The Christian Digest [#12] [10/93] Presents HELL'S BELLS--Don't Be Seduced by Satan's Sirens!--By Eric Homberg. Edited by the Christian Digest Staff
YOU MAY FIND SOME OF THE FOLLOWING information about musical artists and their music incredible, maybe even hard to believe. Please understand that every point has been carefully researched and documented. All quotes, for example, were taken either from the artist's own writings, rock magazines, books on musicology, or biographies written by sympathetic fans. What we are trying to do is help people understand the big picture, to peel back the veneer of pop culture and gaze into the bedrock of truth that lies beneath. Then people can make decisions about the music they listen to, armed with truth and understanding.
Rock music powered by space-age technology and popularised by the largest, wealthiest and most leisure-oriented generation of young people in history has changed the modern world in ways more profound than perhaps any other social phenomenon. Evidence of its impact is everywhere.
Rock has become a multi-billion dollar industry, one recently described by the National Review as "the most prosperous industry in the world" (National Review, February 24, 1989, p.28). Its superstars have annual incomes that easily eclipse those of all but a handful of the most successful industrialists and businessmen.
And the music is virtually everywhere--from packed sports arenas to commercials that peddle everything from tennis shoes to alcohol--from the sound tracks of movies and television series to the pulsing rhythms that reverberate in our health spas. Everything today seems to march to its rhythm.
Perhaps the only thing more notable than rock's pervasiveness is the manner in which it helps shape the hearts and minds of the world's youth. As Dr. David Elkind noted in his book The Hurried Child, "One of the most underestimated influences on young people today is the music industry" (The Hurried Child, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1988, pp.89-93).
Citing again the National Review: "Rock's sheer pervasiveness makes it the most profound value shaper in existence today. Unless you are deaf, it is virtually guaranteed that rock music has affected your view of the world" (National Review, February 24, 1989, p.28). From the manner in which young people dress to the way they view and understand the key issues of life, little escapes the pale cast by rock's big sound.
And it's no wonder. Young people wake up to it, drive to it, play to it, study to it, and go to sleep to it. Studies show that between the 7th and 12th grades, the average teenager will listen to and watch 11,000 hours of rock music and rock videos--more than twice the time they'll spend in class (American Academy of Pediatrics).
As Dr. Alan Bloom noted in his best-selling book The Closing of the American Mind, "Nothing is more singular about this generation than its addiction to music" (The Closing of the American Mind, Dr. Alan Bloom, Simon and Schuster, 1987, p.68).
Incredibly, despite this unprecedented power and the mounting evidence that rock's influence can be less than positive, most people have never stopped to consider what is really going on in and through contemporary music. Why is music so powerful? How does it affect us? What is its source? And where is it leading us?
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Throughout the ages, wise men have noted music's profound impact on its listeners. For example, over 2,000 years before the birth of Christ, the musical systems of China were both highly developed and central to its society. It was to this that the philosophers directed much of their attention. Understanding its intrinsic power, they carefully checked their music to make sure that it conveyed eternal truths and could thus influence man's character for the better (The Secret Power of Music, David Tame, Destiny Books, 1984, p.34).
To this end, tradition states that one emperor, by the name of Shun, would monitor the health of each of the provinces of this vast kingdom by simply examining the music they produced. Coarse and sensual sounds indicated a sick society, one in need of his intervention and assistance (The Secret Power of Music, pp.13,14).
Two thousand years later, the Greek philosopher Plato echoed the sentiments of Emperor Shun when he said, "When modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the state change with them" (The Republic, Book 3, p.401).
In his famous work "Laws," Plato could have been writing about our modern age when he stated, "Through foolishness they, the people, deceived themselves into thinking that there was no right or wrong in music--that it was to be judged good or bad by the pleasure it gave.... As it was, the criterion was not music but a reputation for promiscuous cleverness and a spirit of law-breaking" (The Secret Power of Music, p.189).
Plato's contemporary, Aristotle, noting that music has "the power to form character" (The Secret Power of Music, p.19), wanted to see it actually regulated by the state. The ancient Greeks even believed music had the power to heal. They assigned a musician as well as a physician to those who were ill. They believed music could bring the body's rhythms into harmony, which allowed healing to occur.
Moving up to the present century, Vladimir Lenin, the co-founder of communism and one of history's greatest experts on subversion and revolution said, "One quick way to destroy a society is through its music" (The Marxist Minstrels, A Handbook on Communist Subversion of Music, American Christian College Press, 1974).
Changing laws, forming character, and toppling societies--most of us are not used to talking about music in such expansive terms. To understand this magnitude of impact we must consider both the nature of music and Man; and how music affects us in body, soul, and spirit.
IMPACT AND EFFECT
Given the materialistic philosophy that marks this present age, it's surprising that more attention has not been given to the many profound ways sound and different musical forms can affect the physical world. For example, research has found that shrill sounds of sufficient volume can congeal proteins in a liquid medium. So a soft egg placed in front of a speaker at some of the louder rock concerts can midway through the concert become a hard-boiled snack for the weary rock fan. (The Day the Music Died, Bob Larson, Bob Larson Ministries, 1973.)
Moving from proteins to animate objects, repeated experiments have shown that plants respond positively to classical forms of music, actually growing and flowering faster than if there was no music at all. Conversely, more dissonant forms of music, like heavy metal, can actually retard growth and even kill the plant! (The Secret Power of Music, p.143.)
Of course, humans are much more complex than plants, but it still makes one wonder what music might be doing to us. As Dr. Adam Knieste, a musicologist who studies the effects of music upon people noted, "It's really a powerful drug. Music can poison you, lift your spirits, or make you sick without knowing why" (Family Weekly Magazine, January 30, 1983, p.12, article by David Chagall).
As mathematics is the universal language of the mind, music is the language of the heart, what the great composer Robert Schumann called "the perfect expression of the soul." The human personality has three component parts--the mind, the will, and the emotions. And it's here where we begin to see music's real power take hold.
In the realm of the mind, there is mounting evidence that certain kinds of rock have a negative effect on one's ability to think and learn. Studies at two separate universities, for example, have found that rats have a much more difficult time learning to pass through a maze if they are subjected to hard rock music. (Insight Magazine, April 27, 1987, p.57.)
On the emotional level, few would deny music's power. Its ability to influence and enhance moods is, in fact, one of music's greatest attractions. What most people are not aware of, however, is both the extent of this influence and the ease with which they can be unconsciously manipulated. As Eddie Manson, Oscar-winning composer and one-time president of the American Society of Music Arrangers has said, "We manipulate people like crazy.... Every film composer mixes his experiences with a talent for musical manipulation, and then projects that Machiavellian power gut to gut" (Family Weekly, January 30, 1983, p.15).
Moving from the gut to the brain, music is also a powerful "encoder," a term in psychology for something that helps determine the way we perceive and think about the world. In other words, music has an inside track to the subconscious levels of our minds. (The Secret Power of Music, pp. 148-150.) This truth is even physically suggested by the fact that the auditory nerves are the most predominant of all the human senses. (The Secret Power of Music, p.136.)
Research done at Stanford University confirms not only this predominance at a physical and subconscious level, but also in an area that is perhaps the most uniquely human of all; that is, in the area of transcendent experiences--what the researchers term "thrills." They found that the most powerful stimulus for evoking thrill-like sensations in their subjects was music. (Physiological Psychology, 1980, Vol.8 (1), pp.126-129, Avram Goldstein.)
Musicologist David Tame anticipated Stanford's discovery when he wrote in his book The Secret Power of Music, "Music is the language of languages. It can be said that of all the arts, there is none that more powerfully moves and changes the consciousness" (The Secret Power of Music, p.151).
Changing one's consciousness is what David Crosby meant when he told Rolling Stone Magazine that through just his music he could alter his audience's value systems and, in effect, steal them away from their parents. (The Rolling Stone Interviews, Arthur Barker, 1981.)
And Crosby is not alone. Perhaps rock's greatest genius, Jimi Hendrix, told Life Magazine in 1969, "I can explain everything better though music. You hypnotize people to where they go right back to their natural state, and when you get people at their weakest point, you can preach into their subconscious what we want to say" (Life Magazine, October 3, 1969, p.4).
In recognition of this transcendent power, Eddie Manson went on to share a sober warning, "Music is used everywhere to condition the human mind. It can be just as powerful as a drug and much more dangerous, because nobody takes musical manipulation very seriously" (Family Weekly, January 30, 1983, p.15). Young people, in particular, can become virtually addicted to it, and perverted by it.
WHAT IS ROCK, AND WHY IS IT SO CAPTIVATING?
Before we consider why young people develop an affinity for the rhythm of rock, it's vital that we understand the nature of rock and its musical construction. Irritated parents can't comprehend its power to captivate the body and mind, rendering the mind susceptible to the music's message.
Many parents are confused about "rock" versus "rock 'n' roll." The term "rock" is an abbreviation of "rock 'n' roll," but chronological and musical distinction between these terms has evolved. Though both are used interchangeably, rock 'n' roll more precisely refers to pre-1964 sounds or present-day music that emulates the music of artists like Little Richard, Elvis, Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and the early Beach Boys. It was first played mainly by blacks who used pianos and horns, whereas today's rock 'n' roll is primarily performed by small white bands with guitars predominating. Rock 'n' roll is a primitive, loud, and driving musical form that preceded hard rock.
The broadened term "rock" came into journalistic vogue in the late sixties and refers to post-Beatle music. Its definition is less precise and may include the work of such diverse artists as Billy Joel and Eric Clapton. Rock music is generally more serious, its lyrics more complex than rock 'n' roll.
The instrument most closely associated with rock is the electric guitar. From rock's conception, its rhythmic quality provided the basic sound. Although the unamplified acoustic guitar is used in some softer forms of rock, the electric guitar still dominates.
