h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Heavy Metal is all about going against the norm, even if we do dress the same as each other BUT it is different to everyone else. As far as Satan goes, you have to believe in god to believe in him.
The only reason he is 'revered' by Heavy Metal bands is because he rebelled against god.

Additionally, there are many heavy metal bands today(some refer to these belonging to the "New School") that do not promote Devil worship of any kind. In fact, these bands merely promote non-conformity, while they do have a tendency to dress similarly, unbridled, uncontrollable, and undirected rage in general, and in some cases, illicit drug use. Many have argued whether this is any real step up from Devil worship, yet such critics are rarely fans of the genre; fans rarely tend to think too deeply into their tastes.

the only reason that devil worship is given a bad name is that it is contrary to the teachings of the prevalent religion. (and maybe the slaughter of the odd chicken, virgin, or virgin chicken).
a lot of devil worshipper's might actually be nice fellows who don't kill poultry or people at all. maybe the odd ceremonious bug squashing. somehow satan worshipper's are still thought of as evil, despite the fact that their religious beliefs are every bit as valid as the buddhists, scientologists and christians out there. the reason for their derision is that unlike most of the world's religions, christianity is generally extremely intolerant of other's beliefs. of course I can live with that. . .
and besides satanists usually have a shitload better taste in music than the average christian. (and believe me I've heard some of the worst of both worlds).

the best heavy metal I've ever heard was a Hare Krsna band I couldn't pronounce. Of course the lyrics were Hare Hare Hare Krsna etc etc. but they knew how to headbang!

the only reason that devil worship is given a bad name is that it is contrary to the teachings of the prevalent religion. (and maybe the slaughter of the odd chicken, virgin, or virgin chicken).
a lot of devil worshipper's might actually be nice fellows who don't kill poultry or people at all. maybe the odd ceremonious bug squashing. somehow satan worshipper's are still thought of as evil, despite the fact that their religious beliefs are every bit as valid as the buddhists, scientologists and christians out there. the reason for their derision is that unlike most of the world's religions, christianity is generally extremely intolerant of other's beliefs. of course I can live with that. . .
and besides satanists usually have a shitload better taste in music than the average christian. (and believe me I've heard some of the worst of both worlds).

the best heavy metal I've ever heard was a Hare Krsna band I couldn't pronounce. Of course the lyrics were Hare Hare Hare Krsna etc etc. but they knew how to headbang!

This is quickly turning into a debate about religion but that has always been part of metal. From devil workshipping (apparently) of 80's metal to the Pagan (Viking) workshipping of 90's black metal.

They all have a similar theme, Christianity is unusually the enemy because of there intolerance (even though they preach otherwise) of other religions and I guess Metal will never move entirely away from Religion.

the main reason christianity is the enemy is that they are so entertaining when they're outraged, and it's so easy to get their backs up. all you have to do is wear a dress, suck your bassists cock, sing about death, and kill live animals on stage. having logging straggly dreds and a voice like a sink disposal unit also helps!!!

Although I think Heavy Metal, the clothes, music and so on is a load of codswallop, and the followers may or may not be devil worshippers etc. , I fully approve of it's existence, as it gives us Mods someone to look down on.

Please seek out a track called '...A Mod' by The Exploited which is a rearrangement of the tune to Jingle Bells. You'll love it

My personal views of christianity.

They wine and complain about how they had to live in fear of those nasty Romans, who would feed them to lions. This is not at all like the christians on the crusades, and the way that they oppressed Pagans, who also supposedly worship the Devil, even though they dont believe in him.

This is how it works.

Christians, like all human, have a certain level of fear for what they cant understand. They cant understand the non-conformity of the Heavy Metal (dare I say it - Religion) community, because when it comes down to it, christianity is a religion that stems from (and some would argue enforces) conformity, whereas, this is what heavy metal is against.

This is why heavy metal disagrees with oppressive religion of all kinds, and for this we get the pity of the oppressed. Does this seem a little messed up to anyone else?

