor Man, contrary to your beliefs on the matter) made all of this possible by His own hands. Furthermore, by using the concepts of these people, one could also make the same argument for ANY musical genre, including even so-called “gospel music,” classical music, and Gregorian chants. These people also fail to realize the simple fact that, for everything that YAHWEH EL ELOHIM has made, Lucifer has made a counterfeit of said things, much to the chagrin of these people as well as much to the contrary of their OWN Lucifer originated doctrines and what said doctrines say about the matter.
The bottom line is a paraphrase from a political statement and it is “It is not the genre of the music that is evil in form, rather, it is it the MESSAGE that is evil in form, you stupid idiots!” These people also conveniently forget that Christianity and Judaism were BOTH the forerunners and trendsetters for the rest of the world in everything that is good with the world, regardless of whether it is about peaceful forms of government, the arts, music, literature, job creation, or anything else in this world. Where are our modern-day da Vinci, Tolkien, and the like of our time? Why are we not laying claim to things that Christians and Jews ran without question from the rest of the world? These so-called “preachers” that preach this false gospel are also making claims about music that have not been substantially proven and they tell us that we essentially MUST believe what THEY believe or that we will go to Sheol (Hell) for rejecting their words. I have a few questions to say about the matter and they are do not the Holy Scriptures mention that we have to test the spirits to see whether they are good or bad, that we should have the ability to choose for ourselves whom we will serve, and that YAHWEH EL ELOHIM, and not mere humans, only has the power to determine what is good and what is not good and that only humans that speak under His authority are the ones that are qualified to talk of such matters to other people in their lives? When did we allow Sharia law to creep into Christianity and Judaism, let alone secularism or an indecisive, incontinent, or incompetent nature to do likewise to our faith? Finally, who gave these people the authority to let THEIR words become the laws that we must follow rather than the Law of the Law Giver named YAHWEH EL ELOHIM and His Holy Scriptures? (I can at least tell you that YAHWEH EL ELOHIM surely did not give these people their evil power.) We need to let the Holy Scriptures interpret themselves unless we rely upon the HOLY SPIRIT/GHOST to help us divide the matter further in case we need a better view upon the matter. Finally, I am a staunch follower of a Young Earth Creationist movement because evolution and its related ilk are ALL Lucifer originated lies.
Furthermore, to promote these things that have been proven to be false is not only against the nature of a true servant and follower of YAHWEH EL ELOHIM, but that it also violates NUMEROUS passages of the Holy Scriptures AND it also promotes, among other things, adultery (in the spiritual, mental, and psychological senses, anyway) to demonic beings, namely Lucifer, idolatry (to their own forms of religious ritualism and their occult natures), and witchcraft, all of which are forbidden in the Holy Scriptures. Many of these people that also do this are indeed followers of Lucifer, for they wish to ignore other parts of the argument that they wish to present that says that rock, or any other genre of music, would be considered as occult and Lucifer promoting in nature, such as the words that are spoken outright with music and their actual evil meanings, the words that these people preach from their own mouths, and the questionable practices in which they come up with their information.
These people, well-intentioned as they are, simply have, ironically enough, sold themselves out and their souls to Lucifer in order to “expose” his wicked deeds, yet, at the same time, they hide their own wicked deeds from the world, much like Jimmy Swaggart and others have done in the past. However, with that being said, I CAN say that I do believe, as they do, that hidden messages, back masking, and other things can be hidden within music, and it has been hidden in music, and it has been done for both good AND evil purposes for a variety of reasons, regardless of whether or not that it has been done in satirical form, as was the case with Petra (which was a well played joke by them on the modern-day Pharisees), to promoting an actual agenda, regardless of said agenda being good or bad in the lives, hearts, minds, words, and deeds of the people that promoted such things in their songs. I also agree with them saying that the music industry is also ruled by evil forces and that people have sold themselves out to follow Lucifer and many other evil things in their lives. However, those are the ONLY things that I will agree with them on the matter simply because YAHWEH EL ELOHIM has allowed, as well as shown to me and proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt, on the matter personally in my mind, my heart, and my life, that these things are indeed true. However, as for anything else on the subject, said evil things that they can “prove” are only disguising their own evil intents. This is a complicated moral mine field, but, in the end, it will be a definite black and a definite white that can both be proven and, as they suggest, one has to also study a lot to unravel their own doctrinal errors regarding their misinterpretations of the Holy Scriptures. Finally, like the Holy Scriptures say, we have to study to show ourselves approved to YAHWEH EL ELOHIM when it comes to things like this in our lives.
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