Since rock is a hybrid of whole traditions of music--jazz, black spirituals, country and western, blues--there is no "typical" sound. It became a musical melting pot of many styles revolving around the relentless beat.
This can't be overemphasized. The focus of rock is the beat. It is a drummer's holiday. One drummer for a popular rock group beat his drums so hard during performances that doctors ordered his hands bandaged to prevent bleeding.
Any song can be constructed and performed with a rock format. One aspect of rock is a beat pattern that is incessant and repetitive, achieved by pulsating the rhythm line. Pulsation is the rhythmic, driving sound most easily associated with rock.
Rock is not the only music with rhythm, of course. Bach, Haydn, Mozart and other classical music has interesting rhythms as well as melodic lines. Jazz has a rhythmic swing. But heavy metal and hard rock are built from a hard, straight up-and-down pounding rhythm that produces frustrated energy. Some rock sounds emphasize alternating beats, while other rock tunes hammer every beat home. The drummer keeps the force of rock moving with an incessant beat. The listener is enveloped in sound, immersed in the overpowering effect of rock's electronic assault. Rock in its harsher forms doesn't tickle your ears. It rams your skull like a freight train!
An incessantly driving, pulsating beat pattern is not inherently evil, but when applied for a protracted period of time at high volume, it can be hypnotically devastating at live concerts. Like any repetitious assault on one's neurosensory apparatus, it can shut down conscious mental processes. This is the same technique used in Eastern meditative disciplines, like Transcendental Meditation. The result is a heightened suggestibility to images and messages. (And demon possession!)
The fact that a particular song includes a driving beat does not mean it has negative spiritual potential. But if that pulsation is loud and long enough, the listener may surrender his free will. This is especially true in the case of some heavy metal rock groups whose live performances can rhythmically manipulate an audience until it becomes robotic. In that condition, minds are vulnerable to the message of the music and prey to evil influences.
(Editor: This doesn't mean that all rock music is evil or demonic. It depends on who is performing it and what their message is. If the musicians are Christians and their motive is to spread the Gospel and Word of God through song, then the influence will be good and will motivate the listeners to do good. If the musicians aren't real Christians, then their influence may very well be bad, ranging from downright demonic ditties from Satan worshippers like KISS to meaningless melodies from other groups that only inspire indifference, lethargy and apathy in the listeners. As Jesus said, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."--Matthew 7:20.)
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Heavy Metal
Heavy metal isn't a new element on a physics periodic chart, nor is it an industrial product conceived for the construction industry. Heavy metal is a kind of rock music spawned in the late sixties, considered dead during the seventies, but alive and well in the eighties and nineties.
Those who listen to heavy metal are called "head bangers," referring to the musical energy and excitement that frequently makes fans bang their heads on the foot of the concert stage. The term "heavy metal" supposedly came from a description of its sound, comparing the crashing, clashing guitar chords to a raucous Detroit assembly line stamping automobile parts from sheets of steel.
Billboard, the music industry's trade publication, commented, "Heavy metal has proved immune to shifting musical/cultural trends. Since 1980, no other pop music form has accounted for greater record sales. MTV has popularized heavy metal by visually bringing into the living room leather, whips, chains, and women in tortured submission, with an excess of blood and gore."
What is heavy metal? Ronnie James Dio says, "Good heavy metal is so rough and tumble, it pushes you right to the edge of madness." The leader of the band Motor Head describes his craft by saying, "If our band moved next door to you, your lawn would die." One metal band leader offers a simpler definition: "Music to kill your parents by."
Vocalist Rockie Shayes of Wrathchild says, "I admit we're loud, lewd, and a little more than crazy, but what's wrong with it? If our wicked minds can think of something depraved, there's no doubt we'll put it to music and record it. We want our music to be loud and obnoxious."
The loudest and most obnoxious form of heavy metal is the live concert, of course. Blackie Lawless of Wasp says of such concerts, "Rock is theater, electric vaudeville. It's a place where you can do about anything and get away with it. It's a zone where rules and restrictions are just totally thrown out the window. It's like controlled anarchy. We spit blood and throw raw pieces of meat into the audience."
A controversy has brewed as to whether cities in the U.S. have the right to ban heavy metal groups. Rock ordinances have kept some bands out of certain cities. During a Seattle concert by Judas Priest, a young man was stabbed to death.
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A SPIRITUAL DIMENSION?
In the previous quote by Jimi Hendrix, he explains that music is a spiritual thing. And it is in this realm of the spirit where we will focus most of our attention because it is here where music reaches its greatest heights of power and influence.
Even the very word "music" suggests this spiritual dimension. Its root word "muse" referred to the spirit beings who the ancient Greeks felt were responsible for the inspiration of all art.
Today, it's not just the Greeks who feel that artists are inspired by spiritual forces. Folk jazz artist Joni Mitchell, in an interview with Time Magazine, was described as follows: "Joni Mitchell's own strongest creative impulses come to her in a somewhat unusual way. She deeply believes in a male muse named Art who lends her his key to what she airily calls the `Shrine of Creativity'" (Time Magazine, December 16, 1974, p.39).
Avant-garde musician Peter Rowan echoed this description when in an interview with The Washington Times he said, "I do believe that music itself is a spiritual force. The inspiration l feel is like a holy thing. It's beyond any words I can use to describe it" (Washington Times, March 7, 1986).
This perception takes on an even more startling dimension when described by guitarist John McGlaughlin, "One night we were playing and suddenly the spirit entered into me, and l was playing but it was no longer me playing" (Circus Magazine, April, 1972, p.38).
This perception is mirrored in these words by AC/DC guitarist, Angus Young, "Someone else is steering me. I'm just along for the ride. I become possessed when I'm on stage" (Hit Parader, 1985).
To fully comprehend both the nature and magnitude of the spiritual interrelationship between Man and music, we must first understand something of the basic realities that attend the spiritual world.
1. The real reality is a spiritual one. One of the Scripture's primary messages is that the time/space world we live in is a created one, having its origins in an eternal, spiritual realm that exists outside the scope of our physical senses. In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us that "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24a)--and it is this inexpressibly wise, loving and all-powerful Spirit Who is the Creator of all things. His is the transcendent reality, the one that transcends all others.
2. Man is a spiritual being. Though we live in a body and have a soul, we are first and foremost spiritual beings. Genesis 1:27 gives the account of the origins of Man: "So God created man in His Own image." In other words, Spirit begat spirit. From the breath of God that gave us life, to His image indelibly impressed upon our hearts, you and I are spirits. And as spirits, we are profoundly affected by the principles and the personalities that make up the spiritual world, whether we are aware of them or not.
As God's offspring, the primary purpose for our existence is to know and experience God. In John 17:3, Jesus said, "This is life eternal, that they might know the only true God, and Jesus Christ." Continuing with the passage of Scripture we read earlier, "They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24b). The worship spoken of here is not some dry religious exercise, but the natural response to knowing and experiencing God. And Biblically and scientifically, there is no more profound way to be drawn into and then express this experience than through music. As one of the greatest musicians in history, Johann Sebastian Bach, said, "The end of all music should be the glory of God and the refreshment of the human spirit."
Through sin, Man fell and was separated from God. Throughout the Scriptures the Words of God in Ezekiel are echoed again and again, "The soul that sinneth shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
The death spoken of here manifests itself in several ways, but most significantly in a spiritual sense, as through our sin we are separated from the God of all life. Left stranded, subjected to the tyranny of our selfishness and lust, we are no longer citizens of God's Kingdom but instead walk "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). Into this hopeless situation, God sent a Saviour, His Own Son, to pay the penalty for our sins, to destroy the power of this "prince of the air," and to bring Man back into His Kingdom. (See John 3:16; John 10:10; Hebrews 2:14.)
A HIDDEN HAND?--SATAN?
The kingdom of darkness is real and is the spiritual source of all opposition to God.
The lord of this diabolical kingdom is the "prince of the air," more commonly known as Satan, or the Devil. With a horde of wicked spirits at his command, he is called the "god of this [fallen] world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). As this world's ruler, his task is to oppose all of God's efforts to redeem Man. The battlefield here is primarily the human mind. Using a variety of techniques, Satan's strategy is to fill us with lies, to convince us that black is white and evil is good, to justify sin and blind us to our need for a Saviour, to distort our image of God and erase or trivialise our image of Satan, convincing us that he either doesn't exist or that he's a cartoon imp in red pajamas. Put simply, "to blind the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Given its power over the heart of Man, music is among the most potent of these techniques. And it's worth noting that both the Scriptures and church tradition suggest that music comes quite naturally to Satan, that very possibly, before his fall, he was in charge of music in Heaven. (See Isaiah 14:11; Ezekiel 28:13-15.)
Of course, any style of music can be perverted by evil. Many of the elements this presentation examines are found in other musical forms as well. The reason for our focus on rock is both its unparalleled popularity and the manner in which it has given place to evil. Subtly at first, and then with increasing blatancy as rock's celebrants have been brought under its rhythmic sway, it has become one of the most potent weapons in Satan's arsenal of deception.
Fortunately, Satan's proven tendency for over-achieving has resulted in a blatancy that, when examined by an objective inquirer, can be used to expose the Devil's presence and purposes--hence this presentation.
And one last point before we begin to dust rock music for Satan's fingerprints--2 Corinthians tells us that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14)--that he can, in other words, appear as something beautiful, even Christ-like. Don't be fooled! Satan doesn't just manifest his power through a Hitler or a Charles Manson. He can use your favourite guitarist, a pretty pop singer, maybe even you! Anyone who resists the will of God is fertile soil for his seeds of deception.
