Preach

But like... away from me.

His view is hardly unique. I was constantly told both of these things growing up in a fundamentalist Christian church. I watched as more than one friend burned their music collection, refusing to let me have it because they'd be negatively influencing me.

Why would they use a rich guy as an allegory for the lord, tho? It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, so why are the Hebrews and elohim the rich people in this allegory?

squints suspiciously at obi-wan

Or they understand that hell is not eternal torture. John the Disciple said:

This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

--Revelations 20:14.5-15

How much more clearly does it need to be said? He says it's the second death. We all know what death is. You have to redefine the word death for the argument of eternal torture to make sense. Yes, it's eternal punishment, because death is eternal. Not being granted eternal life is the punishment.

The word hell is translated from the Hebrew word Sheol, which means grave or place of the dead. So you have the original word that literally represents death, and you have Jesus' disciple John saying it'll be death. And yet people think a loving god known for his grace is now going to torture people forever rather than just not granting them eternal life like he talked about throughout the entire new testament?

The modern concept of hell didn't become common until hundreds of years after Christ's death. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact period, but the meaning has been twisted for the purpose of manipulation and power, and then popularized by fire and brimstone pastors in the 18th and 19th centuries. I did a ton of research on this subject as a young adult because the whole thing didn't sit right with me. It seemed very suspicious, given every other message in the new testament. Anyways, I came to the conclusion that hell as it is taught today does not exist in the scriptures. If you aren't in the book of life, then you are thrown into the lake of fire where you die, and remain dead forever. You will not be tortured in hell forever. You will be dead.

Anyone who thinks Sheol is torture is a fake Christian who didn't read the Bible.

Or maybe they know that being militant is only a recipe to push people further away from salvation?

Wtf??

Well, I guess his attempt to rebrand to “As She Lay Dying” backfired.

The Crucified was hard core when I was in high school. That song Pure by Superchick is pretty catchy. Jeff Buckley has some okay stuff. His cover of Cohen's Hallelujah is clean. Unfortunately I think that's about it. That's the end of the list for Christian music that I like, other than choir music. I listened to a guy named Joel Weldon out of necessity when I was really young, but after discovering secular music I realized just how boring he was.

I listened to a lot of Christian genres, especially rock and metal but stopped when I discovered secular bands with deeper, more meaningful lyrics, and better sound.

One can only take the same “I am terrible, he is worthy” themes repeated over and over before you gotta move on.

Have you ever heard of Christian noise music? potentially the only art they are unable to ruin.

Gotta buy the correct book to do that.