Religion and Heavy Music

Do you ever find yourself singing along to a song but not really registering what it is you are singing? I recently caught myself doing just this, which led to the realization that in all the years I had listened to that song, the lyrics had never sunk in. The particular song that I was listening to had one particular line that struck me, “Cleanliness is Godliness, and Godliness is cleanliness, and God is empty just like me.” (Corgan, 1995) Once I truly heard this line I began to contemplate the religious communities thoughts and concerns regarding metal and alternative music, even the metal bands who are considered Christian.

Music plays a very large role in religion and worship, inside and outside of the church. Within church, hymns and various spiritual songs are used as an emotional way to connect with God and each other. Spiritual music can also be used as a way for people to memorize scripture, particularly for younger children. Church music comes in many different forms, some have musical instruments, some use more modern music, some have choirs, some use tapes, and others just use the voices of the congregation. No matter what the form or style of music, it plays an integral role within churches. Outside of the church, people use spiritual music to express their love and devotion. Every genre of music has a Christian sector, even metal or alternative. The varying modern genres of Christian music tend to appeal to a younger crowd and allows them to find their own way and express individualism within Christianity.

The most stigmatized genre of music, particularly within the Christian religion, is metal and alternative music. There have been books written about metal music and the evil it represents, there hav...

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