Satan had a great deal of control over Mankind until Jesus. On the cross, Jesus' thorn-torn brow and pierced body provided the perfect blood sacrifice for our sins. Now Satan's once mighty power is broken over anyone who believes on that blood, in Jesus and His sacrifice for us. It's no wonder Satan hates it. Can we find this demonic hatred in rock music? Sadly, yes.
JESUS THE FOCUS OF ATTACKS
Jesus has become the focus of more ridicule in rock music than any other personality. Virtually every facet of His life and ministry is mocked and criticised.
Jefferson Airplane's song "The Son of Jesus" is filled with sacrilege--suggesting among other things that Jesus was involved in the occult.
This same blatant disrespect for the Messiah characterised the life and art of John Lennon. During The Beatles' formative years in Germany, one biographer recounts how on Good Friday, the day that marks the Lord's crucifixion, Lennon made some nuns the target of his abuse. As they left their convent to attend worship services "they were shocked to behold across the street, a grotesque life-size effigy of Jesus on the cross, which John had fashioned and hung from his balcony. As the sisters gazed in astonishment at this sacrilegious display, John started pelting them with Durex condoms filled with water." To top it off, he urinated on them while crying "rain drops from heaven." (The Lives of John Lennon, Albert Goldman, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1988, p.20.)
In his song "God," Lennon not only records his indifference to Christ, but abases the Son of God by drawing a comparison between Jesus, JFK, Bob Dylan, Hindu mantras, and The Beatles. These examples taken together make it obvious that Lennon's infamous quote, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. We [The Beatles] are more popular than Jesus," meant a lot more than just a commentary on the unnatural adulation given to The Beatles. He longed for the obliteration of Jesus as Messiah and Christianity as a faith.
This type of overt blasphemy is not unique. Dozens of groups openly sing about wickedness that, until recently, could not be found outside of occult book stores. For many it's a matter of economics. Rebellion sells in rock, and for the hardest types, what could be more rebellious than to revile Christ and blaspheme God?
Punk artist Lydia Lunch has performed with a number of bands in the last decade--among them Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. Their songs include "Crown of Thorns" and the strident "I am the Lord Jesus," most of which was recorded backwards.
In the world of rock, even the most significant, loving and sacrificial acts of the Lord's life, like the Last Supper, are dragged through the mud. In this, His last meal before His death, Jesus gave His disciples the bread and the wine to initiate a new covenant, a promise of love and forgiveness. The bread symbolised His broken body and the wine His shed blood--together the horrible price He was to soon pay in order to redeem Man. There was nothing funny about it. Graceland renames the Last Supper "The First Snack" and pictorially suggests that the menu included a prostitute. MDC's album "Millions of Damn Christians" mocks, among other things, the blood of Jesus by connecting it with the key phrase from a well-known beer commercial.
Hebrews 9:22 states that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin." The blood spoken of here is that of the Lamb of God. Apart from His blood, our sins remain as an eternal wedge separating us from God. To mock the blood is to deny our only escape route from Hell--and that's why the desecration of the Lord's blood through ritual and liturgy is foundational to satanic religion.
Other aspects of Christ's sacrifice are mocked as well. A favourite occult technique for desecrating the sacred is to mix it with the profane. Many bands sing lyrics which are not only blasphemous, but which openly mock and denigrate Jesus and God while extolling Satan, the "god of this world." (2 Corinthians 4:4)
UNIVERSALISM
Another way in which Jesus is attacked is to lump Him in with every other spiritual leader and religion known to man. This heresy, known as "universalism," has become extremely popular of late, particularly with the growth of New Age religion.
An album by Earth, Wind and Fire shows various religious symbols--Christian, mixed in with symbols for Hinduism, Buddhism and the occult. The album title spells it out, "All in All." In other words, it's all the same thing--there are many paths to God.
Musically this heresy is best illustrated by ex-Beatle George Harrison's album "Somewhere in England": "They call you Christ, Vishnu, Buddha, Jehovah, our Lord. You are Govindam, Bismillah, Creator of All."
Harrison is joined by a host of other rock artists who have expressed, in one way or another, this philosophy. With Eastern, New Age, and occult religion the preferred spiritual diet of the rock industry, you can count on almost any mention of Jesus within secular rock music being a reference to the anemic and hydra-headed Christ of Universalism.
The problem here is that no matter how nice it sounds to say that all religions lead to God, Jesus said they don't. Practically every religion tries to claim Jesus and write Him into their line-up of spiritual super-stars, but we have irrefutable evidence that Jesus totally denied that there is any other way to God except through Himself. As He said in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one cometh unto the Father but by Me."
Elsewhere, He warned that in the Last Days men would try to deny His uniqueness: "For false Christs and false prophets shall arise ... to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22).
Think about it for a second. If Universalism is true, then not only is Jesus a liar for saying it was a false and demonic doctrine, He is also the stupidest man who ever lived, because He voluntarily underwent the most excruciating and shameful death imaginable--for no reason at all!
In other words, if there are other ways to God, then Jesus didn't have to die in our place.
Ultimately, what the philosopher and writer C.S. Lewis said has logically got to be true, "Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar, or else He is Lord" (Mere Christianity, The Macmillan Company, 1952, C.S. Lewis, p.41). And His life, death and resurrection should prove beyond any shadow of a doubt to anyone seeking the truth that the latter is the case--Jesus is Lord, the true Messiah of God. And that's why Satan tries so hard to convince Man to the contrary.
CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN ROCK MUSIC
The cross is at the heart of the Christian faith. Without the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus (which, by the way, is one of the most logically proven events in ancient history), our faith, in the words of the Apostle Paul, "is vain and we are yet in our sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).
As a symbol of its defeat and future obliteration, satanic religion loathes the cross and constantly seeks to discredit it. To this end, the "prince of the air" attempts to influence Man in one of two directions. The more subtle of the two, and hence the most prevalent, is to give it superficial respect while at the same time associating the cross with the very sins that nailed Jesus to it. This type of desecration is virtually rampant in rock, with crosses the most popular jewelry choice of the stars. It seems as though the more perverted the artist, the larger, the more numerous, or the more obsessive is their focus on the cross.
Artists impersonate a crucified Christ with a frequency that is astonishing. Crosses show up so often you would think that rock music was a Christian industry--until one looks at their intent, message, and lifestyle.
Scripture provides a profound insight into this obsession with mocking the cross, an insight that can be objectively used to diagnose one's spiritual condition--"the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness" (1 Corinthians 1:18a). In other words, mocking the cross is evidence that a person is spiritually dead. And it's the lord of death, Satan, who inspires this mockery through his incessant drive to pervert Man's image of God and Truth. Against this the Bible teaches, "But unto us who are saved, it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18b).
A second way that Hell goes after the cross is through outright desecration associated with satanic religion and liturgy. Desecration through destruction and the addition of demonic imagery and symbols is also well established within satanic religion. A T-shirt featuring an upside-down cross and Christ and the word "Destroy" was designed by Johnny Rotten and modeled by Mick Jagger on stage during the Rolling Stones' 1981 world tour.
As the representative of Christ on Earth, the church and things she stands for are abhorrent to satanic religion. Along this line, one rock group sings: "The only good Christian is a dead Christian."
Speaking of Christian death, the group by that name adds the church to their list of things to desecrate in the song "Stairs." They sing, "There is no city of God. Damn the name of God."
BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM
Life can sometimes be confusing, with all the different opinions and religious views that vie for our attention. It can be hard to know what is good and what is bad. As in the Scripture we saw earlier, if Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), how can we tell whether something is of God or of the Devil?
Well, one way is to do what we have been doing--to compare it to the Scriptures, the Word of God. And by this standard of judgment it's obvious that something has gone very wrong with much of contemporary rock.
Another very effective method, however, is to examine its fruit, the actions and attitudes it ultimately generates. Jesus said that we can discern false prophets and teachings from the good by the fruit they produce. (See Matthew 7:15-20.) By way of an analogy, He spoke of trees--sound ones bear good fruit and bad ones produce evil fruit.
Now sometimes when trees or plants are growing, it's difficult to tell them apart. For example, two bushes that look alike are a blueberry plant and something called "lantana." There's not much to set one apart from the other until they mature. The fruit of one will be pleasant-tasting and nourishing and the other poisonous. Their fruit will definitely set them apart.
In Christ's parable, He said that the ultimate lot of this poisonous plant is to be cut down and burned. In an earlier verse, He mentioned both the source of this plant's problem as well as where the axe will fall when it is cast into the fire. "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 3:10).
If you stop and think about it, the root is invisible to us. It exists, in a sense, in another realm from our above-ground world, but it is this invisible root that determines what kind of tree and fruit will be produced.
This parable, of course, points to life and, more importantly, eternity and the judgement awaiting each of us. Scripture tells us that the fruits produced by the invisible root of God's Spirit are things like love, joy, peace, goodness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) Against these, the fruit produced by the root of Satan and Man's fallen nature tend to the opposite--anger and fear instead of love, anxiety instead of peace, lust instead of self-control. (See Galatians 5:19.) Let's examine rock for one of the most basic fruits of satanic religion. In John 10:10, Jesus said that one of Satan's primary goals in the affairs of Man is "to steal, kill, and destroy."
VIOLENCE
The intrinsic selfishness of Man's heart coupled with the seeds of satanic philosophy will inevitably result in violence and death.
Violence has been part of rock videos since the beginning. The National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) studied 900 rock videos and reported that 46 percent contained violence or indicated violence. Of the 900, 13 percent had sadistic violence with an attacker deriving pleasure from his violent act. The NCTV found an average of 17.9 violent acts per hour, with 22 percent of all videos containing violence against men and women. The coalition also discovered that violent lyrics in rock music have increased 115 percent since 1963, and sadistic violence appears more frequently on MTV than any other channel.
Even people in the rock music industry have expressed concern. One disc jockey says, "The scary element is that kids are at the most impressionable point of their lives. I would not want any of my sons to get their attitudes about sex and violence or women from music videos."
