About Abated Mass Of Flesh not being a christian band anymore...

Both questions and answers below are part of an interview from AMOF to Extreme Brutal Death, the only printed mag. that are only about extreme christian metal scene, and give us some light concerning questions about faith and more about AMOF.

the idea of this post isn't bring hate or whatever about the band (that I still like, by the way), but only to clarify some questions that fans sometimes asked...

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EBD: The Abated Mass of Flesh is over a decade old. Since 2011 the group has been very active with various material recorded and released. Tell us, who is the Abated Mass of Flesh and what is their mission?

Zack: Hello, I am Zack from Abated Mass of Flesh. Thank you for considering us for the interview! It has been an interesting 12 years for us. What's important to us is to stay motivated with writing/recording material. We have been very fortunate over the years to have so many supporters and they have driven us to consistently write music. We are very grateful for the support that everyone has given us to keep this band alive for so long. I wouldn't say that we have a mission as a band, we no longer think in those terms as a group. There is nothing for us to show or prove to the world, we are just friends in a band making music that we enjoy. However, there is a sense of urgency within our lyrical content. We write lyrics about many struggles people are facing as well as personal internal conflict. Over the past 12 years, our beliefs and objectives have changed as individuals. We currently do not identify as a christian band because of this, however we have no problem being identified as one because of our previous material. But we still find it important to write about the personal experiences of faith, belief, pain and conflict.

EBD: Good relating to people with different opinions and visions is an act of maturity. The problem is when opinion attacks some certainty that we know is healthy. In this case, do you often confront strange ideas? Or leave people with their destructive thoughts?

Zack: I would say that thoughts alone are not destructive. It becomes an issue when those thoughts are acted upon in a negative way and cause violence or physical harm to other people. I do not see it as my job to change people's minds, but I hope that I am able to turn someone away from destructive ideas. Of course things like racism, xenophobia, homophobia, self-harm, etc. can lead to destructive outcomes and we have to do what we can to prevent those from happening, but I don't believe that ideologies such as atheism and Satanism are destructive because I no longer approach these concepts from a Christian worldview. Atheism is simply the lack of a theistic belief and Satanists are basically advocates of church/state separation in gothic attire. Most Satanists do not even believe in a literal devil. Though I do not see someone's private belief in Christianity as harmful, I do see a real threat coming from those in power who try to impose their Christian beliefs into federal law. It goes against the very nature of our Constitution here in the States. For example, there are people in power who want to force Christianity into our schools, but exclude other religions from practicing. Christian Nationalism has been called the single biggest threat to our religious freedoms here in the US. It is an authoritarian approach that goes against the very foundation of our civil liberties. I do not see those ideas emanating from atheist and Satanist worldviews. To sum it up, it is good to relate to people and discuss opposing ideas, but we have to allow those views and ideas to be criticized so we can change them or build a stronger defense. The truth will continue to weed out bad ideas.

Thanks for sharing this, Lex.

He gives a very inaccurate description of what Satanism is. I would describe it as self-worship taken to the absolute extreme, not simply advocating for the separation of church and state.

Also the idea that Satanists, atheists, etc. have not tried to impose their beliefs upon others is obviously false here in the US. Look at the woke garbage in the government, schools, and major institutions.

The only real basis for an objective moral standard is God, so any law having anything to do with morality ultimately has to derive that from Scripture in order to be legitimate and not arbitrary. America made a big mistake early on when it did not submit to Christ as King in her Constitution.

I've encountered people with similar thoughts recently. Unfortunately, what he is stating is the view of popular media, which he is clearly absorbing. As a public school teacher for 18yrs, Christianity is not the policy being pushed. His exact mindset is the dominant force (atheism, satanism, secular humanism) and has been progressively getting stronger over all my time. In fact, I submitted my resignation at my job last year for that very reason and I and our children left the public schools altogether. He would be happy that I'm gone since I do not support calling my 12yr old students their preferred pronouns, encourage their new choice of gender, and find it morally reprehensible to hide these things from parents like we were asked to do last year by our district.

Since he and I are living for different kingdoms it is ironic that we both understand his last statement in opposite ways. May truth indeed prevail and our children be saved from progressive, atheistic, satanic ideals.

Thanks for the heads up on the band. That said, I never picked up their material because the themes of their music and aesthetic of the band isn't my thing.

Seriously. Is he ignorant or trying to be misleading? This comes across as someone who bent to the culture but is trying to sound smart.

I’ll give him this: at least he doesn’t deny that they were a Christian band, unlike some (cough…Believer…cough).

Pethead wrote:I’ll give him this: at least he doesn’t deny that they were a Christian band, unlike some (cough…Believer…cough).

This!

Pethead wrote:I’ll give him this: at least he doesn’t deny that they were a Christian band, unlike some (cough…Believer…cough).

And they belly ache that they were lumped in with Christian bands ... as if that didn't make them stick out amongst the thousands of thrash bands at the time, some much better than them who got less recognition.

" I do not see those ideas emanating from atheist and Satanist worldviews."

A public school graduate I see!

Communism has killed 100 million people.

In a sense they weren't a Christian band but I know what you mean.

There is a piece of this that is interesting. It's the reality that these men went to church, probably growing up in it. Something about their experience may have actually pointed in the wrong direction. There are "Christians" who are hateful, are in lockstep with every extreme conservative political agenda, and brutal to those who do not see with the same light. You never know where someone gets their views of the faith and the caricatures presented.

That said, what gets me is that, if you have your spiritual eyes opened by the Lord, you can see in the passages of Scripture both truth and grace. Seeing the truth of God both challenging and compelling, recognizing sin for sin and yet grace, mercy, and forgiveness offered for it through Jesus Christ. There is so much more than the easily dismissed, often distorted, two-dimensional picture they so commonly portray. I only wish it were possible for them to take an honest look back at the Word of God and be humbled by what is truly written there. Instead we always get a strange, proud, confused response from someone who may have come to some hard questions and through tough circumstances but ultimately never found the truth. The twist is this novel realization always seems to lead to claims that they have figured out a higher truth, that humans are wiser than God and His Word and that better, more enlightened modern men and women are those who discover this great fact.

The irony is, this interesting, common story is exactly what the Scriptures speaks of beginning to end, Scriptures they've never understood.

^^Excellent post.

Frozen Fire wrote:May truth indeed prevail and our children be saved from progressive, atheistic, satanic ideals.

Amen!   

As for him and his band, what can I say.   He seems to have chosen the broad road that so many others are on.