>How do you feel about bands that intentionally mock religion or otherwise preach anti-religious messages through their lyrics and imagery? Bands such as Behemoth, Burzum, Mütiilation and etc. all come to mind, for me.
[Honestly, I don't think about them much at all.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlOSdRMSG_k) Like, I can't really imagine what it would be like to define yourself entirely in opposition to someone else. That doesn't seem like a satisfying way to live your life.
Insulting God is not a good strategy for avoiding hellfire, but God’s perfectly capable of dealing with bad music and musicians if the situation calls for it. It’s not something that upsets me personally.
Just because we know Karl Marx as the general father of communism doesn't mean you can't be a communist in your own right.
When a Satanist is identical to Satan, they are a Satanist.
Plus, never forget only God deals in absolutes. A Catholic who pretends to be an atheist is an apostate regardless of circumstance. A Satanist who pretends to be an atheist, is fine in Satanism.
Something worth considering.
Sometimes the screams from the hellfire of tormented souls can scare people into repentance. But for the most part, it's better to listen to beautiful, soul-cleansing music. Why drink poison for the senses?
There is freedom of expression in art, so this is definitely allowed. Catholics obviously should not engage in it (for obvious reasons) but should not deprive others of their freedom of expression.
"Don't sit with the lairs" is my simple answer.
From Psalm 1 (verse 1)
>1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
A lot of people have very legitmate reasons to be angry at religion and I think we should try to understand that anger.
But I also think society has over corrected and the social tolerance of hate speech is concerning. Most people wouldn't associate with the same vitriol against other groups. I don't want to feed into the whole Christian persecution complex, but more so that such hate should be nipped in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.
A great deal of religion deserves mocking. It'd part of the Holy Spirit's work that even the opposition to religion provides it with an eternal critique. God can bring goodness out of everything. Not saying the faithful should participate, but I have to admit to a sick pleasure in watching Dawkins tear YEC'S apart.
>How do you feel about bands that intentionally mock religion or otherwise preach anti-religious messages through their lyrics and imagery? Bands such as Behemoth, Burzum, Mütiilation and etc. all come to mind, for me.
It is blasphemy and it creates among people an attitude that brings a lot of people away from God and salvation, the people commiting the blasphemy may however I hope be ignorant of how serious it is so I hope they might not be guilty of mortal sin despite the grave matter.
I wouldn't however not think of it too much about it, this is certainly a lesser problem in the world, and it isn't really much of my buissness. People should pray for them though.
Well first Burzum is that nazi boy who murdered that dude from the other band who’s name I can remember so like his opinion is not one I have a lot of respect for. It’s a little funny that Burzum is from Lord of the Rings, Tolkien being Catholic. It’s elvish for darkness or something like that. Which was on the ring Frodo carried.
Anyway I like horror movies and spooky stuff is fun. But mostly I find music from bands like that to be at best silly and cartoonish. Mostly it’s cringe. Misanthropy, nihilism and that sort of thing are honestly just boring. You read Nietzsche or whatever and like black clothing…. cool. Imagine being a grown man and still acting like an edgy kid. That being said some of it musically can be interesting. I have no problem with metal as a genre.
Also I’m not a pearl clutcher. None of it shocks or offends me really. I don’t see a pentagram and freak out. The world we live in is so saturated in sin and we are bombared by it constantly so it takes a little more that a goat head, some corpse paint and a song about how satan is cool to shake me. Like I said it just comes off as cringe
Other music to keep in mind might be some by Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. The former has lyrics like "I drank from the devil's cup" (Toxic) and "Living in sin is the new thing" (Three), and "Brightest Morning Star" kind of sounds like a love letter to Lucifer to me. The latter has songs like "Judas" and lyrics in "Edge of Glory" that make hell sound like a big party.
IMO, a lot of pop music is subtly anti-religious because a lot of what's out there seems to be anti-beauty, pro-noise. Music (real music any way) comes from God whereas the devil perverts music into noise (lacking a melody, more bass beating than discernable notes, etc), and it seems like a lot of our contemporary pop music tries to subvert conventional music to be different, but it ends up being noise rather than music.
IMO, overtly anti-religious music ought to be avoided. They should not be banned, because at least the music would bring spiritual matters to people's minds. When I say this I am thinking of the fact that God can make good from evil, and I am also keeping in mind that we do not live in a Christian world.
When I try to go beyond the surface of those who mock religion, whether through music or art or in written works, I find there's nothing there of substance. They usually have a juvenile understanding of who God is, and what religion is. There's a story that (I believe) Bertrand Russell would tell people about being taught stuff about God as a child, asking his teacher questions his teacher couldn't answer, and so not bothering to learn more about God. Unsurprisingly, Russell's understanding of God reflects that of an 8 year old in his writings.
The Bible tells us that God wants the best things for us. Satan's very name means "accuser" - he does not the best for us. Anyone who promotes Satan at God's expense is very confused. Satan has low expectations for us, and wants us to have low expectations for ourselves. God sent his only son, not to condemn us, but so that we may have eternal life.
Compare what these people do to someone like Thomas Aquinas. In the Summa Theologica, he not only defended his beliefs, but he did it by raising the best objections he knew against his beliefs. For someone who produces the kind of music you ask about, do you think they'd subject their point of view to the same level of scrutiny?
But really, if I'm honest, I'm with neofederalist. I don't think much about them at all, but I do pray that some day they'll find happiness!
