The Antichristian Phenomenon

This was originally posted in my last.fm journal here.

While skimming through a thread in the Intelligent Metal group, someone had posted quite an interesting thought that black metal and pagan metal (I rather refer it as folk metal as pagan metal is too much of an ambiguous term and pagan metal falls under the categories of folk and black metal in any case) are mere pastisches of lost societies. They were, in the author’s eyes, “inauthentic”.

While thinking more over the cause of this, some interesting ideas came to my mind, strongly associated when the author started to compare black and folk metal as equally fake as McDonalds, that he is indeed correct in his captivization, but it is not as easy as he puts it. Black and folk metal is is a journey to find one’s own identity, more than merely trying be a fake opposition. Is there actually in this light any question why Norway of all countries, came to be the mother of black metal? To understand this further, one must realize that Norway historically is a very new independent nation. Not until after the First World War did it manage to free itself from Swedish rule. Before that, Norway had either for a very long time been both a part of Sweden and Denmark. It is thus more than any other country one may argue, a country who for a long time had no real true national identity. Adding the sudden Americanzation which swept over the rest of the world shortly after the Second World War, no wonder Norwegians still struggle to define what is typically Norwegian! Why is it that Norway has a national day they celebrate each year (17th of May) but Swedes had to install such a national day because we previously didn’t have one?

Therefore, it can be easy to conclude that Norway in fact was the perfect home for black metal. It should not be further argued which band was the first one to release the first black metal album (some argue it was Bathory, others Venom, others once again Mayhem), nevertheless, today the Norwegian black metal scene is rather undisputed. Why then, one may ask, is it that the search of national identity has taken the expression in black metal in particular? To understand this, one must first understand the Norwegian black metal scene itself.

It can be argued whether it was Mayhem who started it, regardless, Mayhem’s place in black metal history holds a very important keyrole to develop the genre further. It should first of all be noted that Mayhem was not the first band to write about vikings, paganism and antichristianity, but one man should definitely be mentioned as a huge inspirational source in this matter: Bathory. No doubt he inspired many black metal bands which popped up during early 90s with his viking lyrics. It should also be noted that Bathory today is most commonly considered the father of folk metal as well, but more about this later.

To understand why vikings are so important in this, one must first understand that vikings are a major part in Scandinavian history. In fact, it is so deeply ingrained in our mentality that it is the very part of our national identity. Scandinavians are proud of their viking origin! There is not a single true Scandinavian who doesn’t feel a little sense of nationalism when vikings are mentioned. Despite having a bloody history, vikings formed who we are. We also know that vikings were one of the last to give in to Christianityin Europe. Here we get to an interesting topic of itself, where Christianity among other things have come to respresent the “evil commercial capitalism”. As we know, Christianity is the major religion in USA and their religion is deeply rooted in the society. Christianity thus represents the capitalism and Americanization (McDonalds do too but it would be silly to sing about how much you hate McDonalds). Faith itself, is considered to be of the color white, and in religion means “purity”. This is why white clothing is preferred during certain celebrations with Christian grounds, and why priests among other politically important figures wear white during work. Black then, is the very opposite of this, the epitome of paganism. There is of course a strong sense of irony in this as well, as despite attempting to break free of the contemporary society’s bonds, the revolt is still expressed in a language used in that society rather than actually referring to the society they are trying to mimic.

Returning back to national identity, I also find it interesting to note here that Norwegian is even preferred as the sung language in black metal. Once again the refusal to admit globalization and Americanization. Bands like Dimmu Borgir wrote all their lyrics in Norwegian in their early years, before releasing Enthroned Darkness Triumphant. In band names too, we can see a preference for Ancient German with the band Tyr. While originally from Faroe Islands, it was under a long time inhabited and controlled by vikings and even today, I think children of the Faraoe Islands must learn Danish in school. A rememberance when the islands were a part of Danish rule.

