Are Lyrics that Question God Sinful?

[Lisette1]

So I listened to this song:

My time moves slowly
Gliding across the veil of my naked skin
If I should cross the border you made for me
maybe i would not be here

But not what sense does it make
To try and embrace a more pristine past
looking forward I will take the risk
but I’ll find answers to my why’s

All that you will be
has already been written
If he truly exists
This god has failed

Every word pronounced
Will be the mirror of your pain
reflecting the blame
Feeding the hate

Mother

I’ll choose my destiny
If I’m able to resist

I am still standing in this moment of pure madness
I don’t know anymore if I should desire good or evil
Although sin maybe gives me more

But now what sense does it make
To try to resist a written destiny
I’m not going to sit back and watch
Without trying to resist you

To wake me up

Mother

I’ll choose my destiny
If I’m able to resist

To wake me up

There’s no choice without me
There’s no life without me

Basically, the song is about someone starting to make their own choices, like choosing to be good or evil, without someone else, in this case their mother, making them for him or her. Would the bolded part make it a sin to listen to? I noticed how God wasn’t capitalized, so maybe it refers to false gods?

 

[Richard_White]

Well, it depends: do you take pleasure in those lyrics? If so, then yes, it is sinful.

Otherwise, it’s not our fault if the singer sang this- if we like the melody and the other lyrics, then it’s fine I think.

However, be sure to never nurture such negative and rebellious thoughts about God, because those ARE sinful and must be avoided.

Maybe others have better insights. May God bless you!

 

[Betheone]

Well, it depends: do you take pleasure in those lyrics? If so, then yes, it is sinful.

Otherwise, it’s not our fault if the singer sang this- if we like the melody and the other lyrics, then it’s fine I think.

I tend to be lenient when it comes to music. I understand that many musicians pour out their feelings into their music, and questioning God might be part of their creative output. Not everyone will appreciate God like the faithful. That’s why I agree with Richard White - your taking pleasure in such lyrics will make listening to such songs sinful.

So whenever I hear a song with lyrics that are negative towards God, I think to myself, “well, that’s YOUR opinion only”. My faith is stronger than their opinion and there are so many more musicians to choose from.

:harp:

 

[Rete]

I think it’s bad in that you are allowing that kind of material into your head, repeatedly like cognitive programming in a sense. If somebody were to sit across the table from you and try to convince you that God has failed, or whatever garbage that song is trying to convey, then you would likely not accept what they have to say. You certainly wouldn’t keep going back to listen to them telling you this. But if they sing that to you its okay?

It’s not so much that the music is sinful but that it is just one more voice in the culture trying to lead you into sin. We already have enough troubles with temptation as it is.

 

[Lisette1]

I tend to be lenient when it comes to music. I understand that many musicians pour out their feelings into their music, and questioning God might be part of their creative output. Not everyone will appreciate God like the faithful. That’s why I agree with Richard White - your taking pleasure in such lyrics will make listening to such songs sinful.

So whenever I hear a song with lyrics that are negative towards God, I think to myself, “well, that’s YOUR opinion only”. My faith is stronger than their opinion and there are so many more musicians to choose from.

:harp:

The song was in Italian-I liked it because it sounded beautiful and I know languages related to Italian, so it was fun at first to try to catch phrases to understand, but then as I listened to it I kind of caught the bolded portion and looked up the lyrics afterwards.

Everything about it was okay until that line was written. It’s frustrating when an otherwise good song is ruined by one line.:

And to answer your question, no, lyrics would not ruin my faith in God or make me have bad thoughts about him.

I guess questioning God through lyrics is in itself not sinful (we all have those moments), but to say He failed is. I’ll stop listening to it. There are other songs in Italian by the same band that are okay.

Should the overall context of the song be considered, or can one line make it a no-no?

 

[Betheone]

Should the overall context of the song be considered, or can one line make it a no-no?

My opinion only, but I think the overall context of the song should be considered. That and the tendencies of the musician - do they frequently compose music that is critical of God? Are they, in their public or personal lives, vocally anti-theist? If so, I avoid their music altogether.

I’ll give you two examples. This first song used to trouble me a lot when I was young, so I avoided it altogether. But I still listen to the musician every now and then. I just don’t consider myself a “fan” of their music, nor do I switch stations whenever I hear one of their other songs on the air. It’s called Blasphemous Rumours by Depeche Mode, and their chorus (which is repeated many times during the song) goes:

*I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humour
And when I die I expect to find him laughing…
*
Another song is from a band whose singer is outspoken against Catholics, but curiously enough he was raised Catholic before leaving the faith. The song is Judith by A Perfect Circle. I must warn you, the lyrics are extremely disturbing. I’m only posting them here to illustrate how hurtful they are:

You’re such an inspiration for the ways
That I’ll never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you
F** your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

It’s not like you killed someone
It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you
He did it all for you

Oh so many many ways for me to show you
How your dogma has abandoned you
Pray to your Christ, to your god
Never taste of the fruit
Never stray, never break
Never—choke on a lie
Even though he’s the one who did this to you
You never thought to question why

Not like you killed someone
It’s Not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side
Talk to Jesus Christ
As if he knows the reasons why
He did it all for you
Did it all for you
He did it all for you…
*
I’m sorry if reading that caused you distress. When I first heard this song, I actually felt sorry for the singer because he clearly had a ton of anger towards Jesus for some unexplained reason. In these lyrics he is venting that anger towards a person who remains faithful to Jesus - and that too makes me sad.

