Devil Horns from Liberal Street Fighter
Oh, this is just WAY too fucking funny, in a black humor sort of way:
Nov. 24, 2005 | On the night of Oct. 6, David Ludwig, 18, and his 14-year-old girlfriend, Kara Beth Borden, went to church. There was no sermon, though — at least not a traditional one. David and Kara were at the Lancaster Bible Church in Manheim, Penn., for a Christian rock concert. As the punishingly loud guitars of Audio Adrenaline and Pillar strained the limits of the church sound system, the kids screamed and pumped their fists and banged their heads. “Pillar and Audio A rock my face off!” David wrote on his blog the next day. Kara spent almost all the money in her pocket on a Pillar sweatshirt. She was wearing it the morning of Nov. 13 when, police say, David shot and killed her parents and fled with her at his side. (google cache of his blog here).
Damned kids and their rock … oh, wait … SAVED kids and their BLESSED rock music!!
Like many edgier evangelical bands, Pillar specializes in battle anthems, composed on the premise that Christians are under constant spiritual attack. The emotional effects are remarkably similar to those of any secular odes to alienation and rebellion, and the vast majority of Christian teens who are drawn to such music, like the vast majority of their non-Christian peers, find comfort in the roiling cacophony that mirrors their inner lives; it helps them get through some difficult years in one piece. Any Christian artist can share legitimate and profound stories of young people who found genuine grace through their music. But there will always be a small fringe of disturbed people who are looking for an excuse to go over the edge, and who will find it in angry and tormented lyrics — even if those lyrics are supposed to be about eternal salvation.
I know I shouldn’t, but this is just TOO much to ignore.
I’ve lost count of the number of bands, albums, video games and movies that have come under attack from the Christian Right. In fact, it’s the commercial truism that pop culture continues to reward rebellion and alienation, including the Christian pop culture:
It is still possible to find fundamentalist Christians who hold that all rock ‘n’ roll is the devil’s music, and that CCM is only a more deceptive variety. The mainstream Christian culture industry, however, is too sophisticated and too profitable to turn its back on any form of musical expression. But with the proliferation of Christian music — and books, movies, stand-up comedy, and pro wrestling — the line between faith and sin has become blurred, and pop proselytizers will have to ask themselves if they are really changing hearts or just winning fans. Evangelicals justify their embrace of 21st century pop culture forms by saying that the Bible calls them to be “in the world, but not of it.” This week, sadly, they are both.
So, what should we blame it on? Can we blame it on the world going to hell? Can we blame it on poor parenting, genetics or is it simply the way rock music mirrors the roiling anger and testosterone-driven blood in the loins of frustrated teenaged boys?
Or should we get back to what we CAN do in a civil society? We hold people accountable for their actions, and their justifications or the music they listened to or the digital enemies they fragged are merely details in the stories we tell each other about these events.
I would submit that the real root to so many of these problems, going back through the long history of crimes of passion, is that people don’t communicate and pressure builds, and sometimes it explodes. David quoted another favorite band on his blog, Project 86:
Fireproof
Here’s a chance to show you how I feel
A chance for you to see it’s real
To see just what I feel inside and who it is that’s by my side
I will never change my mind
Try to torch me and you’ll find
You can’t turn me or deter me
No matter how you try
You can’t burn meChorus
I know where I stand and what’ll happen if you try it
I am FIREPROOF
I know my heart and I just can’t deny it
I am FIREPROOF
I tried to tell you but you wouldn’t be quiet
I am FIREPROOF
I’ll never bow down and you won’t buy it
I am FIREPROOFNow you know what I’m all about
There’s no chance I’ll ever doubt
The only one who can control me
I extol the Almighty
You want me to put it on the line
And give yield to you this time
See but I won’t compromise and I realize
It’s my time to rise
It’s my time to riseChorus
You’ll never take me in the fire
You’ll never take my own desire
It is, of course, unfair for me to quote the lyrics of his music to condemn his cultural experiences for his behavior, but after decades of hearing such bullshit from the right, well, payback is sweet.
note — first link to main story is to Salon dot com, and you’ll have to watch an ad