Additionally, there is no real metalhead who never encountered the world “true”, or “tr00″, or “trve” (spelt with a Latin u) which essentially, is particularly permeated around black metal. Along with this mentality often include poor recordings, the refusal to release any other types of music than demos if any demo is released at all and the refusal to sign to big labels unless it primarly focuses on black metal only, if the band by all means must sign at all. This too, is an expression against the Americanization and capitalism. To “be true” stands for the absolute opposite of commercialism. To become commercially successful is the greatest sin in metal. In addition there is often a correlation between commercialism and poor music quality that particularly people speaking for the “trueness” argue over. Instead, rather listening to a barely listenable black metal demo is preferred. Here too, we can see a correlation between poor sound quality vs good sound quality, since commercially successful bands have better studios available and thus good sound quality means you have enough money to afford such a studio, despite that with technological improvements, even cheap sound studios can offer good quality sound today.

Finally, we have corpse painting. To dress up or use makeup is hardly unusual in metal. KISS were one of the first together with Alice Cooper. Here we can see how important shock value is to gain attention. Would people today remember Kiss and Alice Cooper would they have performed without stage makeup and flashy shows? No doubt, Mayhem managed to very early make a name about themselves with the murder of Euronymous. Varg Vikernes got into jail and the murder itself became exeggerated and rumors began to spread. Here once again, we can see the ambivalent attitude black metal has against commercialism. Would we still have the black metal we have today would this not happened? I am not so sure. Definitely more bands were to follow, and while they were not as extreme, Mayhem did set up the level of public attention a black metal band should crave through controversial means. Of course, I can see why particularly folk metal bands rather refer corpse painting as battle paint, regardless, it is pretty much the same but with different colors. Folk metal bands too, are known to dress up in true LARP style.

Folk metal, often considered to be started by Bathory, rather put a focus on entertainment value, because while we shouldn’t forget that while music is art and can express many things, in the end, it is just that, entertainment. I doubt Quorton himself took his music that seriously. It is also here the main difference between folk metal and black metal is split: folk metal does not care so much about commercialism. In fact, many folk metal bands are commercially succesful (Ensiferum, Finntroll). While the folk metal genre is dominated with Scandinavian countries here too, folk metal is not so much about catching the essence of the Scandinavian nationality (in fact, I don’t think any folk metal band takes itself too seriously) but is more interested on doing a good “show”. This too, comes from older times of metal when we have bands such as once again, Kiss, Alice Cooper, GWAR and Manowar that also put a heavy emphasis on stage appearances more than doing just music. It is thus all about entertainment. Black metal then, with it’s “trueness”, is not free to entertain in the same way as folk metal can.

Can both genres then still try to deliver the same ideas through their lyrics and musical atmosphere? I would say that black metal has in general a far more serious undertone compared to folk metal and that black metal then, actually tries to find some sort of essence using modern means (once again, noticing the irony not trying to use the way how pagans could have done it) whereas folk metal is more about entertainment. It is, in a sense, Lord of the Rings, whether it may be about vikings or elves. While the lyrics themselves may hold some historical ground they are just that, stories, and should not be taken seriously or literary.

With this text, I hope I managed to give others some insight and an interesting point on the black and and folk metal movement. While I know I focused a lot on black metal, black metal today is also a far bigger scene than folk metal currently is, and has quite a controversial history which should be explored. However, I do think I managed to explain what I consider to be the reasons why particularly black metal as a movement started at all and why it more than any other metal genre holds such strong ideological grounds. I also think it further managed to explain why black metal and not folk metal took the expressional form with national socialism (nsbm). It is quite ironical too to note that black metal more than any other metal genre too is very similar to a religion in an anthropological sense. While most people would agree that a religion requires a deity or somesuch to be worshipped, religion is not only about worship but also about rituals and rules. Black metal more than any other genre has rules what to do and not to do (wear corpsepaint, be true, release poor quality demos, write about paganism, satanism, antichristianity and vikings etc) and many of the fans are more eager to advocate these ideals than fans of other metal genres advocate theirs. We can for example right now see a huge controversy within the genre with so called unblack metal, or christian black metal. As previously explained, Christianity is the very epitome religion black metal works against; coming out as a Christian black metal band then creates a huge controversy and other artists within the genre being non-Christians will automatically reject this band, thus forcing these bands to call themselves unblack metal, not only because they do not want to be associated with the antichristianity permeated in black metal but also because they are rejected by the genre itself.

