Question for fellow christian metalheads.

An honest question here but how do you guy's reconcile your faith and love of heavy metal? I've had a heck of time and have come close to giving up metal or my faith a few times. I mean I can see the christian metal part but I have a love of death and black metal.

Am I missing something or am I being too hard and restrictive on myself. I appriciate any feedback that you guys can give. I've read this board for awhile now and figured this might be a good place to ask this question.

Portharbor wrote:

An honest question here but how do you guy's reconcile your faith and love of heavy metal? I've had a heck of time and have come close to giving up metal or my faith a few times. I mean I can see the christian metal part but I have a love of death and black metal.

Am I missing something or am I being too hard and restrictive on myself. I appriciate any feedback that you guys can give. I've read this board for awhile now and figured this might be a good place to ask this question.

You are being too hard on yourself!!!!! It's just music - not like you are sacrificing virgins to satan!!!!!

I once got rid of my metal - and i regret it!!!!!!!!!! I wish I still had all that vinyl i used to, but o well, I replaced it all

If it bothers you, destroy it.

I purged my collection of a lot of things once, and rarely regret it.
Had to clean my mind and home of all that bad energy.

Smashed anything with a sledgehammer that gave a "bad vibe" and threw it in the trash so it couldn't contaminate others (this is the part where others would say it should have been sold.)

Years later, started building a "collection" again ONLY WHEN I was able to ignore the lyrics, which is pretty easy as most black/death metal singers can't be understood anyway.
I still try to avoid buying albums with cover art with gore and blatantly blasphemous images.

You do not even have to ask anybody advice on this, just go with your God-given instinct on what is right for you.

Portharbor wrote:

An honest question here but how do you guy's reconcile your faith and love of heavy metal?

I don't feel there's anything to reconcile. My conscience is clear as long as I'm not listening to anything blasphemous or pornographically nasty.

Not a christian anymore (not because of music but my own personal believes) but when I was I went through the same thing. Just look at it this way,music is a story,you dont need to take any sort of literal meaning out of it.

I equate listening to such music with watching a horror movie. I personally can't stand music that gripes about the problems Christians cause etc. I still listen to a lot of Slayer myself.

It's very simple for me. I personally don't believe in anything called "Christian" metal or "secular" metal. It's all just different forms of sounds under the big umbrella of metal where those sounds are broken down as thrash, black, death, etc. I don't care for ideologies or beliefs in music. That's not where I go for spiritual matters. If certain bands bother you, just don't listen to it. Do it for yourself, but don't do it out of fear.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Listening to Mayhem won't make you anymore evil, and listening to Mortification won't make you anymore holier. It's just music, I don't get offended by any bands beliefs or agenda's. Many so-called Christian bands lyrics annoy me more than most bands that are not because one they are usually cheesy and two, I'm Orthodox so my view of Christianity is opposed to the agenda of just about every band I know, whether "christian" or not.

I feel really similar to Vartan, its all entertainment. Don't ask any of us about what the right thing to do is, only your inner authority can give you an answer.

Another thing to think about if you feel pressured into some kind of fundamentalist lifestyle that is not you by a family member or pastor or somebody, is that if you throw out all your secular music, you best do the same to whatever books, films, etc that are not christian in nature also otherwise it would be hypocritical.

I hope you get an affirmation on what you should do quickly bro! goodluck.

If you listen to a band and it makes ya wanna go beat your wife and kids, so to speak. Well there may be an issue with it ? We all have our convictions. The choice is yours.

Stender wrote:

Another thing to think about if you feel pressured into some kind of fundamentalist lifestyle that is not you by a family member or pastor or somebody, is that if you throw out all your secular music, you best do the same to whatever books, films, etc that are not christian in nature also otherwise it would be hypocritical.

Excellent point my friend, you got to the heart of the issue beyond the music.

Do what you feel is right for you at this time. Many of us here have thrown out our secular music at one time or another... only to regret it later and buy them all back. But if you feel uncomfortable with it at this time you should put them away in storage and see if you change your mind later on.

I like metal that Christian lyrics and stuff that doesnt. If there is something I dont like, I dont listen to it.

GrandNational wrote:

It's very simple for me. I personally don't believe in anything called "Christian" metal or "secular" metal. It's all just different forms of sounds under the big umbrella of metal where those sounds are broken down as thrash, black, death, etc. I don't care for ideologies or beliefs in music. That's not where I go for spiritual matters. If certain bands bother you, just don't listen to it. Do it for yourself, but don't do it out of fear.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Listening to Mayhem won't make you anymore evil, and listening to Mortification won't make you anymore holier. It's just music, I don't get offended by any bands beliefs or agenda's. Many so-called Christian bands lyrics annoy me more than most bands that are not because one they are usually cheesy and two, I'm Orthodox so my view of Christianity is opposed to the agenda of just about every band I know, whether "christian" or not.

What this guy said, up in here, fo'shizzle.

As for me... music is music, I have said it many a time now so y'all who've known me a while can sing along with me.... I don't care if a band worships God, Satan, Captain Kirk or the Teletubbies. If they're a good band, they're a good band. If they suck, they suck.

