Is it wrong to listen to Heavy Metal and Ozzie Osborne?

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Most metal was definitely not religious, but it wasn’t half as vile as the music of today or of Madonna at the time. And much of the supposed satanic stuff was a reaction to the absurd evangelical television ministries of over-hairsprayed preachers like Swaggart and Baker and Fallwell stealing people’s money while shacking up with hookers.

I still maintain that the 1980’s televangelist tripe did more damage to real Christianity than anything.

Black Sabbath, despite their reputation, has some surprisingly Christian lyrics. I've gone over it with a friend of mine. I think Ozzy himself is at least marginally Anglo-Catholic.
 
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straykat

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Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi were religious at least... but it's a huge tossup. Ozzy was hardly that at all. I'd hardly encourage listening to most of their stuff. On a sidenote, I associate a lot of my old liking for metal with my (more) sinful youth. I'm also a guitar player, so it's not just as a listener that I speak.. some of this was very close to me once.

I still maintain that the 1980’s televangelist tripe did more damage to real Christianity than anything.

You may very well be right about that. If it wasn't for the Holy Spirit's intervention, I'd remain cynical. Sabbath didn't really get me thinking about God at all.. but those televangelists created bitterness within me!
 
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MariaJLM

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Most metal was definitely not religious, but it wasn’t half as vile as the music of today or of Madonna at the time. And much of the supposed satanic stuff was a reaction to the absurd evangelical television ministries of over-hairsprayed preachers like Swaggart and Baker and Fallwell stealing people’s money while shacking up with hookers.

I still maintain that the 1980’s televangelist tripe did more damage to real Christianity than anything.

Metal has better quality lyrics than most other genres too. They try to tell an actual story rather than just singing about degenerate nonsense.
 
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straykat

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Metal has better quality lyrics than most other genres too. They try to tell an actual story rather than just singing about degenerate nonsense.

That is pretty true actually.
 
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MariaJLM

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Speak for yourself! ^_^

Tbh, I don't think of Satan when I hear Lady Gaga. I actually genuinely like a lot of her music. She has talent so could do many great things if she didn't waste it on shallow pop music.
 
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dzheremi

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While the point about lyrical themes true of certain groups, a lot of heavy metal is degenerate garbage. I sure as heck won't link it here, but I'm thinking of bands like Venom and those that followed them. It's really vile material.

I'm also a guitarist of sorts (never had professional lessons, learned to play along to the first Clash album when I was 12-13; it was helpful because both sides of the LP began with riffs starting in E, so I could tune my guitar to it easily :)), but I try to be careful in what I listen to anyway (if it was just about the 'riffs', I don't see why I wouldn't listen to Venom, et al.). As I've gotten older, I guess I've gotten more boring/less into rock music and more into various kinds of jazz, 'world music', etc. Still plenty of guitar in there, but no satanic or anti-religious stuff, so far as I've heard (punk rock, which I grew up with instead of metal, was more likely to be generally anti-religious/atheistic rather than pro-Satan; not that this is any better, depending, but there are some thoughtful songs that are questioning or doubting rather than hateful, e.g., The Avengers "Corpus Christi", or X "Riding with Mary"). A lot of the 1950s-1960s jazz guys were black Muslim converts, though, so I try to stay away from that, because some of it has explicit Islamic religious themes. I get enough of the real Allah (الآبِ وَالاِبْنِ وَالرُّوحِ الْقُدُسِ +) in Church, thanks. :D

Also there was the Serbian punk band in the late 70s Pekinška Patka (Peking Duck) who annoyed the authorities by proclaiming themselves "the world's first Orthodox new wave band" or something (they didn't sing about religious themes; I think it was just to needle the communists, though believers probably didn't care for it either).

The best music, regardless of genre, is usually about enduring, eternal themes, not this Lady Gaga "I got too drunk at a club and had a lesbian tryst" or whatever nonsense kids listen to today. That stuff encourages nothing but irresponsibility and sinful pride. ("Hey, I was born this way, therefore let's just dance and do drugs and not care about anything but our freedom to dance and do drugs and not care about anything. Woo.")

And yes, I know I sound like an old man now. Who cares. I don't. Turn that garbage off. Hahaha.
 
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straykat

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Did someone already post this?




Have you ever thought about your soul can it be saved?
Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave
Is God just a thought within your head or is he a part of you?
Is Christ just a name that you read in a book when you were in school?
When you think about death do you lose your breath or do you keep your cool?
Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope do you think he's a fool?
Well I have seen the truth, yes I've seen the light and I've changed my ways
And I'll be prepared when you're lonely and scared at the end of our days
Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say
If they knew you believe in God above?
They should realize before they criticize
That God is the only way to love
Is your mind so small that you have to fall
In with the pack wherever they run
Will you still sneer when death is near
And say they may as well worship the sun?
I think it was true it was people like you that crucified Christ
I think it is sad the opinion you had was the only one voiced
Will you be so sure when your day is near, say you don't believe?
You had the chance but you turned it down, now you can't retrieve
Perhaps you'll think before you say that God is dead and gone
Open your eyes, just realize that he's the one
The only one who can save you now from all this sin and hate
Or will you still jeer at all you hear, yes I think it's too late
 
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2PhiloVoid

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The funny thing is people think of Satan when they think of any metal band, but the don’t when they think of Lady Gaga. When I grew up listening to Iron Maiden, I was in love with them because they sang about Alexander the Great, pharaohs, the RAF in WWII, Icarus, war, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Dune.

What does Lady Gaga sing about? SEX, gays and lesbians, filth....and occasionally she hangs with Bradley Cooper and gets mushy.

Which one is more evil—-metal or hip hop/rap? Did Ronnie James Dio sing about drive-bys and rape and using women like a hunk of meat? No! He sang about Holy Divers and swords! Lol

Ronnie ... also sang on a couple of Kerry Livgen's "Christian" tunes, even if they ... weren't really Ronnie's style.

 
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MariaJLM

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Did someone already post this?




Have you ever thought about your soul can it be saved?
Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave
Is God just a thought within your head or is he a part of you?
Is Christ just a name that you read in a book when you were in school?
When you think about death do you lose your breath or do you keep your cool?
Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope do you think he's a fool?
Well I have seen the truth, yes I've seen the light and I've changed my ways
And I'll be prepared when you're lonely and scared at the end of our days
Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say
If they knew you believe in God above?
They should realize before they criticize
That God is the only way to love
Is your mind so small that you have to fall
In with the pack wherever they run
Will you still sneer when death is near
And say they may as well worship the sun?
I think it was true it was people like you that crucified Christ
I think it is sad the opinion you had was the only one voiced
Will you be so sure when your day is near, say you don't believe?
You had the chance but you turned it down, now you can't retrieve
Perhaps you'll think before you say that God is dead and gone
Open your eyes, just realize that he's the one
The only one who can save you now from all this sin and hate
Or will you still jeer at all you hear, yes I think it's too late

This is actually one of the songs I was thinking of when I mentioned that Black Sabbath has some Christian lyrics.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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This is actually one of the songs I was thinking of when I mentioned that Black Sabbath has some Christian lyrics.

...yes, which is why Stryper did a cover of one of their songs several years ago.
 
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David Bogle

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Black Sabbath, despite their reputation, has some surprisingly Christian lyrics. I've gone over it with a friend of mine. I think Ozzy himself is at least marginally Anglo-Catholic.
Not just Ozzy, the bass player, who writes the lyrics, is definitely Catholic
 
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