I realize this is a huge subject and definitely worth looking into more, but for now, I hope you in this gr1m trve frostb177en text found some entertainment for a while

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After July’s stream of brave confessions, the time has come to publish those that have been posted on the forums. These confessions have been made by truly antichristian people with great courage. Whether this bravery is sincere is up to you to decide.

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I thought , for a change, that it would be better to abandon my own analysis of Christianity, for a while at least, and take a look at opposing views, such as the arguments of Christians.

While I was checking my e-mail one morning, I came across a certain link to a website, with the explanation “Six reasons that lead you to the existence of God”. Curious as I am to view , I accessed the link. I must say that, as I expected, their arguments are more “modern” ones, such as concentrating on the argument from intelligent design- argument which I attacked in this article : on a loving God, on necessity of a personal relationship with God, on Jesus Christ, and on arguments as to why Christianity is the only right path. By and far, distorted images of reality, the bible, and the “god” portrayed in the bible, but also a little bit different from classical christian arguments. I’ll show why.

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This summer I have been taking a few classes at the Community College in my hometown, one of which was an online Macroeconomics course. A few of you who have been reading my personal blog as of late have read at least a portion of my recent bind in this class, but I think the general ACP readers will find interest in the full story, accounted in full and in order.

Most of us never really think much of the stories about teachers and professors espousing their religious beliefs and actively discriminating until it happens directly to you. I didn’t think it would happen, or could happen, and especially not in an economics course. Yet, here are the events… (more…)

I have been reading many debates between irreligious and religious people concerning the argument of intelligent design. These debates, from what i have seen, are endless, because neither side has the sufficient arguments in order to finish off the other. And so, these debates go on, but with the religious side always having a moral advantage, because of the incapability of the others to disproof their claims. Before i start explaining further, it should be noted that when i’m referring to “religious” i mean the supporters of the three dominant religions: christianity, islamism and judaism. Since i live in a christian environment, i shall use the word “christianity” as a key-word for all three religions.

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Creative Commons License - Credit: Svadilfari

Religious ideals about sexuality permeate our society to this very day. In the western society it is Christianity which has set our current norms. It may be apparent that things are different on the eastern and African front, where the Islamic religion prevails, but I’ll remain culturally local and only try to shake our own foundations. Normality as we know it is culturally founded on our Christian history, which is a clear invitation to critical inspection. To what extent has Christian doctrine influenced our ideas and perceptions regarding sexuality. Should we accept these, or is it time for a new paradigm?

I think I should start off with sexual education early at school. This is where everybody should come into contact with sexuality for the first time. Unfortunately, sex education is not compulsory in all schools, or even present at all in some countries. This is a shame because I think everybody should be taught some basics about sex and contraception. The worst case scenario is seen in the US, where so-called “abstinence-only sex education” prevails. To me that sounds a lot like a “bookless book club”. The whole idea is a farce and filled with propaganda against contraception. It is this kind of anti-knowledge that frustrates me the most. This is important stuff that shouldn’t be brushed behind the curtain, like it’s something to be ashamed of. Bring out the condoms and dildos already!

And while we’re still talking about teenagers, it’s time we remove the taboo of masturbation. Anyone who says he or she doesn’t do it is a liar, especially if they are in their teenage years. So what has made this topic indiscussable? People are evolutionary wired to like sex, so what is so damn wrong with simulating it? This has close ties with the taboo on pornography, the helping hand for masturbation. The social stigma on this genre is counterproductive in teaching the new generation about sex. Your teachers at school will not be giving examples in sexual education as portrayed in Monty Python’s Meaning of life, but I see absolutely no problem in displaying a pornographic film as part of this education. It’s only the activity that has produced everyone.

The abstinence-only generation is a generation that is geared towards pre-marital chastity simply because they know no different. It’s fine that somebody would choose for this for whatever reasons, but I simply detest the demonisation of sex before - what I perceive as - the empty gesture of marriage. Chastity has made it into the list of virtues, while lust has made it into the list of sins. What’s wrong with liking things that feel good, and what’s so good about not acting upon them? Excepting personal preference, I am truly in the dark about this. In this modern day and age, where we can prevent babies from spawning after having a lovely time with somebody you like, should it matter whether you’re married or not? I can understand the complications of getting a baby if you haven’t settled down with somebody because you are just fooling and experimenting around, but those scenarios are easily preventable nowadays.

