Are Atheists Allowed to Like Christian Music?

Oh man, I love “Jesus Walks”. Kanye just has a way of making Christian music appealing. 🙂

“The Edge of Water” by Jars of Clay, as a sort of prayer and sign of lingering attachment to my Christian past (the song’s about the despair that accompanies trying to believe in a hidden god). I can’t think of anything else unless Pedro the Lion counts…

Kansas! While they technically aren’t (or weren’t; I hear they’ve gone off the deep end) a Christian band, Dust in the Wind is Ecclesiastes on AWESOME.

And sadly, I’m not dating myself. I just happen not to like music that’s younger than I am.

Not a big fan of contemporary Christian music. At all. Pleah.

But gospel, old-time and bluegrass, shape-note singing, Mozart’s requiem, the really old Christmas carols… that shit rocks.

I’ll admit that I have a certain flinching reaction against the words that I didn’t have before I became such an outspoken atheist. But I’m hoping to get over it. Some of the best music ever written is religious I’d hate to be alienated from all of it.

If I had a nickel for every time a Faith+1 song got stuck in my head…

I’m sorry, but I have to draw the line somewhere, and this is it, Christian music sucks. I had a co-worker who used to listen to the local Christian radio station while we worked out during lunch break and it was all I could do to not strangle him because the music is just dog-awful. I don’t mind the occasional mainstream musician writing a Christian-themed song once in a while, but most music written for the Christian-based market sucks donkey balls.

I like the “old-timey” gospel, a la “O Brother Where Art Thou” and “The Ladykillers”. It’s good.

And Bob Marley’s wacky religion can’t detract from the sheer awesomeness.

So there’s that. Religious music can be cool.

From A Distance! It’s cheesy and ridiculous but I love it. I also like a lot of old country/gospel songs too (In The Garden, etc). Contemporary Christian, not so much.

From A Distance! It’s cheesy and ridiculous but I love it.

Ah, my answer… stolen.

There is that one song by Sinead O’Conner that was really great to listen to when I thought it was about a boy – and then it turned out to be about God and that almost ruined it. But I still like it.

also, sara groves. tres pretty voice.

I never have this problem because a) I dislike most music anyway b) I tend to especially dislike religious music for purely musical reasons c) If I ever did like Christian music, I would never find out because I can’t hear lyrics without making a conscious effort.

Of course we can enjoy Christian music. Just because you enjoy a piece of art doesn’t mean you agree with its entire message.

But, for the record, I can’t think of any Christian music that I happen to like off the top of my head.

Dream Theater

Best. Progressive. Metal.

Also very Christian.

I will confess to having gone to their show last year.

Hmm, I didn’t know Dream Theater had anything to do with Christianity. I just liked them because they’re prog rock and have killer guitar shreds.

Anyway, I’ll admit that “What if God Was One of Us” is one of my [very] guilty pleasures. I’m alloted a few.

Most contemporary Christian music makes me cringe though. Not because of the music, but because when I see it advertised on TV the live crowd freaks me out.

I loved Plus One. And Creed, JoC, Switchfoot, Lifehouse (although they’re not a Christian rock band per se), Oasis, Mercyme, Matthew West, DCB… but I also like non-Christian religious stuff.

I do admit that I’m not gonna like any song that references God way too much.

I have to promote the podcast “Bored Again Christian” by the podcaster Just Pete. He finds music by Christian bands and/or has a positive message that he thinks his audience will enjoy. And if sucks, he won’t play it. And he will admit on his show that most Christian music is pretty boring.

So…. Bored Again Christian is a podcast that I will recommend to both the Christian and the Infidel.

http://boredagainchristian.com

I heard Casting Crowns in concert once, but it’s your typical “I love Jesus” and every song has to bombard the listener with a “Jesus/God/Church Family” message. If that’s your thing, I won’t knock it, but I thought the music was boring.

Atheists, are there any Christian bands/songs you like?

I blockquoted Heman’ts question just to emphasize that he didn’t ask specifically for contemporary Christian music. I never heard of most of the bands and songs people have mentioned here, and contemporary rock of any kind just doesn’t rock me much. I’m an old fossil hunting for other fossils.

“Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones is the closest rock song I can think of that I like, but most Christians would probably not agree that it qualifies.

On the other hand, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah is irresistably stirring, Shubert’s Ave Maria is sublime beyond description and Mozart’s Requiem is 54 minutes of bliss.

Guess I got spoiled 266 years ago.

Sure, I like Christian bands. In fact, I’ve been to a number of Christian-only metal shows. Granted, it’s really weird walking around in the House of Blues with families (and preachers) around you wearing a shirt for an Italian black metal band or having the drummer of one of the bands sign your jacket with “Psalms 23”. That was an odd moment to say the least.

Bands I like with overt Christian messages:
Becoming the Archetype (Christian progressive death metal)
ZAO (Christian hardcore)
Horde (“unblack” metal)
Mortification (Christian death metal)
Alove For Enemies (Christian straightedge/hardcore)

And about a thousand more hardcore bands. Something about being straightedge makes kids want to make hardcore music…and preach. At the same time usually. What a paradox. Sure, there are some songs whose message I do agree with such as many of ZAO’s songs about activism or saving the Memphis Three.