And I quote "It is not heracy, and I will not recant"

Organised Religion is all about Control.

Heavy Metal is all about rebellion.

Hense the two meet.

Not all religion is oppressive, many Pagan groups believe that worship should be confined to small groups and families. This minimises the control element.

If you ask me, the Catholic Church is the greatest Evil in modern day society. No women priests, no gay priests, who gives a damn so long as they are pious and perform the ceremonies. No condoms, where in the bible does it say you should not perform family planning, its as old as the book itself. What the Pope is really saying, the larger families, the bigger number of Catholics. What an idiot!

Anyway I like all the whohar about the devil, its funny!

I get tired of hearing christians attacked for what we supposedly all believe. I'm christian and I love heavy metal! BTW, the originator of the heavy metal double-picking sound was Dick Dale 'King of the Surf Guitar', dude's in his 60s now and still performing live. He started it all back in the 1960s.
Back to the heavy-metal/religion theme. I wrote an article last night and submitted it to a local paper. I stared reading this conversation and thought it would be of some interest.


Why We Christians Should Listen To Controversial Music

I'll admit upfront that I listen to controversial music. Not because of the controversy, but because I like the music. I often hear news blurbs about how 'we christians' are protesting the lyrics of a song, or trying to ban an artist for something we find offensive. I've never heard any discussion of why an artist wrote such a thing, but always about how offensive it is.
Artists tend to depict the things in their life that either please them the most or disturb them the most. When Marilyn Manson penned the lyrics to "Beautiful People" he wrote the chorus:

beautiful people, beautiful people,
it's all relative to the size of your steeple,
you can't see the forest for the trees,
you can't smell your own @#%$ on your knees

Offensive? Yes, but he wrote it to vent a frustration he had with organized religion. We organize ourselves in 'christian' groups and push out those who disagree with any part of our beliefs. We think that our faith makes us 'more beautiful' than non-christians. And the 'holier' we claim to be the further we seem to be from the truth.
One verse of "Head Like A Hole" from Nine Inch Nails reads:

god money's not looking for the cure,
god money's not concerned about the sick among the pure,
god money let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised,
god money's not one to choose

This was written in 1989, a time which found many televangelists raking in money that wasn't used for anything other than supporting themselves. When we attacked his lyrics Trent Reznor fired back on his next album with the song "Heresy":

he sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see,
he tries to tell me what I put inside of me,
he's got the answers to ease my curiosity,
he dreamed a god up and called it christianity,
your god is dead and no one cares,
if there is a hell, I'll see you there

I personally don't care for the song, it's got a good beat but I can't stand the lyrics. But I don't blame the author one bit for writing it. He's not christian, and we have done nothing endearing to him. Rather we pushed him away.
There are many other musical artists who feel pushed away from Christianity and express it in their music. Then there are also christians who express faith questions and other religious feelings and are attacked for it. Joan Osbourne asked in her song "(What If God Was) One of Us":

What if God was one of us?
just a slob like one of us?

Just a simple question of faith. How would the world be different if God was like us? What would the world be like if he cared little about his work?
In the seventies and eighties Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, and other heavy metal bands were in constant trouble with us for lyrics. We tried banning those groups, only to see young people reach for the forbidden fruit. Unlike Marilyn Manson and Trent Reznor, the heavy metal 'cult' era was financially motivated. It is almost even funny when you realize most of the bands weren't really interested in the occult, but the record companies knew such references would sell more albums.
Maybe if we tried listening to lyrics in context? Maybe if we tried discussing the lyrics with our youth and asking why the artists wrote what they wrote? Maybe if we accepted their criticism we could better reach the disillusioned? Maybe if we made honesty and charity our defense instead of attacking back at those who point out what we're doing wrong?


I apologize if this posting is too long, but it was a few points I thought needed made.

Well said!

Yeah, but it didn't get published. Probably a tad too controversial here in the bible belt.

Does being a metal fan mean you have to make spelling mistakes all the time?

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