So, on to marriage itself! As you’ve noticed, I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. It’s a strange ritual, but I’ll not get into the technicalities of it. The fact remains that marriage is in many countries still a privilege, not a right, for heterosexual couples. I think it is quite fine that a religious institution has rules as to who can marry who, but a government should wake up to the twentyfirst century and realise that there are gay couples out there. There is absolutely no reason to reserve an official, recognised bonding to two people if and only if they are of different sex. There is no such thing as the “traditional family” of a husband, wife and kids. Historically, this kind of family is quite young. Marriage in historical terms was usually a man, a wife (usually arranged by parents) and then some additional lovers for the man: a polygyny. This is the kind of thing you would find in, oh let’s see, the Old Testament. Take that, you bible-pushing asshats! The modern marriage is a fresh concoction, a new paradigm that shifts from securing family wealth to romantic love male-female monogamy. And I’m not only for breaking the opposite sex restriction, I’m also in favour of the two people restriction. Why is it not allowed for more people to join in marriage? If there is a group of censenting adults who wish to share life together, why are they restricted from doing so? What is the sin of polyamory?

There is none, and it is time to break these taboos. We must reconsider the foundations of society in a new, rational perspective. We must be wary not to accept anything just because it is historically or culturally “simply so”. It is time to critically examine every direct and indirect restriction that pesters modern day life and depraves us or our fellow human beings of freedoms they may not have even imagined of having. We must open these closed doors to knowledge and true freedom.

Supposedly you want to promote something, a new ideology, and you want people to follow it for you to become powerfull. What do you tell them ? You camouflage this quest for personal good into something “universally good”. You make sure people don’t find out the real aspects and don’t get a glimpse of the complete picture, you offer them only fragments of what you wish to promote, like when doing a comercial for a movie and showing only scenes with a lot of action or explosions, when the overall movie is so bad that you fall asleep after just five minutes of it. You rely on mass ignorance in order to promote it. Ignorance leads to blind following, the second weapon.

However, ignorance and blind following  alone are not enough. There would still be a lot of people who would find it totally unnecessary to adhere to what you’re promoting, or would simply feel that your ideals are not good enough for them. That’s when you introduce the number one weapon of all- FEAR.

In the case of religion, fear is most perversely used than in any other domain. If an oppressive government threatens you with the police, you still have a few options open to escape and you know for sure what you are dealing with. But in the case of heaven and hell you don’t know what you are facing. To believe in these two concepts means to adhere to the first step of being hopelessly enslaved, from the mental point of view.

To believe with strength that a god who is supposed to be good and tolerant will, however, send you to eternal punishment for not following him is something that will make your existence miserable. Each time you do something considered by the bible as “sinful” you will start having remorse, you will start regreting, you will start feeling the need to “confess” your sins to the Lord.

This is where the church (aka consultant and mediator in divine problems) comes along. You will go to the church, you will kneel before the priest, you will drink a drop of wine from a little spoon, you will kiss the cross, and you will stand in the middle of the church, head down, eyes closed, feeling of humility greatly impregnated in your mind, and you will beg the Lord, your God for forgivness.

In other words, you will adhere to a masqeurade, 2000 years old. There is something quite incredible when you see an educated, intelligent person, kissing the cross, kneeling before a wodden figure and talking to himself. As strange as it may be, the majority of  globe adheres to such ritual, no matter if it is called Christianity, Islamism, or whatever other religion.

Still, why would people, even intelligent ones sometimes, rather believe some words written about 3000 years ago about a god creating the whole world in seven days, the light before the sun, the plants before the sun, and other such absurd things, rather than studying and, at least, partially accepting more elaborate theories, such as Darwin’s ? While i don’t consider the scientific theories as holding the absolute truth and I admit they are incomplete, they are still more plausible than any creationist theory existent. So why do people would rather believe them? There is only one answer: Fear of hell!

