Punk Christians

[Guest]

I've mentioned before that I work in recording studios, and used to work years ago with a few xtian production companies/studios. I didn't really agree with them, but their money was green too and I needed the experience.

 

Anyway, there was one kid who came in from time to time to lay a rap down or something (I never did the rap sessions) and he was just this clean cut teenager. He tried to be tough, but it was obvious he was a spoiled middle class kid trying to live a rapper persona via xtian rock. His songs were all about loving jeebus, blah blah. Positive upbeat songs/messages. His parents sometimes dropped him off/picked him up from the studio.

 

Well, he just found me on myspace and part of his handle has jesus in it. When you go to his site, apperently he's been very busy lately falling away and living in the world. Actually, he has a photo album called "The Rockstar Lifestyle" showing shots of him performing with tattoos all down his arms, those big diameter ear plugs. Punked out basicly. His message is something I heard alot before this kid was even born, and I'm sure everyone here has at some point: that he fell away from godly living and was miserable, depressed, and unfullfilled, but now that he's back he's holier than ever!

 

 

That story actually had a certain apeal to me as a kid, and I'm sure it did to this guy as well. The guy that's lived the other life and found it to be lacking in substance has a bit more weight than some stuffy pastor. This is nothing more than another evangelical angle, another way to try and snare kids. Disgusting.

[Antlerman]

Sounds like a little kiddy venturing out from the shallow end, but not so far as to not see the edge in easy swimming distance, then bragging "I swam out into the ocean!".

 

So is there a link to see this battle-worn convert?

[white_raven23]

That story actually had a certain apeal to me as a kid, and I'm sure it did to this guy as well. The guy that's lived the other life and found it to be lacking in substance has a bit more weight than some stuffy pastor. This is nothing more than another evangelical angle, another way to try and snare kids. Disgusting.

 

 

Yep...gotta have that "worldly" backstory to justify the more marketable "look" hoping to appeal to kids. Otherwise he's just another guy with tats and piercings.

 

Interesting that to christians the sign of "falling away" involves tats and piercings. Guess it's not covincing unless the "temple" has been "marred".

[Rev R]

tattoos and piercings doth not a punk make.

[Guest Marty]

The funny thing about it is that the last time I saw him was only about 4 or 5 years ago. I guess to someone in their early 20's, 5 years is quite awhile to be living in sin, but really, it's just a vacation!

 

Yea, I guess I could post the link to his site. He hasn't (so far) tried to evangelize to me. This one production company he was signed to was the ONLY xtians (actually, only the 2 owners of the company) that didn't judge me or treat me differently because I wasn't a xtian. They were suprised to see once that I had a Koran and a book of Mormon, but that was about it.

 

http://www.myspace.com/PoisonFreePhil

[Guest Marty]

Also, I'm not sure the "falling away" is about the tats and piercing, but more about drinking, smoking, pot, and women. I think the tats and piercings are just the uniform for the part, or considered "battle scars". After all, tattoos are scary and cool at the same time. If you wanted to appear business-like, you'd put on a 3 piece suit. If you want to appear a wordly sinner who repented, fill your body with tattoos and piercings. Even if your tattoos are of jesus on the cross!!! After all, how can you be the voice of "the other side" if you look just like the pastor or the average xtian kid's father?

[GraphicsGuy]

There are literally thousands out there like this kid. I know you all know this, I'm just being "Captain Obvious" at the moment.

 

They "fall away" and "live the life of sin" and then "god gets ahold of them again". Bleh...it's stupid.

 

The fact is, they can't stand the thought of life being meaningless so they go back to what's comforting and what they know. They seem to think that "god" is the only way they can turn their life around and start living for others instead of just for themselves.

 

Why don't they realize that THEY are the ones that pull themselves out of gutter and THEY decided that they are going to turn their life around and start doing good instead of just partying and living selfishly? God really didn't do jack-shit for them.

[Robbobrob]

Just like a 20-something to rebound and go back to "living with the parents".