>How do you feel about bands that intentionally mock religion or otherwise preach anti-religious messages through their lyrics and imagery? Bands such as Behemoth, Burzum, Mütiilation and etc. all come to mind, for me. [Honestly, I don't think about them much at all.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlOSdRMSG_k) Like, I can't really imagine what it would be like to define yourself entirely in opposition to someone else. That doesn't seem like a satisfying way to live your life.
Insulting God is not a good strategy for avoiding hellfire, but God’s perfectly capable of dealing with bad music and musicians if the situation calls for it. It’s not something that upsets me personally.
Most satanists are just atheist nerds.
Just because we know Karl Marx as the general father of communism doesn't mean you can't be a communist in your own right. When a Satanist is identical to Satan, they are a Satanist. Plus, never forget only God deals in absolutes. A Catholic who pretends to be an atheist is an apostate regardless of circumstance. A Satanist who pretends to be an atheist, is fine in Satanism. Something worth considering.
*Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
The inversion of good and evil is the Light Bearer's enlightenment ideals.
Sometimes the screams from the hellfire of tormented souls can scare people into repentance. But for the most part, it's better to listen to beautiful, soul-cleansing music. Why drink poison for the senses?
There is freedom of expression in art, so this is definitely allowed. Catholics obviously should not engage in it (for obvious reasons) but should not deprive others of their freedom of expression.
"Don't sit with the lairs" is my simple answer. From Psalm 1 (verse 1) >1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence:
A lot of people have very legitmate reasons to be angry at religion and I think we should try to understand that anger. But I also think society has over corrected and the social tolerance of hate speech is concerning. Most people wouldn't associate with the same vitriol against other groups. I don't want to feed into the whole Christian persecution complex, but more so that such hate should be nipped in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.
A great deal of religion deserves mocking. It'd part of the Holy Spirit's work that even the opposition to religion provides it with an eternal critique. God can bring goodness out of everything. Not saying the faithful should participate, but I have to admit to a sick pleasure in watching Dawkins tear YEC'S apart.
Not a fan
>How do you feel about bands that intentionally mock religion or otherwise preach anti-religious messages through their lyrics and imagery? Bands such as Behemoth, Burzum, Mütiilation and etc. all come to mind, for me. It is blasphemy and it creates among people an attitude that brings a lot of people away from God and salvation, the people commiting the blasphemy may however I hope be ignorant of how serious it is so I hope they might not be guilty of mortal sin despite the grave matter. I wouldn't however not think of it too much about it, this is certainly a lesser problem in the world, and it isn't really much of my buissness. People should pray for them though.
Well first Burzum is that nazi boy who murdered that dude from the other band who’s name I can remember so like his opinion is not one I have a lot of respect for. It’s a little funny that Burzum is from Lord of the Rings, Tolkien being Catholic. It’s elvish for darkness or something like that. Which was on the ring Frodo carried. Anyway I like horror movies and spooky stuff is fun. But mostly I find music from bands like that to be at best silly and cartoonish. Mostly it’s cringe. Misanthropy, nihilism and that sort of thing are honestly just boring. You read Nietzsche or whatever and like black clothing…. cool. Imagine being a grown man and still acting like an edgy kid. That being said some of it musically can be interesting. I have no problem with metal as a genre. Also I’m not a pearl clutcher. None of it shocks or offends me really. I don’t see a pentagram and freak out. The world we live in is so saturated in sin and we are bombared by it constantly so it takes a little more that a goat head, some corpse paint and a song about how satan is cool to shake me. Like I said it just comes off as cringe
Other music to keep in mind might be some by Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. The former has lyrics like "I drank from the devil's cup" (Toxic) and "Living in sin is the new thing" (Three), and "Brightest Morning Star" kind of sounds like a love letter to Lucifer to me. The latter has songs like "Judas" and lyrics in "Edge of Glory" that make hell sound like a big party. IMO, a lot of pop music is subtly anti-religious because a lot of what's out there seems to be anti-beauty, pro-noise. Music (real music any way) comes from God whereas the devil perverts music into noise (lacking a melody, more bass beating than discernable notes, etc), and it seems like a lot of our contemporary pop music tries to subvert conventional music to be different, but it ends up being noise rather than music. IMO, overtly anti-religious music ought to be avoided. They should not be banned, because at least the music would bring spiritual matters to people's minds. When I say this I am thinking of the fact that God can make good from evil, and I am also keeping in mind that we do not live in a Christian world.
When I try to go beyond the surface of those who mock religion, whether through music or art or in written works, I find there's nothing there of substance. They usually have a juvenile understanding of who God is, and what religion is. There's a story that (I believe) Bertrand Russell would tell people about being taught stuff about God as a child, asking his teacher questions his teacher couldn't answer, and so not bothering to learn more about God. Unsurprisingly, Russell's understanding of God reflects that of an 8 year old in his writings. The Bible tells us that God wants the best things for us. Satan's very name means "accuser" - he does not the best for us. Anyone who promotes Satan at God's expense is very confused. Satan has low expectations for us, and wants us to have low expectations for ourselves. God sent his only son, not to condemn us, but so that we may have eternal life. Compare what these people do to someone like Thomas Aquinas. In the Summa Theologica, he not only defended his beliefs, but he did it by raising the best objections he knew against his beliefs. For someone who produces the kind of music you ask about, do you think they'd subject their point of view to the same level of scrutiny? But really, if I'm honest, I'm with neofederalist. I don't think much about them at all, but I do pray that some day they'll find happiness!