I like “One of Us” too. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

My favorite holiday song will probably always be “O Holy Night” and I’m not sure they get much more obviously religious than that. It’s a beautiful song, though.

There’s nothing particularly Christian about Dream Theater (one of my favorite bands). They’re a very diverse band with many influences, but no overt religious references that I am aware of.

The most religious I could cite would be Mike Portnoy (drummer and leader of the group) who is involved in AA and wrote songs about it. He is also a huge fan of the uber-Christian prog rock artist Neal Morse, and has been involved in all of his latest Christian albums.

Neal Morse by the way is very very good stuff, if you can ignore the born-again lyrics. Absolutely top-notch prog-rock. As an atheist that’s the only Christian music I ever listen to.

I like the old time religious music (which is most classical music). I have a post with a video of O Magnum Mysterium, which is nice and relaxing (the YouTube camcorder in the school gym versions don’t begin to do it justice). I went through a folk phase recently, which tends to include a lot of religious references.

Well there’s Bach’s St John Passion, which I inexplicably prefer to the St Matthew… But I suspect that’s not what the article has in mind.

Gospel I like. Gospel is authentic and rooted in experience, exile, loss and pain. It is the heart’s yearning for freedom and escape from the mundane. This I would contrast with the genre calling itself “Christian rock”, which is just terrible, (oxy)moronic trash. Jesus and Rock n’ Roll make a terrible combination. Why? Because rock music is satanic. It really is the devil’s music. And I mean that in a good way. It’s about sex and drugs and excess and carnality and all the rest of it. Bring God into it and you lose the whole point.

DC Talk has some great songs out there. I still love their entire ‘Jesus Freak’ album, even though the lyrics can be especially ignorant.

Ubi Dubium: “Lately there has been an obnoxious ad running on TV for an album of xtian music called ‘I Can Only Imagine.'”

I think I’ve seen that now and again. Somehow it sounds “bleached,” like all the musical color was sapped out of it. I don’t know if I can explain it any better than that.

BTW, did anyone else notice that “Atheist accidentally enjoys Christian song on radio” is on a news parody site?

I contend that Amazing Grace is, without even a close second, the greatest, most profound, most beautiful piece of music ever written in any genre. Yeah, I mean that. It still gives me, an apostate hell-bound atheist, chills.

As a long-time country fan, I like many songs with Christian themes. “What If Jesus Comes Back Like That?” by Collin Raye was one of my absolute favorites in high school, and I still love it. There’s also “The Wanderer” by Johnny Cash and U2, “Love, Me” by Collin Raye, “Give Me One More Shot” by Alabama and too many others to name. (Does anybody else think “Drugs or Jesus” is the weirdest religiously-themed song ever?)

Then there’s Bruce Cockburn — sheer poetry. “Lord of the Starfields” is awesome, with lines like “voice of the nova” and “O love that fires the sun, keep me burning”. “All the Diamonds in the World” is also beautiful in its simplicity.

Oh, and Christmas carols? My (secular Jewish) mother and I debate our favorites each year. “O Holy Night”, played loud, is usually at the top of the list.

I listen to about 30% of Five Iron Frenzy’s (Christian ska) and Relient K’s(Christian pop/rock) material, but always when I’m alone. It’s a little embarrassing.

I love Christian music, but almost all of it is over 100 years old and/or in a different language, usually latin. Good old-timey gospel and old christmas carols are pretty great, too. Contemporary xian music I cannot get into.

Any radio station that plays Christian music indiscriminately isn’t doing the listener any favors, but there’s some decent stuff in there to be mined, and a few stations that care enough to do the mining.

Even George Carlin said that some religious music was good. A lot of the great classical music and art was commissioned by churches.

Of course, the corollary to that generalization is that, just as you can’t believe everything you read, neither can you believe everything that is set to stirring music.

I’m a fan of ’80s glam metal, so I have to give a shout out to Petra, sometimes known as the Christian Def Leppard. They were the first band I listened to and by the end of high school I had all their albums. I still pop their CDs on long car rides from time to time.

I really liked Supernatural, DC Talk’s follow-up album to Jesus Freak. Of course, now I hear some of their lyrics and I’m like, how the hell did I even tolerate this?

like most commentators i enjoy music for itself, regardless of the religious/non- leanings of the artists. i’m sure there are loads of secular songs out there i can’t stand because i don’t like the music either. having recently discovered Anberlin filed under ‘christian rock’ in amazon does not make me listen to it any less; and by the same token i wouldn’t make a point of listening to ‘atheist rap’ (i presume it may exist ?)because i’m not generally a fan of rap anyway. add to that the huge history of musical and religious intertwining, and you’re somewhat limiting your musical choices if you’re willing to define acceptable music purely on the basis of the belief convictions of others.