Yet preying upon one another is a major theme running through the music, album artwork, stage shows, videos and lives associated with the rock music industry.
While the intent in most instances is to shock, grab one's attention, and increase album sales, evidence continues to mount that there are powers beyond the industry's control for whom this obsession with death is not a joke.
Many rock artists have found this out the hard way. From suffocating in their own vomit, to dying of heart failure in the bathroom, their premature and often vulgar deaths point not only to the Prince of Death, but to the perverse way he treats his subjects.
And it's not just the musicians who are being affected by this spirit of violence and death. The rock era has seen violent crime increase among young people by over 10,000%! Concert violence has become epidemic, culminating in a Who concert in Cincinnati where 11 people were trampled to death as crowds rushed the doors. Even the way many listeners relate to the music, shouting with fists punching the air, or crashing into one another in that paroxysm of aggression called "slam dancing," bears witness to the spirit of this world operating beneath the surface.
However, it is in the incredible arena of bizarre murders, ritualistic violence, and self-mutilation that the reality of satanic influence can be most clearly discerned. The last few decades have seen the appearance of some of the most twisted and violent acts imaginable. The primary things that link these senseless acts together is an obsession with rock music and a similarity to ancient satanic ritual.
What's interesting, as well as critically important to note here, is that the mindless acts of violence performed on stage by many rockers are not unique to this era. The Scriptures recall a time when God's prophet, Elijah, challenged Satan's prophets to a contest. I Kings 18 relates what the Devil worshippers did in order to get Satan to move on their behalf, "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them" (1 Kings 18:28).
Now it's true these warlocks were consciously engaging in a demonic ritual while most, if not all, of modern punkers have no idea their behavior is virtually identical to this ancient form of satanism. But remember, the spiritual realm is the higher reality. We are all profoundly affected by the Lord of whichever kingdom we are a part of, whether we are aware of it or not.
Moving on to even more serious acts of violence, self-mutilation has graduated in the last decade to murder and human sacrifice. Here are a few examples of a growing phenomenon that many law enforcement officials believe might already be epidemic:
On April 12, 1985, a 14-year-old metal-head (heavy metal fan) killed three people. An Iron Maiden freak whose involvement with the occult led him to carve 666 into his chest, the boy claimed to have been under the influence of Eddie, Iron Maiden's mascot, when he committed the murders. (The Toronto Sun, November 1, 1985)
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The now infamous California mass murderer, Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker," was reportedly led into his obsession with the occult and ritual murder through groups like AC/DC. A schoolmate reported that it was their song "Night Prowler" that particularly seemed to affect Ramirez.
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1987 saw the capture of the serial murderer, occultist, and apparent cannibal Gary Heidnik. Time Magazine noted that from his house in Philadelphia where the crimes were committed, heavy metal music blared day and night. (Time, April 6, 1987, p. 34)
Now, I'm not saying that if you listen to heavy metal music, the Devil will make you kill someone. These individuals all had other problems besides their addiction to rock music. Remember, though, that as an eternal spirit, Satan's focus is on eternity. His primary goal is to take you to Hell with him. If Satan can get you to kill for him, great--that's icing on the cake. The cake, though, is to keep you away from the One Who can save you from Hell--to make you think that following Jesus is stupid, wimpy, or irrelevant--that real life is found in fun and doing whatever feels good. And what other art form is preaching this message with greater urgency and power than much of rock music?
Some would say, "So what, it's all just in fun, nobody is supposed to take the message seriously." Well, that sentiment completely ignores both the nature of man and the power of music. As Ken Wooden, investigative journalist and reporter with ABC's 20/20 has said, "Why do we spend billions on advertising? Because people answer the ads. This type of music is a form of advertising. And I've seen kids who have responded to the ads. I've seen them dead on marble slabs." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Others would defend the right of rock musicians to express their feelings and spread their message, no matter what it is or what effects it may cause. Syndicated columnist Mona Charen observed: "When 2 Live Crew (a popular rap group) croons about busting women open and watching them bleed, our opinion leaders fret about censorship but not what has become of us that we enjoy such `entertainment.' By calling something art, we elevate, purify, and even deify it, insisting that it needn't obey the standards of human morality.... Art has consequences. It is not coincidence that the society which reads American Psycho and listens to Guns N' Roses and laughs at Andrew Dice Clay (a vulgar comedian) is also the society in which `date rape' is out of control on college campuses, and children wear bulletproof vests to school."
SUICIDE
Another way people are answering the ads in rock music is through suicide. Now the second biggest killer of young people in the West, surveys have found that as many as one in seven teenagers in today's perverse and Christless society have tried to kill themselves! Again, there are other factors contributing to this tragedy, but clearly rock music has played a major part.
Suicide is perhaps the ultimate satanic deception because it must effectively short circuit a primary human instinct--self-preservation. To accomplish this, some basic truths have to be destroyed and replaced with lies.
The most foundational truth is that life has a purpose above and beyond just existing--to know and experience God. We've already seen how rock has either ignored or ridiculed this truth. In place of it, the satanic lie is that life is fundamentally pointless, that at best our existence is given meaning by the pleasures we enjoy. One would be hard-pressed to find a secular rock artist who does not at least tip their hat to this demonic philosophy; most bow their knee and worship.
It's worth noting here how the Scriptures characterize the generation caught in the throes of Endtime apostasy, "In the Last Days, men will be lovers of their own selves, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:2-4).
The next step in getting people to kill themselves is to remove human suffering from the context of any meaning or purpose it has in relation to God's love and care for us. The truth needing to be destroyed here is that suffering is either symptomatic of spiritual disease, thereby driving one to God, or is a temporary trial permitted by God in order to perfect one's character. The fact is, life is full of trials for everybody--maturity and greatness come from triumphing over them. Against this, Satan's deception is that if life is found in pleasure, then the absence of pleasure is to be avoided at all costs. If the pain becomes too great, killing oneself can be the logical way out.
Significantly, the soul of this present generation has been so bankrupt that the pain triggering much of the current epidemic of suicide is ultimately trivial: poor grades, a broken love affair, a disdain for reality. As Dr. Mark Rosenberg noted in his address to the American Society of Suicidology in 1988, "It was thought that the way to prevent suicide among teens was to treat depression. It's not the case with these kids. Rather than being clinically depressed, these young suicide victims are impulsive, acting out fantasies" (Rising to the Challenge, Vision Video, 1988 P.M.R.C.).
And where are the fantasies coming from? Enter again rock music.
Is it just a coincidence that in many suicides around the country the victims have been obsessed with rock? And that often these very songs about death and suicide were the last thing they listened to before they took their lives? As the coroner's report read in the death of one John McCollum, "Decedent committed suicide by shooting himself while listening to Devil music" (Reader's Digest, July, 1988, p.3).
DRUGS
Another self-destructive and occult-related activity that has been popularised by rock music is drug abuse. It is stating the obvious to say that drugs are everywhere in rock--from the ravaged bodies of the stars to the lyrics of their songs. The Beastie Boys' best-selling album "Licensed to Ill," for example, contains over 90 references to drugs and alcohol abuse. (Rising to the Challenge, Vision Video, 1988, P.M.R.C., research by Robert DeMoss, Jr.)
What is not as well known, however, is drugs' connection to the spiritual realm. Psychotropic or mind-altering substances are viewed by sorcerers and others involved in the occult as a gateway, or guide, into the Spirit World. The Greek word in the Scriptures for "sorcery," in fact, is "pharmakia," from whence we get our words "pharmacy" or "pharmaceuticals"--in other words, drugs.
The high that is drugs' primary attraction is unquestionably a spiritual experience, one that opens the user up to the Spirit World.
The trend-setting song "Tomorrow Never Knows," by The Beatles, was originally entitled "The Void." Its purpose was to proclaim the gospel of enlightenment through drugs while simulating the sensory effects of LSD. The first line of the song was taken directly from the bible of the acid subculture, Tim Leary's The Psychedelic Experience. Satan often preys on the individual high on drugs. And you can be sure that much of the proliferation of occultism within rock music finds its genesis in precisely this way.
Ex-Beatle George Harrison explains the origins of his Krishna consciousness: "When I was younger, with the after-effects of the LSD that opened something up inside of me in 1966, a flood of other thoughts came into my head which led me to the yogis" (Rolling Stone, November 5, 1987).
Likewise, a rock magazine described the Cure's Robert Smith's creative process as follows: "He often comes up with his most macabre ideas for songs in the nightmares he experiences while sleeping off alcoholic binges. The entire album `The Head on the Door' was written under those conditions" (Starhits, October, 1988).
Over the years, the Grateful Dead have become almost synonymous with marijuana and LSD use. A national newspaper described the uncanny fascination they inspire in their devoted fans, "For many of the camp followers, the Dead are a religion and their lyrics a bible. It is generally accepted that the Dead are tapped into some profound LSD-inspired truth. Not surprisingly, some hallucinating `Deadheads' have weaved weird and elaborate theories about God and the Universe from strands of Grateful Dead lyrics" (The Washington Times, Concert 1986, Souvenir Edition).
It's not surprising because the Dead themselves have acknowledged this drug-induced demonic deception. As Captain Trip, Jerry Garcia, said in their biography Playing in the Band, "I can't deny that there is a moment when I'm transformed, when all of a sudden God is speaking through my strings" (Playing in the Band, David Gans and Peter Simon).
SEX
Perhaps the most inevitable and far reaching byproduct, or fruit, of satanic philosophy is an obsession with dirty sex.
Popular music video director Marty Callner, whose pornography style landed him in the Los Angeles Times' "Hall of Shame," defended his use of erotic imagery by noting the nature of his subject matter: "Sex is what rock is all about" (Los Angles Times, January 24, 1988).