Since christianity is usually taught at a young age, the image of eternal suffering impregnates very well within the mind of a child and has a very high chance of remaining there for the rest of one’s life. Christian teachings are centered on the concept of hell and eternal punishment. I can remember when i was 2nd grade and attending religion in school (which was, and still is today, compulsory), I can remember how the teacher always spoke and threatened us with how we’ll be tormented forever if we fail to follow and do the biddings of Christ. When she quoted the bible, she always gave examples such as the story of Lasarus, or various other quotations from Christ, speaking about eternal punishment. I can remember we were all quite scared when hearing such things. No one had the courage to even ask a question about Christ’s doctrine. I also remember seeing a priest in church talking about punishment in hell. He was a very good speaker and the crowd was very impressed and shaken by his words. I also attended various services in church, such as wedding, baptisings and funerals, and i can say (at least that’s how it is in orthodoxy) that there isn’t a single such ritual that doesn’t contain at least one refference to hell, punishment, and what will happen to the non-believers. Also, try reading the gosspel of Matthew and count the number of times Jesus repeats the words “weeping and gnashing of teeth”- as a refference to hell.

Indeed, the prospect of eternal punishment must be repeated as many times as possible, because without it no one would care about Jesus and christianity. It is the very foundation of this belief. That’s why people find it easier to question any scientific theory, but not the “holy book”. Because Darwin, for example, did not threaten with eternal punishment those who questioned his theory.

Christianity does, and even asking questions about it will send you to hell. Which brings us to the second tool of religion- ignorance.
Only blind following is acceptable in the eyes of god. Studying, asking questions, searching for answer is heresy, and is punishable by eternity in hell. We will find out that many of those who call themselves “christians”, believe in Jesus and even go to the church, did not read one word from the bible which is supposed to be the book that holds the ideology which represents them.

The words “believe, don’t search” are quite often used by these people when talking about religion, words also taught in churches and during religion classes. These three words represent the most disgusting example of ignorance. And it is this kind of ignorance that kept the church on such an important position these 2000 years.

There was a period in the middle ages when you risked being burned on the stake even for holding a bible in your house. The same period when, in church, the priests held the divine service in latin, a language known in those times by a few priviliged who had the chance to an education- that is the agents of the church. Blind following is the key through which the church became the most profitable bussiness in human history. That’s why theologists want the rest of the people to remain totally ignorant. Why read the bible? As long as you believe in god you’ll go to heaven anyway. Just do what we tell you to and you’ll be fine. Almost all the people i know (myself included), after reading the bible rejected faith as complete nonsense. With the new information we posses, there are clearly a lot more chances to become an atheist after reading the bible, than become a christian. That’s why blind following and ignorance, along with fear, are vital to keep religion, and the Church Inc. going.

However, i do believe that their numbers are decreasing with every passing year and it is becoming very hard to keep people ignorant. Fear still remains the most efficient tool that keeps them going in this struggle for survival. However, like all religions, the abrahamic ones will fade with time. It is inevitable.

So, what is the actual Holy Trinity? God, Son and Holy Ghost ? No way ! Fear sits where god’s throne is supposed to be. Blind following was sent to us to help us avoid the punishment that fear is preaching. This is the true Son. And instead of the Holy Ghost we have Ignorance. I can hear it preaching to us every now and then. Whispering words such as “believe, don’t search”.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in his “Thus spoke Zarathustra” that “God is dead! And we have killed him!”. While I admire very much Nietzsche’s philosophy, I think we should dig even further into this matter. We never put a finger on God, our hands are clean! God committed suicide ! He’s dead, by his hand!

I won’t bother with the Old Testament, when he was just a tribal god, similar to so many others, and “inspired” by the other gods “who didn’t exist”. Let the Jews worry about that. I’m talking about when he was “promoted” to a universal god, for all human beings. Suddenly he changed his old ways and decided to use other methods. He appeared to us in the form of a bastard son and made his new rules heard. Now the whole human race became his “chosen ones” and bloodshed , mass exterminations and crushing the infidels were no longer required. Suddenly he spoke of love, peace and tolerance between people.