Matisyahu, but I specifically don’t listen to him for any sort of spiritual message, (And he’s really good at being subtle about it, too.) I listen to him because the music sounds really good, and is one of the only things that passes as reggae anymore in the mainstream that uses real instruments.

A while ago at my campus we had a Christian Death-Metal group perform. I still can’t begin to fathom how that’s possible, but it’s just as well since I couldn’t understand a word they were saying amongst their metal shrieks and grunts.

While I’m not a fan of Christian rock/pop music, I can always dig me some gospel music or old country.

As a fan of ska, I gotta appreciate the christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy. I like their songs, and I guess things work out pretty evenly, since there are a lot of christian ska fans who like the anti-religious band Streetlight Manifesto, even if they don’t agree with their message.

I actually really like Switchfoot, especially their song “Meant To Live”. Even though it’s probably really about the higher purpose in life being something to do with God, and it has a line that goes “everything inside screams for second life…”, i still think that the message rings true for anyone: We as humans are now wanting and expecting more than people, or the world, has to offer. We don’t respect or learn from the past, and we just want more STUFF. I agree that life has a higher (one might say “spiritual”) meaning, but i don’t believe it has anything to do with a deity. I just like the song.

Oh and, last thing, i swear, i really like old-timey Southern gospel music, like you’d hear in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, for example. If there’s one good thing that’s come out of Christianity, that’s it.

Amazing Grace is amazing when played (properly) on bagpipes.

I, too, appreciate the art of music, regardless of the lyrical content, as much as I enjoy the art and architecture of an old cathedral, despite the reason for its existence.

The Mills Brothers did some great gospel (A Closer Walk With Thee) along with great secular (Paper Doll) music.

I still love Jennifer Knapp from my Christian days. Sadly, she was ostracized by the Christian community because she attended Lilith Fair, and there were rumors that she was gay. I don’t think she’s put out anything new in years.

On a side note, the secular band Rush has several fantastic atheist songs, including “Faithless” on their most recent album “Snakes & Arrows.” Just thought I’d mention it for those of you looking for an atheist anthem…

You gotta love Christmas carols. I want to get a group together to go caroling this year. They’re the best pieces in the hymnal (in the baptist church that is)

The above links seem to be screwing up- but just google “fourfour” and “jesus is the reason” and you’ll find the mix link.

While not Christian music, y’all might find yourself singing along to this song: She Left Me For Jesus by Texan Hayes Carll. It’s going to be fun singing this one around the campfire this summer.

Christian music is not my thing, however, some of my favorite artists have made gospel records that I find myself listening to on occasion. Willie Nelson is one of my all time favorites and has many religious references in many songs. I also listen to bands such as Slayer. Their music is very anti-religious, but the lead singer, Tom Araya, is a catholic, go figure. If a song is religious and a good song, I will listen to it. I will listen to just about anything; I like to keep an open mind.

@Darwin’s Dagger

What if God Smoked Cannabis? is by Bob Rivers, not Weird Al. I’m a fan of both, but it’s a tiny pet peeve of mine to see every parody song under the sun attributed to Weird Al.

Is there a law that says an atheist can’t appreciate anything that was borne of faith? Some of the world’s most beautiful art and architecture is faith-centered. Why would music be any different? I think getting a “dirty” feeling is kind of an overreaction.

You can appreciate the beauty of a thing without wholeheartedly accepting the philosophy that inspired it.

I like “God is A Real Estate Developer” by Michelle Shocked.

How about Handel’s Messiah? 🙂

Apart from classical music, where I don’t care if something is about God or not because classical religious music rocks, there’s other stuff. I admit I kind of like Relient K. “Life After Death and Taxes” is a decent song despite some Christian lyrics, and their rendition of “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” is awesome.

I went to school with members of the band Newsboys, here in Qld Australia back in the late 80s, they put on a concert in the school grounds and were pretty much ignored… I couldn’t give a toss until I became a Christian a year later. And I have to say that since leaving Christianity I still LOVE the music of these guys. I always wonder how they would have went without the Christian angle.

I still have a sweat spot for PETRA and WHITEHEART… the lyrics are mostly cringey for me, but I still appreciate their style. DC Talk and their solo efforts still get my attention too.

I personally enjoy “The Man Comes Around” by the late Johnny Cash. I also enjoy the “Dies Irae” segment of Verdi’s “Requiem.” (I think both reflect my fondness for music of an eschatological bent).

Okay, maybe this isn’t “Christian,” but George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord makes me choke up every freakin’ time.

Thanks for the Billy Connolly youtube link, that was pure priceless godless gold. Had to blog that.

Did anyone ever get into the Christian cover band, The Apologetix… they used to cover ‘worldly’ songs into Xtian, eg. The Bethlemian Rhapsody, or Shepherd’s Paradise and so on… a bit like how Porno movies rip off mainstream movie titles… like Edward Penishands… well, you get the picture.

Yah I love the band apologetix.it seems so inspirational and yeah.

Brian “Head” Welch, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Stryper, Bride, White Cross, U2… I think Johnny Cash is probably my favorite though. He struggled with some serious addictions, and with the help and grace from God, was able to beat them.