The sex heralded by the rock industry is not the mature and unselfish kind mandated by God, but the satanic alternative--impulsive, carnal, and ultimately destructive. As Dr. Alan Bloom said in The Closing of the American Mind, "Rock music has one appeal, a barbaric appeal, to sexual desire--not love, but sexual desire undeveloped and untutored." (The Closing of the American Mind, p.73).
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In a 62-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Jose Gonzalez of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the album "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" by "2 Live Crew" became the first record in history to be labeled obscene. Gonzalez wrote that the 80-minute LP--which, by one count, contains 226 uses of the word fuck, 87 descriptions of oral sex and at least one mention of incest--is "replete with references to female and male genitalia, human sexual excretion, oral-anal contact, fellatio, . . . sadomasochism, the turgid state of the male sexual organ . . . and the sound of moaning. . . . The evident goal of this particular recording is to reproduce the sexual act through musical lyrics. It is an appeal directed to dirty thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind." (People Weekly, July 2, 1990)
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Dr. Bloom makes an important point here. Moral sanity is not anti-sex, but anti-exploitation. Contrary to popular opinion, God is not against sex--it was His idea in the first place and He designed our bodies with the capacity to enjoy it. Sex is a vehicle for Man's participation in one of life's greatest miracles, the creation of another human being. (See Genesis 1:28.) ln short, sex is an enormously important, powerful, and beautiful act.
But like all things that contain intrinsic power, it has the potential to be destructive as well. It scarcely needs mentioning that George Michael and songs like "I Want Your Sex" are just the tip of the iceberg. From 19-year-old chart-topper Bobby Brown, who was arrested in February, 1989, in Georgia for simulating sex on stage with a member of the audience, to the brazenly pornographic style of mega-star Madonna, the vast majority of rock artists have become the moral equivalent of prostitutes in the temple of rock music.
Some are subtle, using innuendo and sexual metaphor to appeal to the listener's carnal nature. More and more, however, veiled illusions have given place to an explicitness that is almost unbelievable. Once they are introduced to the fleeting pleasures of sin, an important spiritual law kicks in: "The deceitfulness of sin" hardens our hearts (Hebrews 3:13).
George David Weiss, president of the American Song Writers Guild, declared, "Where lyrics once used innuendoes, they are now overt. Where lyrics were once artfully suggestive, they are now blatantly explicit. Where lyrics once extolled tenderness and love relationships, they now glorify violence and loveless sex."
David Gergen, writing in U.S. News and World Report, said, "The difference between music of yesterday and that of today is the leap one makes from swimsuits in Sports Illustrated to the centerfolds of Hustler" (a hardcore porn magazine).
One doesn't have to be sexually naive to be staggered by the increasingly perverse love affair between rock and sex. Time and taste prevent an exhaustive expos, but briefly consider two primary symptoms of moral insanity--sex married to its opposite--violence and pain, and sex as religion.
One of the last sign posts on Hell's downward journey to sexual bondage and depravity is to mix violence with sex. Not only is sex removed from the sacred context of love and commitment, but it is further perverted by substituting pain for pleasure and death for life. Incredibly, this satanic theme has become increasingly common and popular in rock music.
People magazine in reviewing "Strange Love" called the song: "a celebration of masochism .... Listen to this twice and you'll have a deeper understanding of masochists. Listen to it three times and you'll be one" (People, September 28, 1987). Motley Crue's lyrics frequently glorify ruthless acts of violence, mayhem and murder.
Scores of other groups sing about the pleasures of rape, pain and degradation. Is it any wonder that a recent poll found that a majority of 6-9th grade students felt that date rape was justifiable (re. Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center as noted in the "Rising to the Challenge" video), or that sexual crime among the young is on the increase? Even secular journals are beginning to connect these once unheard-of events to the influence of rock music. As Scripture warned almost 2000 years ago, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7,8).
Taking this theme even further is the homosexual group, The Frogs. Their album cover features a very young boy wearing a pink triangle, a symbol within the militant homosexual movement, and includes songs like "Gather Around for Saviour #2." The singer envisions a new world where children leave the church behind to follow a new messiah--him.
This blasphemy finds deeper expression inside the album cover for another openly homosexual group, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Pleasure is called the "Unique," the one thing that transcends everything else. Their artwork further develops this concept of sex as religion in a hideously perverted but sadly telling caricature of the Biblical story of Noah and the Flood. The animals are walking two by two as in the days of Noah. But what they are crawling into, the ark, or the means of salvation for Mankind, is a male sex organ.
How ironic this is, given Jesus' admonition to the world concerning His coming in judgment on an unbelieving and perverted world: "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37-39).
REBELLION
Continuing with our examination of the byproducts of rock music, consider one of its greatest themes--rebellion.
For Blackie Lawless of Wasp it goes even deeper. As he told The Washington Post, "Rock is an aggressive art form, pure hostility and aggression. I believe in that like a religion" (The Washington Post, February 8, 1987, p.F2).
The spiritual significance here is brought out in this Old Testament passage, "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" (1 Samuel 15:23). Biblically, witchcraft is synonymous with satanism, and rebellion is its root.
Satanic rebellion is not the honest and vital revolt of good against evil and truth against lies, but rebellion steeped in evil--anarchistic, hypocritical and ultimately destructive. It's not an exaggeration to say that rebellion is more than just an occasional theme in rock--it is its very heart and soul.
Rock and rebellion have become so intertwined, in fact, that even the rock industry's voluntary attempts of toeing the line of human decency are fundamentally flawed. Take, for example, the many component parts that together made up Live Aid, rock's shot at world hunger.
Practically speaking, several journals, including rock's own Spin magazine, have reported that most of the aid ended up in the hands of Ethiopia's communist dictator, and that few starving people were ultimately saved. But stop and consider the bigger picture. Which is really the better solution to the world's problems: Rock music--or Jesus, the Rock of Ages?
Just as a bad tree cannot produce good fruit, so an industry rooted in rebellion against God and His Word can never bring forth that which is truly good. As Jesus Himself said, "The flesh profiteth nothing: the Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).
THE OCCULT
Like an invisible cancer that inevitably leads to death, so the satanic seed in rock music has culminated in a blatant obsession with the occult. Cryptic allusions to the Devil in the music of blues artist Robert Johnson a generation ago have given place to an open worship of Satan and Hell that comes complete with the symbols, liturgies, rituals and messianic personalities that attend any religious order. No longer the stuff of small underground groups, millions of young people have been caught in its evil sway.
Beginning with the symbols associated with satanic religion, there is none more foundational than the "pentagram," the upside down, five-sided star that is central to occult ritual. Next to the desecrated cross, there is also no other symbol more common to the rock music industry. Motley Crue, Slayer, Bebop Deluxe, Metal Fatigue, Venom, Ebony Records, Sam Kenison, Suicidal Tendencies, The Plasmatics, Blackie Lawless' original group Sister, and AC/DC are just a few examples where the satanic symbol is used.
Another symbol that is integral to satanic religion is the "Il Cornuto"--a hand gesture that represents the Devil himself. (Forefinger and little finger pointed out while the middle and ring fingers are held down by the thumb.) Like the pentagram, it too is virtually everywhere in rock music. Ozzy Osbourne, Meatloaf, Rick James, Cheap Trick, Motley Crue, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Coven, The Beatles, Kiss, Todd Rundgren, and Dio are just a few examples where this sign for Satan is used.
It is with the fans, however, where the Il Cornuto finds its greatest expression. No doubt the vast majority have little or no idea what they are communicating when they flash this sign. But this is true with most supernatural things. Being both invisible and transcendent, spiritual forces can exert great influence over a person without their being aware of it; especially when they have a "whatever feels good, do it" attitude towards life. And that's why looking at our actions, or our fruit, is so important. They give us insight into the spiritual roots within us. Anyone who is given to using the Devil's sign is probably being influenced by his spirits somehow.
Our next satanic symbol, 666, is taken from the Bible. Revelation chapter 13 assigns that number to "the Beast," an anti-Christ dictator who wars against God. (See Revelation 13:18.) The "number of the Beast" also serves as the title for an album by Iron Maiden. Anvil, RF-7 and Coven also have songs with "666" in the title. The "number of the Beast" appears on album covers by Black Sabbath and The Plasmatics, the stage set of Motley Crue, and is etched into the vinyl of the best-selling album "Licensed to Ill" by the Beastie Boys.
In addition to symbols, occult ritual and philosophy also abound in contemporary rock music. Beginning with the most well-known, many groups within the heavy metal genre have popularised blatant, no-holds-barred satanism and witchcraft in their music, album covers, and stage shows. There are thousands of songs being performed by hundreds of heavy metal bands around the world. Most are seldom heard outside of small, devoted followings--a few have made it into the big time. Whether directly or indirectly, however, this type of music and the spiritual forces that attend it have made their mark on contemporary culture. What was once unthinkable is now not only sung about and considered, it is at times even embraced and acted upon.
Heavy metal does not have a monopoly on blasphemy, however. The '80s have seen the emergence of a macabre brand of rock that combines elements of punk, New Wave, and even classical music. Including artists like The Cure, Bauhaus, Christian Death, Sisters of Mercy, Diamanda Galas, Nick Cave, The Lords of the New Church, and The Smiths, the occult elements within this new genre are even more disturbing than those in heavy metal because they are combined with an intelligence and poetic passion rarely found in the latter. For example, when Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, in an admitted take-off of the Satanic Mass, chants the Latin for "Father, Son and Holy Ghost," there is a sinister urgency you can cut with a knife.
As Propaganda Magazine described the recording of this song, "Peter summoned his last reserves for the final push. As if suddenly possessed by demons, the whole foul-smelling mess spouted from his mouth like so much vomit.... (Later) the lingering evil spirits literally chased them right out of the dark studio, causing them to glance over their shoulders and laugh nervously as they spilled out into the street" (Propaganda Magazine, No.11, Winter, 1989).