Jesus (as he is portrayed in the Bible) appears as a peaceful, passive being, devoid of any pride or ego. He asks us to love our neighbour, to love our fellow humans how we love ourselves and to grant permanent forgiveness to those who hate, hurt or do us wrong, no matter how much wrong. We always have to forgive and never resist when we are attacked, insulted or beaten.
Also, the rules about chastity are even more tightened. Now, not only sex before marriage or cheating on your partner is sinful, but even looking at someone of the opposite sex and secretly desiring him/her will be treated as a deadly sin. The same will be said about verbally insulting someone and calling them “fools”. This is God’s new ideology that we must follow in order to achieve eternal happiness. This ideology brought by Jesus is more than just an ideology. This is what God represents. This is God.

But then we see how God inflicts wounds on himself when, just chapters after he told us not to call people “fools” he does so himself. He goes even further when he attacks the merchants selling things in the temples. His passivity and friendly attitude suddenly changes, and doing so he put another nail in his own coffin. If Jesus was the wisest man alive, why didn’t he use his infinite wisdom in order to peacefully convince the limited minded merchants to leave the temple ?
Tolerance is abandoned again when he calls those who do not listen to his teachings “vipers and vermin “. Where has “love thy neighbour” gone? Surely no one speaks this way to his neighbour when he loves him, right ? Even when he does something wrong. But Jesus seals his fate, as God, when he calls for eternal punishment in hell for the infidels, who do not follow him. Rightful and goodhearted actions are deemed nothing without faith in Christ. Without this faith, we all go to hell. This is the moment God renders his ideology obsolete. This is when God committed suicide. He is the one who asks for unlimited forgiveness, but he is also the one that offers unlimited punishment for limited sins done during a pathetic lifetime of few years that don’t even matter in the whole context of history.
It is obvious that God cannot follow his own rules. His words are contradicted either by other words or by his actions. If one who does not follow these rules deserves eternal death and God himself cannot follow them, he sentences himself to death: He commits suicide. We are innocent. As such, his ideology is rendered pointless and useless to us.

But even after his suicide, God still has followers. They call themselves “Christians”. but what is a Christian ? Nietzsche wrote in “The Antichrist” that the only Christian in human history died on the cross. Again, I go even further and say there was never such thing as Christian, since no one ever followed the rules required by the suicidal god to achieve this title. If we go on the streets and ask 1000 people the question “what is a Christian and what does it take to be one?”, it is guaranteed that we will get exactly 1000 definitions. The truth is that after God committed suicide, the people performed an autopsy on him and dissected him, each taking a part, the one that suits him/her best. We will find out that some don’t consider sex before marriage or sexual lust a sin at all. When we bring to them the lines quoted above, they either say that they are not important or they are just a figure of speech. To some, who consider themselves fundamentalists, they don’t find anything wrong in rejecting atheists and people who don’t believe what they believe. Or, why don’t we try hitting one of these Christians in the face. Will they be real Christians and turn the other cheek, while, perhaps trying to talk to us rationally, or will they do like a “mere human” would and hit back?

Also, who actually believes in this shallow, senseless emotion called “love for everybody”? Do you really think someone actually experiences this “love” for everyone in the world ? No! Some of them might have the guts to say something like this. But they are just words. They couldn’t care less if 2 blocks away there was a car accident and some people died. But what about loving Christ more than your wife/girlfriend/mother/father etcetera? Does anyone even think of Christ when they are with someone they love? Christian teachings are very incompatible with human personality, that’s why no one can follow them. Like I said, the only thing Christians can do is take God apart and reassemble him in the way they choose.

Let’s face it, for every “Christian” there is a Jesus who fits their own interests and interpretation. There are orthodox Christians, catholic Christians, protestant Christians, Jehova’s Witness Christians, and another million kinds of Christians, but no actual Christian. There never has been.

I know everyone embeds xkcd all the time but I just couldn’t resist doing it this time

Religion and family have had a close link throughout the history of humanity. The Catholic Church played a key role in the development of the family during their roughly 1000 year period in which the Vatican was the chief influence in European political and social aspects. Although it was mainly a union for economic purposes during the majority of human history, the Vatican strongly supported the family as a social unit, and to the present still is one of the main supporters of traditional family values. (more…)