Troublezone wrote:

Do what you feel is right for you at this time. Many of us here have thrown out our secular music at one time or another... only to regret it later and buy them all back. But if you feel uncomfortable with it at this time you should put them away in storage and see if you change your mind later on.

That is sound advice, I regret not keeping many of my CDs after my conversion (I didn't have a computer at the time otherwise I'd have ripped my CDs to my computer before selling them off). I still stay away from a lot of obvious blasphemy in song titles and album cover art but even then I can turn the CD insert around in many cases. I'm more forgiving of lyrics that compromise my faith as long as I'm not singing along or if I can change the words to fit my beliefs, but some people can't do that when they sing-a-long so that approach might not be best for them. In the end, if you don't feel like a certain song, band, or album is preventing you from living your faith then don't worry about it. If you do feel it is affecting your walk with God, then dump it or put it away.

Of all the stuff that can hurt your walk with God, the music you listen to is the least thing to worry about IMO. I don't know of any person who fell from grace because they were listening to Mercyful Fate or Celtic Frost.

Stender wrote:

I feel really similar to Vartan, its all entertainment. Don't ask any of us about what the right thing to do is, only your inner authority can give you an answer.

Another thing to think about if you feel pressured into some kind of fundamentalist lifestyle that is not you by a family member or pastor or somebody, is that if you throw out all your secular music, you best do the same to whatever books, films, etc that are not christian in nature also otherwise it would be hypocritical.

I hope you get an affirmation on what you should do quickly bro! goodluck.

x500000000

I have a hard time taking some of the more extreme metal bands lyrics, I look at some of them as Stephen King novels put to music, and some of the hair metal bands sexual lyrics were so over the top and dumb, I just took it as harmless fun.

I really do not see music as a tool used by Satan and his seven drawfs, he is busy creating shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom to put one's soul in moral danger.

manny wrote:

I really do not see music as a tool used by Satan and his seven drawfs, he is busy creating shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom to put one's soul in moral danger.

The post of the day!

manny wrote:

I really do not see music as a tool used by Satan and his seven drawfs, he is busy creating shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom to put one's soul in moral danger.

they make satan jealous that he didnt think of it first!

manny wrote:

I have a hard time taking some of the more extreme metal bands lyrics, I look at some of them as Stephen King novels put to music, and some of the hair metal bands sexual lyrics were so over the top and dumb, I just took it as harmless fun.

I really do not see music as a tool used by Satan and his seven drawfs, he is busy creating shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom to put one's soul in moral danger.

I don't know. I think reality television is a bit beneath even Beelzebub.

i think reality tv makes satan wondering if he is not the only prince of this world...

I am a devout Christian as well and I have struggled with this exact issue in the past. I personally am at a point now where some of the "evil" lyrics come off as more cheesy than 80's hair bands. For me personally, my criteria comes down to "can I (Not will I) listen to it around my kids. Obviously that narrows it down a bit. My other BIG check is the blasphemy factor. These are my own personal beliefs and I have no right what to tell another person what they can or cannot say, after all, at some point I will want to be heard too.

My advice... PRAY!!

jettafiend wrote:

I am a devout Christian as well and I have struggled with this exact issue in the past. I personally am at a point now where some of the "evil" lyrics come off as more cheesy than 80's hair bands. For me personally, my criteria comes down to "can I (Not will I) listen to it around my kids. Obviously that narrows it down a bit. My other BIG check is the blasphemy factor. These are my own personal beliefs and I have no right what to tell another person what they can or cannot say, after all, at some point I will want to be heard too.

My advice... PRAY!!

This is good advice. No one can tell you what is best for you.Its between you and God.

Personally,I can listen to alot of different stuff unles its just overly blasphemous.In the End,its just a form of entertainment just like a movie or television.

Thrasher73 wrote:

jettafiend wrote:

I am a devout Christian as well and I have struggled with this exact issue in the past. I personally am at a point now where some of the "evil" lyrics come off as more cheesy than 80's hair bands. For me personally, my criteria comes down to "can I (Not will I) listen to it around my kids. Obviously that narrows it down a bit. My other BIG check is the blasphemy factor. These are my own personal beliefs and I have no right what to tell another person what they can or cannot say, after all, at some point I will want to be heard too.

My advice... PRAY!!

This is good advice. No one can tell you what is best for you.Its between you and God.

Personally,I can listen to alot of different stuff unles its just overly blasphemous.In the End,its just a form of entertainment just like a movie or television.

I agree.

I like Venom. I like Stryper. I am not a Christian, nor am I Satanist. The lyrics of both don't bug me the least bit; they both play awesome metal that makes me wanna get up and jump around the room in a frenzy (a good one).

As long as the lyrics aren't hateful, I couldn't really care less what they're singing about.

What does bug me are the "televangelists" who use religion as a weapon to prey on the gullible and naive.

I just refuse to listen to any bands where the whole point of the band is to attack Christianity (deicide, immolation, etc). I also skip over songs critical of religion unless theyre attacking those who use religion for unjust methods, and not criticizing religion or faith itself.