 

Boomarang Christians. I was saved, I Love sin, Oh wait I wanna be saved again.

[Luke Wolf]

That reminds me of the time when a new club that was targeted to give people under 21 a place to hang out at first opened. There were several bands that were signed to play the opening weekend. Just before my band, the Unholy Renegades, was on, a Christian rock group was on stage. After their show of praising Jeebus, we went on stage and the very first thing we did was dedicate our show, the venue, and the weekend to Satan, and open our performance with a cover of Dimmu Borgir's Satan my Master. After about 40 minutes of a heavily Satanic themed show, we had the Christian group, their pastor, and some others approach us with Bible's ready. We had them asking us random bullshit such as "why would you lead people to Satan/away from Christ" "have you considered accepting Jesus," and other typical bs. We just said what the fuck ever, and rubbed it in that we had a much better crowd response than their piss break of a show did.

[Guest Marty]

OK, so here is an update on this guy.

 

This morning I get a bulletin from him on myspace that I can hear his new SERMON at another myspace site.

 

This actually has me rather fumed right now, and I think I will remove him from my friend list. This is a kid. No older than 22. He has no degrees. He has not gone to any seminary school. This guy has absoultly no qualifications to be preaching.

 

Fucking asswipes only like hearing themselves talk.

 

Here is the link to his sermon. His sermon is the track called Phil Porto 10_18

 

http://www.myspace.com/captivateministries

[R. S. Martin]

Another sermon of a guy reveling in his mischeif and then "redeeming" it by moralizing on it AFTER planting the desire in other youth to imitate like behaviour.

[Guest Marty]

Another sermon of a guy reveling in his mischeif and then "redeeming" it by moralizing on it AFTER planting the desire in other youth to imitate like behaviour.

 

 

Ruby, that is brilliant! As I stated earlier, this kid's schtick is something I've heard since he was in diapers, and it appealed to me as a kid. I gave these people more stock because the "elders" in their robes and ties and brill cream hair were more of my father and grandfather's ilk and I wanted to be as far away from that look and lifestyle as I could. Thankfully, my decent into "the world" was spent de-programming from the cult as well so by the time I got out, I could also see the man behind the curtain controlling it all.

 

But I never considered the cycle repeating itself. I very well could be that kid, if I wasn't an avid reader of everything. Although I don't "look the part" with tatts or piercings, I've done my fair share of partying and living. I truly believe it was my mother reading to me for my first 5 years of life that eventually led to my study and awakening of the bullshit called the church. I'm a curious person, always have been. When I feel I have an answer to something, I ask myself why this is the answer and not something else. This leads to further study or contemplation. I know there are no easy answers.

 

This kid is the video game generation. He probally has no curiosoity or desire to learn or grow. Everything needs to be microwaveable and ready to eat.

[R. S. Martin]

But I never considered the cycle repeating itself. I very well could be that kid, if I wasn't an avid reader of everything. Although I don't "look the part" with tatts or piercings, I've done my fair share of partying and living. I truly believe it was my mother reading to me for my first 5 years of life that eventually led to my study and awakening of the bullshit called the church. I'm a curious person, always have been. When I feel I have an answer to something, I ask myself why this is the answer and not something else. This leads to further study or contemplation. I know there are no easy answers.

 

This kid is the video game generation. He probally has no curiosoity or desire to learn or grow. Everything needs to be microwaveable and ready to eat.

 

May I likewise challenge your "answers"?

 

I will assume permission. I'm just like you. When I come across a proposition I look at its opposite to see if that is true as well. If it's not true as well, I think there's something not quite right here. For example, you make some broad generalizations.

 

1. You think the reason you didn't turn out like this kid is that your mother read to you from an early age and this instilled in you a curiosity and love of reading, which assumes that children who are not read to cannot be curious and love reading.

 

2. You imply that people who like their food to be microwaveable and ready-to-eat have no curiosity or desire to learn and grow.

 

Okay-dokey. I grew up on a farm in the heart of a horse and buggy community.