Diamanda Galas' voice was used to suggest the sounds of demonic possession in the movie "The Serpent and the Rainbow." The press kit for her "Divine Punishment" album noted that a woman committed suicide after listening to it. (Forced Exposure Magazine, #15, Summer, 1989, p.24.) The entire performance is an eerie recitation of Old Testament Scripture with one exception, Galas' "Sono L'Antichristo" ("I am the Antichrist").
Or consider England's Thrill Kill Kult. Amidst a 666, a crucified demon, and desecrated cross, Thrill Kill Kult invokes the sights and sounds of Hell with a tangible urgency and a chilling effect. Like other artists within this genre and unlike the jack-booted flagrancy of heavy metal, the message is married to the most dangerous catalyst for satanic insurrection--a sense of religious and poetic transcendence.
What is even more remarkable about this music is that while most of the groups readily acknowledge and even embrace its open spirituality, most do so with the insistence that it is ultimately "Christian" in its orientation. This is very significant because Scripture makes it clear that the anti-Christ spirit is most deceptive when it comes, not from without, but from within the context of (so-called) "Christianity." Jesus warned that the most ravenous wolves are often those that appear wearing the garments of sheep. (See Matthew 7:15.)
Without going into too much detail, Satan's efforts in this regard have historically focused on propagating derivatives of an ancient and recurring heresy known as "Gnosticism"*. And it is this heresy that has found new expression in the work of these and many other rock artists. In this regard, the words in Jude's Epistle are as relevant today as they were centuries ago: "These filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves" (Jude 8,10a).
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* GNOSTICISM (pronounced NAHS tuh sihz uhm) was a religious and philosophical movement in Europe and the Middle East that flourished from about 100 A.D. to the 700s. There were many Christian and non-Christian Gnostic sects. However, they all believed they had secret knowledge about the nature of the Universe and the origin and destiny of humanity. Gnostics believed that people could attain salvation only by acquiring gnosis, a Greek word meaning knowledge. Most Gnostics believed in an unknown and remote Supreme Being. An evil and subordinate supernatural being called the Demiurge created the world, which was ruled by evil spirits. Gnostics generally taught that selected individuals had a divine spark imprisoned in their material body. Through gnosis, that divine spark would be liberated from the basically evil world and united with the Supreme Being.
Most Christian Gnostics believed that Jesus was a divine messenger who brought gnosis to ordinary Christians. They claimed Jesus only inhabited a human body temporarily and they thus denied His death on the cross and Resurrection as described in the New Testament.
Many philosophies and religions of the ancient world contributed to the origin of Gnosticism. Such early Christian leaders as Saint Irenaeus attacked the movement for heresy. These attacks stressed the pagan elements in Gnosticism and the Gnostics' unorthodox views about the nature of Jesus.
Article from World Book Encyclopedia.
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VOODOO
It's really no surprise that the anti-Christ spirit has become so manifest in rock. There is abundant evidence that rock's lifeblood has in some part been drawn from a musical form whose sole purpose is to summon forth evil spirits--voodoo. An ancient and highly developed form of ritual, magic, and animism, voodoo originated in Africa and was brought to the Americas centuries ago via the slave trade. There it gradually evolved into jazz, rhythm and blues, and finally rock. That by itself does not make these musical forms demonic, but rock music has dabbled in and at times even embraced the essence of voodoo in a manner unique among other contemporary musical styles.
Fleetwood Mac, for example, incorporated not only the rhythms into their live performance of their hit song "World Turning," they included voodoo ceremonial dress as well. Haitian voodoo was also used on the Rolling Stones' album "Goat's Head Soup." The icons, art and ritual body and face painting associated with the voodoo religion show up in the videos of Pretty Poison and Peter Gabriel.
Jimi Hendrix's interest in spiritism produced not only the song "Voodoo Chile" but the following observation from one Kwasi Dzidzornu, a conga player who often played with Hendrix. Kwasi was from a village in Ghana, West Africa, where his father was a voodoo priest. "One of the first things I asked Jimi was where he got that voodoo rhythm from ... that many of the signature rhythms Jimi played on guitar were very often the same rhythms that my father played in voodoo ceremonies. The way Jimi danced to the rhythms of his playing reminded me of the ceremonial dances to the rhythms my father played to Oxun, the god of thunder and lightning. The ceremony is called `Voodooshi.'" ('Scuse Me while I Kiss the Sky, David Henderson, p.251.)
Whether intentional or not, Hendrix's "voodooshi" must have worked its demonic magic. Two of his closest associates, Alan Douglas, road manager and producer, and Fayne Pridgon, long-time girlfriend, reveal a side of rock music its fans seldom hear about.
Douglas: "One of the biggest things with Jimi was ... he believed he was possessed by some spirit, and I got to where I believed it myself."
Pridgon: "He always used to tell me about some devil that was in him and that he didn't have control over it. He didn't know what made him act the way he acted or what made him say the things he said, and songs and different things like that would just come out of him. It seems to me he was so tormented and just torn apart, and that he was obsessed with something evil." (Interviews taken from the soundtrack album from the film "Jimi Hendrix," Warner Brothers, 1973.)
Like Hendrix, David Byrne of the Talking Heads is also fascinated with voodoo-related rhythms and has incorporated them into his music--most notably his collaboration with Brian Eno, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," an album that includes a song about demonic possession, "The Jezebel Spirit." Byrne's admiration of African-based rhythms and religions prompted his "Alive from Off Center" documentary on the Candomble religion, a demonic hybrid of the Yoruba voodoo cult and Roman Catholicism.
In an interview concerning the documentary, Byrne noted, "If you go back into the history of American popular music, you're constantly finding hidden elements of Yoruba influence. The rhythms are there, the sensibility in the lyrics is there, too" (Rolling Stone, July 13th, 1989, p.78).
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Death Metal
A wild-eyed, long-haired young man stands before an audience of cheering, chanting fans. He takes a bucketful of animal blood and entrails and dumps it over the first few rows. The fans laugh, wipe the stuff on themselves, and throw chunks at one another. This scene, according to Florida's St. Petersburg Times, took place at a rock concert by a band called Deicide, which means "the killing of a god." This kind of music is called death metal, supposedly the most extreme form of heavy metal rock. In recent years it has become popular internationally, ever since the success of an album entitled Scream Bloody Gore, by a band called Death.
The band Deicide is led by an avowed satanist who claims to have hated God ever since a car accident left him with a J-shaped scar, which he is certain stands for Jesus. He says he hears voices urging him to kill himself, and he has burned a satanic symbol into his own forehead.
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THE CULT OF PAN
A close relation of voodoo is the ancient cult of Pan. Half-human and half-goat, Pan remains one of the most enduring and compelling symbols for the Antichrist. Instead of God incarnate in Man, as with Jesus, we see Man joined to animal--one that is both a universal symbol for Satan as well as historically representative of the basest of animal and sexual passions. In the Rites of Pan, like voodoo, music and frequently drugs are used to entice spirits to possess the ritual's participants. And it's worth noting that possession by Pan, from which we get the word "panic," often results in an obsession with sex.
Not only do we see the sociological manifestations of this anti-Christ spirit everywhere in rock today, but significantly we find some very direct allusions to Pan himself. Rush's "2112" album features the song "The Temples of Syrinx," a Greek word that relates to Pan. In 1987, Elton John commissioned an artist to design a family crest. Pan was the centerpiece of the design. And arguably the most famous rock song of all time, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," makes a clear reference to not only the music of Pan and his pipes, but his ability to spiritually influence and guide those who fall under his spell. Lyricist and singer Robert Plant begins with the thought that "The piper will lead us to reason," and then sings, "Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know. The piper's calling you to join him."
An interesting side note: In the remote mountains of Morocco there's a group that still practices, in a literal sense, the Rites of Pan. "The Master Musicians of Joujouka," as they are called, inhabit a mystical world where music is the key that unlocks the supernatural. As rock artist and writer Robert Palmer described in his article on them for Rolling Stone Magazine, "When the music and energy were at their height, the tribesmen milled in ecstatic trances, their eyes rolled back in their heads, screaming like a great rending of the heavens.... Several times I witnessed the instant when the current began to surge in earnest and coursed through the quivering frame of a local shepherd.... When the power came down, the shepherd suddenly wasn't there and someone else was looking out of eyes that abruptly began to glow like ruby lasers. One night he came and jerked me out of the crowd, and I ran with him. He leaped through a bonfire, and then I was in the bonfire, surrounded by flames but unharmed. Then I was spinning like a top, spinning into darkness. `We have seen you through the music,' they (the Pan-worshipers) told me. `Now you are one of us'" (Rolling Stone Magazine, March 23, 1989, p.106).
Palmer is not the only one to become "one of them." Rock has uniquely bridged the gulf, both geographical and cultural, that separates the Joujoukan cult from the rest of the world. Among its other disciples are David Bowie, Robert Plant and Patti Smith. The Rolling Stones' founder Brian Jones spent considerable time in Joujouka recording and then later releasing an album of their music. The Rolling Stones' 1989 release "Steel Wheels" features samples of this Moroccan form of voodoo. Finally, it is perhaps no coincidence that on Patti Smith's most Joujoukan-influenced album, "Radio Ethiopia," she writes in her liner notes what could double as the bottom line for either Pan or Satan in their musical war for the hearts and minds of men: "Rock 'n' roll is royal warfare ... the universe is our battleground ... the Fender--all guitars--our weapons ... the technicians--great soldiers ... the people--tender barbarians ... the goal--the freedom to possess the key of the fifth battalion and release the fierce and stampeding angels of Abaddon (Hell)."