So with regards to that musician, I avoid their music whenever I can. But I don’t consider it a sin on my part if I were to hear it playing in the radio. The musician is sinning, not me.

Hope that helps, and God bless!

 

[John_Lazarus]

My opinion only, but I think the overall context of the song should be considered. That and the tendencies of the musician - do they frequently compose music that is critical of God? Are they, in their public or personal lives, vocally anti-theist? If so, I avoid their music altogether.

[snip]

Another song is from a band whose singer is outspoken against Catholics, but curiously enough he was raised Catholic before leaving the faith. The song is Judith by A Perfect Circle. I must warn you, the lyrics are extremely disturbing. I’m only posting them here to illustrate how hurtful they are:

It’s not like you killed someone
It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you
He did it all for you

Maynard James Keenan explains on the Amotion DVD how the song is about his mother Judith Marie Keenan, who suffered a stroke and was restricted to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, yet still believed in Christianity.

– Wikipedia

So, in this particular case, the song seems to come from a place of pain and rage.

 

[Lisette1]

My opinion only, but I think the overall context of the song should be considered. That and the tendencies of the musician - do they frequently compose music that is critical of God? Are they, in their public or personal lives, vocally anti-theist? If so, I avoid their music altogether.

I’ll give you two examples. This first song used to trouble me a lot when I was young, so I avoided it altogether. But I still listen to the musician every now and then. I just don’t consider myself a “fan” of their music, nor do I switch stations whenever I hear one of their other songs on the air. It’s called Blasphemous Rumours by Depeche Mode, and their chorus (which is repeated many times during the song) goes:

*I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God’s got a sick sense of humour
And when I die I expect to find him laughing…
*
Another song is from a band whose singer is outspoken against Catholics, but curiously enough he was raised Catholic before leaving the faith. The song is Judith by A Perfect Circle. I must warn you, the lyrics are extremely disturbing. I’m only posting them here to illustrate how hurtful they are:

You’re such an inspiration for the ways
That I’ll never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you
F** your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

It’s not like you killed someone
It’s not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you
He did it all for you

Oh so many many ways for me to show you
How your dogma has abandoned you
Pray to your Christ, to your god
Never taste of the fruit
Never stray, never break
Never—choke on a lie
Even though he’s the one who did this to you
You never thought to question why

Not like you killed someone
It’s Not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side
Talk to Jesus Christ
As if he knows the reasons why
He did it all for you
Did it all for you
He did it all for you…
*
I’m sorry if reading that caused you distress. When I first heard this song, I actually felt sorry for the singer because he clearly had a ton of anger towards Jesus for some unexplained reason. In these lyrics he is venting that anger towards a person who remains faithful to Jesus - and that too makes me sad.

So with regards to that musician, I avoid their music whenever I can. But I don’t consider it a sin on my part if I were to hear it playing in the radio. The musician is sinning, not me.

Hope that helps, and God bless!

Well, looking at other lyrics so far, no, they haven’t been critical of God or anti-Christian in general. However, they are critical of religious hypocrisy, which I find nothing wrong with. The band members have been private about their beliefs, but it is generally speculated that they they do believe in God but are not affiliated with organized religion.

When I read lyrics like the one you posted, I wonder what problems they are going through. It does make me sad (and a bit mad) also. What happened to them that has created such hatred?

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Reading those lyrics, I have a hard time understanding why anyone would think that “god” *means *“God,” and thus I also have a difficult time understanding why anyone would have a problem with the lyrics.

 

[Tenofovir]

My opinion only, but I think the overall context of the song should be considered.

Context is important. Sometimes artists don’t attack God but attack peoples’ interpretation of God or religion. Some people tend to lump these as anti-theistic which they’re not necessarily. The lyrics you quoted do however look anti-theistic and show some huge misconceptions about our concept of God. I would personally find these offensive.

 

[Tenofovir]

Here’s an example of what I had in mind, although not in music.
It’s a work of art which can be confusing.

th01.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/080/6/3/get_stankiewicz_by_p_ok_ahontas-d4tgif2.jpg

It’s a crucifix, with Christ, the cross, a hammer and nails available seperately. The caption below reads, “Do It Yourself”, as in a DIY type project. Some people considered this work of art to be blasphemous, but I consider this a reflection of our own sinfulness. Everyone of us nails Christ to that cross every day with our sins. It’s not something to be proud of, and this piece of art just let’s us reflect on the concept of sin, Christ’s redemption and our guilt.

 

[SpiderByte]

Not inherently so, I’d guess. I mean when a normal person questions God it’s not automatically a sin, so in song form I wouldn’t imagine it so either.