 

My mother did NOT read to me. I was not sent to school until a few months short of my seventh birthday. Long before that, I was driven by natural curiosity and endless questions. It drove my mother crazy and she scolded me and otherwise severely discouraged my curiosity. Nothing, not even I myself, could turn off my curiosity. I was taken out of school at age 14 and forced to do housework and gardening for the rest of my life. At age 41 I was desperate for more stimulation and went back to school. For this I got kicked out of the community. To this day I hate cooking so much that I will use the microwave for anything I can. I guess your assumptions do not hold in all cases.

 

Curiosity is not always due to having mothers who read to children.

Wanting ready-to-eat food is not necessarily a sign of a person who has no desire to learn and grow.

 

OK, sorry for being hard on you. I find it very interesting to see how "town" youth rebel. My own brothers "went wild" in the horse and buggy tradition. Like this kid, they went over the line just one step. That's all it takes to upset parents and convince themselves that they actually did rebel. And then they settle down. That remains their badge of manhood for life, the badge of honor they hand down to their children and grandchildren as evidence that religion really does work.

 

I've noticed something. Town youth who rebeled and wore nose rings five years ago settled down, got married, and birthed kids. But they still wear the rings--what I noticed was ear rings in men. There seem to be certain "marks" that people keep to identify their generation. I noticed the same trend in my own people.

[Guest Marty]

1. You think the reason you didn't turn out like this kid is that your mother read to you from an early age and this instilled in you a curiosity and love of reading, which assumes that children who are not read to cannot be curious and love reading.

 

 

I never said that. What I said was "I truly believe it was my mother reading to me for my first 5 years of life that eventually led to my study and awakening of the bullshit called the church." Then I said "I'm a curious person, always have been." These are two independant statements. I think you are reading a bit too much into what I said here. My mother read to my sister as well, and although she still reads, I don't consider her a curious person in the sense that she would ask herself difficult questions and then strive to answer them. When I was reading the bible cover to cover at age 12, it never occured to me that this was a daunting task. My friends thought I was crazy to read the entire thing, because to them reading was a chore.

 

But I did not mean to imply that was the reason I was curious. Only that reading has enabled me to quench my curiosoity in an easy manner. I feel that if I did not love to read, but still was a curious boy, my deconversion either

a) would have progressed more slowly, stagnated, or perhaps reversed as this kid did and go back to the fold or

never would have happened in the first place.

 

 

2. You imply that people who like their food to be microwaveable and ready-to-eat have no curiosity or desire to learn and grow.

 

OK, I can see where this one was worded wrong. But again I think you are reading too much into it. I assume you must like your microwave? I do too! Perhaps a better term would be the "On Demand Generation"? Or would that imply that people with On Demand cable service have no curiosity or desire to learn and grow? What I mean to illustrate is that they cannot wait for anything, every desire must be fullfilled in an instant.

 

My mother did NOT read to me. I was not sent to school until a few months short of my seventh birthday. Long before that, I was driven by natural curiosity and endless questions. It drove my mother crazy and she scolded me and otherwise severely discouraged my curiosity.

 

I think this explains your sore spot. My curiosity was never discouraged by either of my parents, even when it was in regards to religion. My mother would tell me to find the answer in the bible just as often as she would tell me to ask my teachers or the pastor. She would make me look stuff up in the encyclopieda and dictionary too. She made me find my own answers. They didn't start to get worried untill after I had announced my deconversion. My mother kept saying "I don't understand, you were always reading the bible and always doing good in your religion classes." I still think she can not see the connection that it was BECAUSE I knew so much about xtianity that I couldn't believe anymore.

 

 

Curiosity is not always due to having mothers who read to children.

Wanting ready-to-eat food is not necessarily a sign of a person who has no desire to learn and grow.

 

Really? Gee thanks for clearing that up! Really Ruby, I keep re-reading my previous post, and although I can see my poor word choice, I really don't see the implications you're seeing unless I try and stretch the meaning of my words. I'm sorry for any misunderstandings and I hope I have clarified things a bit more.