Is it a sin for a Christian to listen to Heavy Metal music?

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Ave Maria

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I would like to twist the thread up a bit to make it more interesting. Ok, take a band such as the German band, Rammstein, which is popular both in Germany and the United States. They have been accused of having neo-Nazi lyrics which may or may not be true. If it is true that they do have neo-Nazi lyrics, would it be a sin for a Christian to listen to them? I honestly don't think so. I take the position of the following article:

http://german.about.com/library/blrammst.htm

One should not reject music purely for political reasons. Because even though it may be in bad taste politically, it could still be good artistically and musically. That is my opinion.

Now, don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with a person who gets offended at the supposedly neo-Nazi lyrics. I get offended at those types of lyrics as well if indeed they are truly neo-Nazi lyrics.

Anyway, here is a Wikipedia article about Rammstein that touches on the controversy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammstein
 
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dies-l

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I would like to twist the thread up a bit to make it more interesting. Ok, take a band such as the German band, Rammstein, which is popular both in Germany and the United States. They have been accused of having neo-Nazi lyrics which may or may not be true. If it is true that they do have neo-Nazi lyrics, would it be a sin for a Christian to listen to them? I honestly don't think so. I take the position of the following article:

http://german.about.com/library/blrammst.htm

One should not reject music purely for political reasons. Because even though it may be in bad taste politically, it could still be good artistically and musically. That is my opinion.

Now, don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with a person who gets offended at the supposedly neo-Nazi lyrics. I get offended at those types of lyrics as well if indeed they are truly neo-Nazi lyrics.

Anyway, here is a Wikipedia article about Rammstein that touches on the controversy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammstein

Filling one's mind with hate, violence, or other such garbage may or may not be "sinful", but I do believe that it is always unwise. If a particular band, for example, is known to promote neo-nazi ideas in their music, there is no good reason for a Christian to listen to it. I have trouble with the belief that says that people can routinely listen to such music and never be influenced by the lyrics. If that were the case, then the artists would not take the time to express their beliefs in song. Music is a very powerful way to influence others' thoughts and to stir up destructive emotions.
 
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Trashionista

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Filling one's mind with hate, violence, or other such garbage may or may not be "sinful", but I do believe that it is always unwise. If a particular band, for example, is known to promote neo-nazi ideas in their music, there is no good reason for a Christian to listen to it. I have trouble with the belief that says that people can routinely listen to such music and never be influenced by the lyrics. If that were the case, then the artists would not take the time to express their beliefs in song. Music is a very powerful way to influence others' thoughts and to stir up destructive emotions.

Very good background sound.
Rammstein are an amazing band. There are lots of great metal bands, but as far as what's being produced currently and in the last decade or so, I think they've recorded some amazing music.
Granted, I don't speak German, so the lyrics go right over my head anyways. The English versions always just sound off to me, anyways.

But people have to take responsibility for their feelings and actions. Should Britney or an Gainbourg/Birkin not be allowed to moan and groan, lest people run out and have sex? Where would it end?

I can go on the internet quite earily and find Keegstra and a bunch of Neo-Nazi/KKK backed sites quite easily. However, I wouldn't say Rammstein are getting a ton of air play on the local, mainstream Top 40 radio.
 
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Zecryphon

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I would like to twist the thread up a bit to make it more interesting. Ok, take a band such as the German band, Rammstein, which is popular both in Germany and the United States. They have been accused of having neo-Nazi lyrics which may or may not be true. If it is true that they do have neo-Nazi lyrics, would it be a sin for a Christian to listen to them? I honestly don't think so. I take the position of the following article:

http://german.about.com/library/blrammst.htm

One should not reject music purely for political reasons. Because even though it may be in bad taste politically, it could still be good artistically and musically. That is my opinion.

Now, don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with a person who gets offended at the supposedly neo-Nazi lyrics. I get offended at those types of lyrics as well if indeed they are truly neo-Nazi lyrics.

Anyway, here is a Wikipedia article about Rammstein that touches on the controversy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rammstein
As far as Rammstein goes, the only way to answer your question is to know for a fact that their lyrics are indeed neo-Nazi in nature. Now as far as I know, Rammstein sings in their native tongue of German. I don't speak German so I can't say whether or not the lyrics are actually neo-Nazi in nature. I suppose you could get the lyrics translated but something always gets lost in the translation. Would it be a sin for a Christian to listen to Rammstein? Maybe, if they spoke German and found out the allegations were true.
 
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Zecryphon

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There's not too much choice. Contemporary Christian Music is terrible.
And from my own experience I have found that CCM like metal lacks direct references to Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross for sinners.
 
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dies-l

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There's not too much choice. Contemporary Christian Music is terrible.

That's a bit of a broad generalization. I have found that much CCM is horrible. But, then again so is much of the secular music that I have heard. On the other hand, there is some pretty good Christian music and some pretty good secular. Personally, I have never found any correlation between religious content and the quality of the music, except that secular music represents a much larger universe, and therefore contains more good music and more terrible music. One thing I will agree to, however, is that Christian radio, perhaps more than secular radio does an awesome job of finding the truly bad and mediocre in the world of music. (But, secular radio, at least here in Detroit, is pretty good at this too ;))
 
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JWNEWMAN

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There are a lot of very talented songwriters and musicians who promote a sinful lifestyle through music. To me it's like second hand smoke, I stay away from it, as much as I can. Sometimes its unavoidable because of where you happen to be. Bad lyrics written to a catchy melody can really get stuck in your head. I wouldn't confine it to only heavy metal though it could be any song done in any style conveying a negative message.

I can't help but think of that five year old girl who was singing and dancing along to "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas.
 
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Xaoc

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There are a lot of very talented songwriters and musicians who promote a sinful lifestyle through music. To me it's like second hand smoke, I stay away from it, as much as I can. Sometimes its unavoidable because of where you happen to be. Bad lyrics written to a catchy melody can really get stuck in your head. I wouldn't confine it to only heavy metal though it could be any song done in any style conveying a negative message.

I can't help but think of that five year old girl who was singing and dancing along to "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas.

A consolation is that there's virtually no chance she knew what the song was about. Heck, even I don't know what the songs about. Seriously, what's the song about?
 
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Zecryphon

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A consolation is that there's virtually no chance she knew what the song was about. Heck, even I don't know what the songs about. Seriously, what's the song about?
My guess is Fergie's boobs and butt.
 
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JWNEWMAN

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A consolation is that there's virtually no chance she knew what the song was about. Heck, even I don't know what the songs about. Seriously, what's the song about?
Good for you if you don't know...

The worst part about the incident was the girl was singing dancing and being encouraged to do so by her grandparents. She wasn't clearly pronouncing the words, so, they didn't know either. But were jovially applauding their little darling.
 
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There are a lot of very talented songwriters and musicians who promote a sinful lifestyle through music. To me it's like second hand smoke, I stay away from it, as much as I can. Sometimes its unavoidable because of where you happen to be. Bad lyrics written to a catchy melody can really get stuck in your head. I wouldn't confine it to only heavy metal though it could be any song done in any style conveying a negative message.

I can't help but think of that five year old girl who was singing and dancing along to "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas.
I agree... that song is really bad. I haven't actually heard it, but I've seen the lyrics... the person who wrote them must have been smoking something really bad. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't write something which makes less sense than that song... it's an absolute masterpiece of nonsense :eek:
 
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