To a great measure, Smith's prophecy has come true. All around us evidence abounds that the fierce and stampeding angels of Abaddon have been released. True to the satanic form, Jesus is ignored or made fun of. The Christian standard of morality has been gutted and the new idols of this age, our entertainers, embrace the satanic while multitudes scream in adulation.
The early Rolling Stones, for example, bankrolled an occult sect called "The Process" and provided a base of operations for their satanic evangelism. (Contact America radio broadcast, September 15, 1986.) Later, Anita Pallenberg, an aspiring actress and accomplished witch, became the companion of first Jagger and then Keith Richards. In July of 1979, at Richards' Connecticut estate, an 18-year-old boy shot himself while lying in Pallenberg's bed. Investigating officers uncovered reports of weird rituals and sacrificed animals that led up to the suicide. (Rock and Roll Babylon, Courage Books, 1982, Gary Herman, p.125; The Rolling Stones--The First Twenty Years, Knopf, 1981, David Dalton, p.148.)
One of the Stones' early albums was entitled Their Satanic Majesties Request. For the cover, they posed as witches. A Richards-Jagger composition, "Sympathy for the Devil," became an unofficial satanic anthem. In this song, Lucifer himself speaks and requests "courtesy" and "sympathy" from all who meet him.
The Rolling Stones were further involved with occult film maker and satanist Kenneth Anger. Jagger scored Anger's film "Invocation of My Demon Brother" and Pallenberg sponsored "Lucifer Rising," a movie that showed "the actual ceremonies to make Lucifer rise." Not coincidentally, the film starred rock singer Marianne Faithful, another ex-girlfriend of Mick Jagger.
CROWLEIAN CULTS
The occult has also played a major part in the life and music of heavy metal super group Led Zeppelin. In 1974, they founded their own record company, Swan Song. Its first British release was the Pretty Thing's "Silk Torpedo." According to Led Zeppelin chronicler Steven Davis, "The album was launched at a blasphemous Halloween party at the Chiselhurst caves. Naked women lined the recesses of the caves and reclined before altars in the style of a satanic mass." (Hammer of the Gods, William Morrow and Company, 1985, Stephen Davis, p.246).
Though shocking, this type of behaviour should come as no surprise when we consider that the group's founder is one of the leading occultists of the rock generation. Jimmy Page's fascination with black magic is so intense, he owns and operates The Equinox, one of the largest occult bookstores in England. (Creem Magazine, November, 1979.) And his devotion to Aleister Crowley is nothing short of religious. Crowley was one of the most infamous satanists of our modern age. During the first half of this century, he developed a system of magic that combined the elements of a rock idol's dream--sex, drugs, ritual, and special knowledge that granted the practitioner a measure of power. Billed as "the Wickedest Man in the World," Crowley claimed the title "The Great Beast--666." (The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook, Samuel Weiser, Inc. 1988, Sandy Robertson.) When Kenneth Anger, himself a Crowley enthusiast, approached Page about writing the music for "Lucifer Rising," he found, in Steven Davis' words, "a priceless collection of Crowley artifacts--books, first editions, manuscripts, hats, canes, paintings, even the robes in which Crowley had conducted rituals" (Hammer of the Gods, p.168).
Most incredible of all, Page purchased Boleskine, Crowley's old home on the shores of the famous Loch Ness in Scotland (Hammer of the Gods, p.123; Led Zeppelin Special, Modern Day Periodicals, Inc., 1980, p.46). Later Page had the demonic power associated with the house accentuated by having it redecorated by Charles Pierce, a renowned satanist. Within the next few years one of Boleskine's caretakers committed suicide; another went insane (Hammer of the Gods, p.291).
Crowley's enchantment extends well beyond Led Zeppelin. Graham Bond, a rock pioneer whose bands provided the first break for some of rock's biggest artists, actually thought he was Crowley's illegitimate son. One of his later bands was entitled Aleister Crowley's Holy Magic, producing music that would in his words "help the listener contact the higher forces." For Bond it must have worked; he became mentally ill and later died amidst mysterious circumstances. (The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook, p.117.)
David Bowie's 1971 album "Hunky Dory" featured "Quicksand," a song about Crowley's cult that included the line "immersed in Crowley's uniform of imagery." By 1975, biographer Henry Edwards described Bowie as having done just that, as he became obsessed with Crowleian rituals and mantras, stored his urine in the refrigerator at "The Beast's" advice, and finally looked to witches and exorcism rites to deliver him from the evil spirits he felt controlled his life. (Stardust--The David Bowie Story, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1986, Henry Edwards and Tony Zanetta, pp.334, 335, 339.)
The Stiff Kittens feature Crowley on an album cover, as did The Beatles on what was to become, many critics believe, the most significant album in rock music history, "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." A glance at John Lennon's bookshelves reveal that Crowley's inclusion was not a token gesture--from numerology to magic, Lennon was fascinated with the occult. (Lennon's interest in the occult and "New Age" style spiritism is well documented throughout The Lives of John Lennon and The Beatles, Second Revised Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1985, Hunter Davies.)
On the back of one of their albums, Jim Morrison and The Doors are huddled around a miniature bust of Crowley. This fascination with the occult began early for Morrison. He attributed much of the direction of his life to an incident that occurred when he was very young. Travelling with his family, he came upon an accident that had left several American Indians dead, scattered along the highway. Morrison describes what happened next:
"The souls and the ghosts of those dead Indians, maybe one or two of them, were just running around freaking out and just leaped into my soul. And they're still there" (An American Prayer, Jim Morrison and the Doors, "Ghost Song").
Possession by these ghosts or spirits led to a life and art obsessed with death, occult imagery, and the rejection of God.
In 1970, Morrison married a witch in a ritual that involved satanic invocations and the drinking of blood. (No One Here Gets Out Alive, Warner Books, 1980, Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, p.327.) A year later the self-professed "shaman" or witch doctor of rock music was dead.
Ozzy Osbourne sings a song entitled "Mr. Crowley." Celtic Frost dedicates their album to "Mega Therion, the Great Magician," a name Crowley took to himself. And Daryl Hall also admits to a fascination for the infamous satanist. As he told Penthouse Magazine in 1987, "Around 1974, I graduated into the occult, and spent a solid six or seven years immersed in the Kabala and the Chaldean, Celtic, and Druidic traditions.... I also became fascinated with Aleister Crowley, the nineteenth-century magician who shared these beliefs" (Penthouse Magazine, March, 1987, pp.60, 62).
Three British rock groups also bear mentioning here: Psychic TV is the musical voice for "Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth," an occult sect with ties to Crowley and practically every other satanist of note. For example, the following dedication was made at the beginning of one live album, the eleventh in a series of twenty-three:
"We'd like to dedicate this concert to Alex Sanders, who died today--the Full Moon of Beltane--who was known as `The King of the Witches' and who was the man who made witchcraft and magic legal in Britain after a long struggle. So we'd like you to remember that. But the war goes on!" (Live at the Circus, Psychic TV, "Beltane.")
Coil also puts forth occult philosophy rooted in Crowleyana. This album embraces two themes near to the "Great Beast's" heart--homosexuality and the worship of Pan. Probably the most devout Crowley cult of all is Current 93. The album and song "Crowleymass" ridicules Christ and His birthday and suggests an alternative, October 12 ("The Beast's Birthday!"). Their "Here Comes Anti-Christ" album contains bizarre and ritualistic music that defies any explanation other than that they are quite serious about their satanism. Etched into the vinyl is both the Latin and the English for "He comes! Soon you shall see!"
Crowley's heritage also lives on in the practice of necromancy--communication with the spirits of the dead. Iron Maiden's mascot "Eddie" is purportedly a lost soul who was brought back to life by the band's music. And at least two groups were actually given their names by demon spirits. Playing with the occult tool commonly known as a Ouija board, a device that incredibly many view as a harmless game, four young men in an Iowa hotel room watched as the board spelled out "C-H-E-A-P T-R-I-C-K." (Washington Times, Interview by Robyn Floria) The rest, as they say, is history. And Vincent Furnier became Alice Cooper in exactly the same way. (Circus Magazine, December 17, 1978, p.23.)
CHOOSE YE THIS DAY...
As we now approach the moment of truth, there are two common excuses that begin to roll around in people's minds--kind of last-ditch stabs at self-justification. One deals with the issue of intention and motivation.
"Hey, it's not my fault that some of the groups I listen to sing about bad things. I mean, hey, I'm only in it for a good time--you know, blow off a little steam. I'm not going around worshipping the Devil or anything."
We'll come back to this issue in a moment when we look at the bottom line of satanism and what it really means to follow the Devil. But first let's deal with the other excuse, one that is particularly common with "religious" people--those who in the words of Scripture are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." (2 Timothy 3:4,5.) Ironically, it's people in this group that are often the most resistant to the saving power of God.
"I don't like the satanic stuff. l like the easy stuff, the neutral stuff like the Bee Gees. I like stuff like that."
First off, as we have seen, many of the artists who are considered neutral are not neutral at all when you look beneath the surface. And even more important, isn't the so-called neutral stuff, by the very reason of its subtlety, potentially more destructive than the overt wickedness found in hardcore rock music? Surprised? Well, stop and consider the following fact of life: For something to be true, it has to be completely true. Inject into it even the smallest falsehood and that truth immediately becomes a lie--a weapon in the hands of the one whom the Scriptures call the "father of all lies" (John 8:44). And while there is no doubt that Satan's greatest triumph in this arena is to see people swallow lies devoid of even the slightest trace of virtue, the fact is that his most effective deceptions are those that carry a degree of truth. And that's why the middle of the road, in music as well as in many other areas of life, can sometimes be the most dangerous place of all.
