Questions about god and my choice of music.

[sjeu]

Hi, This is my first post and I am obviously new here.

To many im sure this will be a wierd post but it is something I have been wondering about for some time. I love god, I believe in god, I am not very religious and I do not go to church every week. The last time I have been to church is probably over 10 years ago, on top of that, im only 21 so I was pretty young.

My question is really simple and has to do with my choice of music. I Love metal, to me this is by far the most talented music genre of them all, nothing else can compare. As some of you may know metal can often have satanic, anti religion, and anti god themes. To be fair metal ranges from Christian and fantasy themes to down right I hate god themes. Never the less, many of the bands I do enjoy do have an anti christian or religion theme. I do not believe all of these bands are evil. No doubt there are evil bands out there, but most do not take it any further than the music itself. Often in metal, one does not like a band based lyrics alone. It is very common for metal lovers to enjoy bands that speak other languages that they cannot understand. When I like a band with satanic or anti religion themes it is mostly the music itself.

So, there you have it, I love metal and I often like bands that are anti god. Am I bad? I dont think so. Am I wrong for listening and enjoying this music? I dont think so, it is simply music. I dont have the same views as many of these anti religion bands.

I am interested in other opinions on this subject, thanks for reading.

[sjeu]

So, after reading a few post on the search I think I came to the wrong place.

After reading someone that didnt want her child to read HARRY POTTER and a thread on music that had a couple metal post I am completely shocked at how over the top some of you can be.

What is wrong with reading harry potter? Is a kid turning someone into a frog in a fantasy tale so wrong? The music thread was that much worse. From what I understood it was someone talking about wanting to start a christian death metal bad. Not the best of mix obviously but the replies were just horrible. First of all many people simply seemed to write the poster off because he wanted to start a metal band. The few people that new close to nothing about metal that posted were completely wrong in every single last sentence. There were bands named that arent even considered metal. Death metal is now korn singing about being picked on in school and obviously someone with that kind of lyrical theme is wrong? Korn isnt metal at all and the lyrical theme is anything but evil imo.

Death metal is nothing more that a style of metal. It does not have to be about death but can often be about hate or other extreme emotions. Once again, detal metal is just a genre, it has its name from the style of music. It is not called death metal because of its lyrical content.

I am hoping someone will prove me wrong here with a decent post about my topic.

[ayin jade]

Hi and welcome to worthy.

If someone struggles with their faith, then the music with antiGod themes isnt the best music to be listening to. The bible tells us:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things.

Youve heard that phrase "garbage in, garbage out." Well if you listen to anti God things a lot, it will affect you on some level.

A bigger issue than music is your walk with the Lord. Who is Jesus to you? You havent been in church in a long time. You are not very religious. Do you pray? It sounds like you need to have a stronger walk with the Lord. To have Him in first place in your life. (And I dont mean toss the music to have Him in first place in your life.)

Who is Jesus to you?

[InternalFlame]

I understand what you are saying here - you like the way it sounds, even if the lyrics aren't neccessarily good, it's not the lyrics you like but the way it sounds. I have had this too where I have liked the way a peice of music sounds but the lyrics aren't exactly the best out there.

However, I do have to say that such lyrics can affect you on a subconcious level - a good example is a person being around people who swear a lot usually ends up swearing themselves...all I am saying is that our surroundings and what we listen to DO affect us even if we think we don't, and we have to be careful about it.

Besides, I have seen some pretty good metal bands out there that aren't neccessarily anti-God.

[lily00]

Edited January 26, 2006 by lily00

[KatieK]

Hi sjeu. I'm pretty sure God likes all types of music from those old hymns to rap to heavy metal. I think God's got a lyric preferance. Metal can honor God just as much as hymns and stuff. I'm a little surprised that people where dissing metal just for a few (maybe a majority)but not all bands. I don't know how hard rock you are but check out this site anyway. http://www.christianhardrock.net By the way my youth pastor is ALL hard rock and he's a great Christian. If the satanic type stuff is getting in your head and causing problems in your spiritual life then find a new band, if not still don't drown yourself in it. Gosh some people on this site really have a bias against metal?

[babyroses]

christian music has some awesome heavy metal.

[sjeu]

Yes, there are quite a bit of good christian heavy metal acts. Hard rock isnt really my thing outside of a couple bands.

Not all of my music has anti religion themes, most of them infact dont. A few people seem to think that listening to this music will divide me and god and I really can understand why they say that. Lyrical content in music isnt going to change my opinion. Perhaps for many it could, but just because a band I like claims not to like god does not mean I dont.

Basically, am I sining? for listening to music with anti religion themes in the eyes of god? I am listening to something I enjoy, not praising it and doing as they say in the song. I do not agree with anti religion themes in any way and there is no way that someone could force their views on me. I am not going to all of a sudden become some anti religion person over my choice of music. Should I drop a band I really enjoy just because it sometimes has an anti christian theme? Is god really going to say, "Matthew, you've done well, you are a really good person, but you listen to (band name here), so you're going to burn! Of course god would not talk like that imo, but you get the idea.

Lily00 - You say you used to read harry potter so I take it you enjoy it. Why did you stop? Didnt you like reading the books? Were they really that bad? What in the world is so bad about harry potter? I just can not get over this, how is harry potter bad?

Ayin Jade - I dont think of myself as having problems with my faith. No, I do not go to church. Yes, I do pray everynight. I get up at 6 am and go to school until 2, I work from 3 to 10-2 am depending on the day. I wouldnt mind going to church, and of course this may be an excuse, but it is kind of hard to fit in as of now. I dont think not going to church hurts the relationship between me and god. As I said above, I have my views which are in many ways just like most of you here. The bands I listen to have theirs. It is music I enjoy. I am not one to change the way I am over something as small as music. The main reason I am here is to try and figure out if the music will actually hurt my relationship with god. Listening to metal isnt a good enough reason for me to kick god out of my life.

KatieK - The music is not getting into my head. It is not hurting my spiritual life. Why should I not listen to it? Sometimes I listen to music a lot, sometimes I dont. What exactly do you mean by drown myself in it? The replies here seems to be aiming for the same thing. Listening to this music isnt going to change my views on god or anything else. With as much as I love music and metal and through the 100's of bands if listened to, it has yet to happen.

Edited January 27, 2006 by sjeu

[Gerioke]

1 Cor 6:12 All things are permissable but not all things are profitable.

You may not be sinning, but you may not be doing yourself any favours either.

Matthew 15

11 Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Mark 7: 14 And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you:

15 There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean.

The Lord spoke the universe into existance, so I believe there is power in the spoken word. Anti christian lyrics are like poison to your spirit.

Genisis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

[followerofjesus]

Don't confuse religion w/ faith. If you have a level of discernment your heart will distinguish wether its good or bad.Personally I don't see a problem w/ music or movies as long as you can distinguish the difference between good & evil. Alot of people aren't capable of doing that.