By way of an analogy, take strychnine, one of the most powerful poisons in the world. In its raw state it is unattractive and extraordinarily bitter. Left in a room with young children, it's unlikely that they would pay much attention to it and even more unlikely that they could stand to eat enough for it to be fatal.
So it is with some of the more extreme forms of rock--music that directly glorifies death and Satan. Most people avoid it, although it must be noted that our society has become so desensitised and perverted that some are only too happy to take this bitter poison straight.
To the point at hand, however, if you were to take this same poison and sugar-coat it and add pretty colors to it and make it look like candy, and then leave it with the children--virtually every one of them would eat the poison without hesitation.
If you were the Devil, which method would you find the most reliable--the bitter poison, or the sugar-coated candy?
As the philosopher and writer C.S. Lewis noted in his classic The Screwtape Letters, "Indeed, the safest road to Hell is a gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts" (The Screwtape Letters, Time Incorporated, New York, 1961, C.S. Lewis, p.39).
But what does the pop musician really have to offer his listener? Cries of "love," "peace," and "we are the world" don't mean much to a dying man. In fact, by ignoring his condition, or offering instead a false hope of salvation, a poor wretch's situation has only been made worse.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with singing about love--unless it's the conditional, selfish love popularised by contemporary music. There is nothing wrong with singing about peace and caring for the world. These are all virtues taught and practiced by Jesus. There's nothing wrong with even singing about death and despair, as long as it is done within the framework of truth and God's redemptive power. Understand that God is reality, His Word is Truth, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is Salvation from sin.
Heavy metal mocks this. Pop music ignores it. Which is ultimately worse?
The primary reason for our existence is to know and experience God, an act called worship. Understanding only too well fallen Man's tendency to lose sight of eternal things and reduce reality to a headlong quest for emotional and physical satisfaction, God cautions us throughout the Scriptures to seek first His Kingdom and not let the world's system wear us down. "Keep thy heart with all diligence [in other words, what you listen to, watch, and do]; for out of it are the issues of life. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil" (Proverbs 4:23-27).
Hundreds of years later, Jesus amplified this teaching when He said that our eyes should be single, completely focused on God. If they are not, "thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" (Matthew 6:23, 24).
The bottom line for us is that if we really love God, we'll find ourselves naturally offended by things that mock His character, ignore His Love, or pervert His Truth. We're to "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the Will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:15-17). Of course, if you've developed a liking or a love for this type of music, Jesus can still change you and set you free from it, making you "a new creature in Christ Jesus!" (1Corinthians 5:17)
UNWITTING TOOLS OR WILLING ACCOMPLICES?
Now, let's get back to the other key excuse people use to avoid the truth--the issue of intention and motivation. Interestingly enough, rock's fans aren't the only ones who live behind a wall of denial in this area--the artists themselves often like to play dumb.
Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page denied any evil motivations behind his legendary involvement in the occult when he said, "I do not worship the Devil, but magic does intrigue me" (Hit Parader Magazine, July, 1975, p.64).
Rolling Stone's guitarist Keith Richards told an interviewer, "There are black magicians who think we're acting as unknown agents of Lucifer" (Rolling Stone Magazine, August 19, 1971). In other words, if something is going on outside our control, it's not our fault.
All-American boy Michael Jackson, whose phenomenally popular video "Thriller" is filled with occult imagery, including his transformation into a werewolf and necromancy, or contact with the dead, begins the video with the following disclaimer: "Due to my strong personal convictions I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult."
And both Ozzy Osbourne and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister try to downplay the obvious elements of rebellion and the occult in their music by claiming that it's all in fun, and then professing to actually be closet Christians. (Ozzy professed to be a Christian during his interview on the Geraldo Rivera broadcast entitled "Exposing Satan's Underground." Dee's profession occurred during his testimony before Congress on the subject of obscenity in rock music.)
What do these denials mean? If all these people mean well or are just trying to have a good time, they and their fans can't be considered followers of Satan, can they? Well, listen carefully, because everything we've seen and heard so far has been leading up to what I am about to say. Part of the reason that many people have such a hard time with this "Satan worship" business is because they have a caricature of the Devil and his religion in their minds. He's the horn-headed dude in the red pajamas, and following him, should he even exist, means sacrificing babies, drinking blood, or something else equally horrible or weird. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
As we have already seen, Satan is an invisible spirit and a master of disguise. His ability to pass himself off as an angel of light can fool the rebellious, or the spiritually ignorant, into thinking that black is white, truth is a lie, and even that God Himself is the One telling them these things. And as for following the Devil, many who openly do so can tell you that, at least for them, it's nothing like the movies portray it. And that's what's so frightening.
We are all born with a sense that we are not complete, and something is missing--the rest of life becomes a quest for wholeness and fulfilment; in theological terms, "redemption." Whatever we look to for this, be it God, money, power, sex, or anything else, that person or thing becomes our redeemer--by definition, our god. Satanism states that that god is us.
In a nutshell, Christianity declares that each of us bears the stain of sin and we are, therefore, completely unable to save ourselves. We need a "Messiah," a supernatural Redeemer. Every other religion in the world says, in one way or another, that we are not really that bad and that through our own efforts we can redeem ourselves. In this they share the bottom line of satanism--and much of rock music.
Van Halen denies the need for God's saving power in their hit song "Best of Both Worlds":
"You don't have to go to Heaven,
Or hang around to be born again.
Just tune in to what this place has got to offer.
We may never be here again.
I want the best of both worlds,
I know what it's worth."
Contrary to the above advice, Jesus said that if we are to have Heaven on Earth or anywhere else, we "must be born again" (John 3:3).
DO YOUR OWN THING
Another way this philosophy is expressed in satanic theology is in Aleister Crowley's most famous and enduring proverb: "Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law."
Before we examine the implications of this law, it's quite extraordinary how it, like much of Crowley's life and philosophy, has taken hold in the world of rock music. Led Zeppelin had "Do what thou wilt" inscribed into the vinyl on the initial pressing of their third album. Pharmacological guru of the rock generation, Timothy Leary, for whom John Lennon wrote the song "Come Together," had this to say on one television interview:
"Well, I've been an admirer of Aleister Crowley; I think that I'm carrying on much of the work that he started over 100 years ago. And I think the '60s themselves are part of it. You know, Crowley said he was in favour of finding your own self and `Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.' It was a very powerful statement. I'm sorry he isn't around now to appreciate the glories that he started."
One of those glories involved rock musician Bobby Beausoleil. He took Jimmy Page's place composing the music for Kenneth Anger's film "Lucifer Rising" and also took "Do what thou wilt" very seriously. Ultimately it led him to Charles Manson and participation in one of history's most gruesome serial murders. Crowley's legacy had reached its full potential.
But that potential lives on in a more subtle way in the lives of countless millions who have been "blinded by the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). This blinding deception has been focused on obscuring one of life's most elementary truths--that ultimately there are two kingdoms and two types of people: those in God's Kingdom who have been redeemed by God, and those in Satan's, who are trying to redeem themselves.
In the same way that the Kingdom of God holds to one supreme commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30), so satanism can also be reduced to one essential law, "Do what thou wilt." Contrary to the deceptive stereotype, no black masses or wild sex rituals are necessary to be a follower of Satan--simply deny the Love and the authority of God by living your life "the way you want." You can even be religious, attend church regularly, tithe, and perform good works. If it's a religion based upon your own terms, you are still comfortably fulfilling the dictates of Satan's most primary law, "Do what thou wilt."
How ironic that men like Crowley should understand better than most people who attend church, the true root of sin and the essential duality that divides asunder the whole of Mankind.
Each of us is ultimately given a choice upon which hangs the weight of eternity. We can go our own way and remain forever lost, or we can reach out to the One who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6).
To use an analogy, if what we believe is the music and what we do is the dance, we can, in the words of Billy Idol, "Dance with ourselves"--remaining "dead in trespasses and sins, ... walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, ... fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; by nature the children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:1b-3). Or we can turn our ears to Heaven's music and allow God to teach us a new dance, a new way of living our lives.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song, for He has done marvellous things! He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock! (JESUS!) And He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God!" (Psalm 98:1; 40:2,3)
WHOSE MUSIC IS IT?
Satan may lay claim to using music, but he didn't write the first song. Music sprang from the heart of God, Who gave this gift to Man for his pleasure and enrichment. When we see the handiwork of God and experience His love in our own lives, we have no right to be silent. God fashioned our lips and lungs to sing forth praises and thanksgiving to Him. Our hands have been endowed with the ability to construct instruments upon which melody is created to harmonize with the song of creation.
The Bible records many times when God's people burst forth with music to honor exploits of the Lord. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they sang of their deliverance. In the Psalms, David set to music the joys and anguish of his heart. It was he who arranged for thousands of musicians to accompany the Ark of the Lord. The sound of it all must have been magnificent as the singers blended with psalteries, trumpets, harps, and cymbals. David's song of 1 Chronicles 16 exemplifies how music can be a declaration of faith as well as an expression of joy.
When Jesus came into the World, God chose music to reach Man's heart. The Lord's birth was made known by a chorus of Angels who serenaded simple shepherds.
The New Testament records that singing filled the hearts of believers who had found their Messiah. God shook a prison when Paul and Silas sang. Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 make it obvious that music was soon incorporated into Christian worship gatherings. "Is any merry?" the Apostle James asked. "Let him sing psalms." The most glorious anticipation of the Church is to join the saints of all ages in a great songfest. (See Revelation 14:2, 3; 15:2,3.)
Jehoshaphat sent forth musicians to precede and proclaim the victory of the Lord as he stood still to see God's salvation. It is only fitting that Christians who now await God's final triumph should burst forth with song. Our salvation is also soon to be revealed when we shall gather round the throne of God. Our "new song" in that day, described in Revelation 5:9, will be an unending anthem of praise to our Saviour!
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