for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (NIV)
Category Archives: Keep it Metal!
The End?
Ok Atheists.
Lets say the Mayans are right, and a giant Comet is about to slam into the Earth.
Your Richard Branson, and have your own private spaceship.
May I ask what is your rationale?
Where do you intend going?
Earth is Unique.
… For all it’s massiveness, the Universe is Hostile, Dead, and empty.
Would the loss of the world awake you from your stupor?
Would you appreciate what divine blessings you took for granted… once they have been destroyed?
Your Spaceship is a Prison…. your Coffin.
Why not simply open the pressure hatch… and Die?
What is the point of the Atheist life?
You are Lost, and dead already
There is No Salvation for Atheists.
You must be a Self Deluded and Famous Biologist to not-understand that Atheism = Nihilism.
Is there anything so pathetic as an Atheist insisting they stand at the pinnacle of reality and maintain ‘ a sense of life’???
What’s the Point?
The average Teen is intelligent enough to know the difference between a theistic and Atheistic reality as a the distinction between Morality and Real value… from Amorality and worthlessness, sadly many are decieved into believing the Nihilistic veiw of reality.
Jim Morrison’s ‘The End’ is a Poem to the Atheist apprehension and value of Human Life.
“The Doors-The End
This is the end Beautiful friend This is the end My only friend, the end Of our elaborate plans, the end Of everything that stands, the end No safety or surpise the End. Ill never look into your eyes again….”
Jim Morison.
An Intelligent young Teenage friend of mine Austin Carter is busy contemplating his place in the Universe…
He is asking all the right Questions… yet is confronted by all the chaos and confusion that Mankind has propagated to sway souls towards and away from the light.
Austin ponders… “Life is just a journey…”
“…Terrible things in this world happen constantly, we only hear a mere fraction of whats reality. Ignorance is bliss…”
“Logically thinking, being religious is an opinion. Not everyone agrees on opinions, nor religions, you think you are right even when you may not be and no opinion is right, it’s just an opinion. Everyone has there own views and beliefs, that’s why there are so many choices. It’s what it means to the individual, not the populous…”
“Life is an elaborate dream.”
“ There are more questions than answers. Remember that…”
“ We are all just sacks of meat and organs, a living thing, with no purpose in the world other than reproduction of our species and whatever else we make of ourselves. If I were to die right now, it would affect a small group of people, but would it change the world or send a message? No. Of course not, I am just one insignificant person as all of you are, but what if we made something of ourselves? What if we stood up and decided to make our lives worth something, mean something. To stand for something is a powerful tool to the human spirit but together we can make everyone’s life worth something. Do you just want to live a normal, mundane lifestyle doing as everyone does, a life of a sheep? “
********************************************************************************************
Nothing that Ayn Rand or the Dick Dawkin’s can say can imbue Atheist reality with value or meaning.
They are Liars… and the average teenager knows it.
… and yet millions of Decieved People still follow them!
Why?
Because they seek to hide from moral duty and accountability… and that is the Primary Psychological underpinning of Atheism… This is the gospel for the Amoral and Lawless.
Can there be any question as to how corrosive… how Fatal such a world view is to a human being?
And worst of all …it’s false!
Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”.
… Jesus Christ.
The Atheist Mockers have been silenced.
Modern science has caught up with Theistic Revelation.
The Universe/ Matter is not Eternal.
…
Now Everybody knows That one day this world will end, It’s just a question of when?
And consider this… The world and universe do not have to implode for it to be the ‘End of your world’.
For 150 000 souls 20-12-12 will be the end.
How many will step through the door and Meet their Gracious Savior?
How many of these thousands will instead step into a Courtroom and face THE JUDGE. ?
There is a greater reality than this Temporal plain!
Our Existence is not mere chance… but purposed.
Our Lives and actions do have moral weight.
God loves us and sent Christ to save us from Sin and death, and it is from God that our lives have real value.
Life is indeed a journey.
The World did not end 20-12-12.
We Christians Never believed it would.
And so the need to carry on blogging, and keeping busy with Christian Evangelism, and Libertarian activism, is still urgent…. to share this message of Hope to questioning souls like my young friend…
Without the preaching of Christian Libertarians , the lost will remain deceived by the Militantly Antichrist Atheists into thinking Religion is foolish and wrong.
They will dwell in the despair of the Black Meaningless finality of Atheist Nihilism.
In Futility will they attempt to find happiness, in meaningless, pointless, Cold and suffering Universe.
Thus in the New Year, I plan to continue to Preach The Gospel of God’s grace towards sinners, and to Defend our God given rights from A Moral Tyranny… believing this is what God has purposed for me to do…
I believe it is my God given purpose in life to Hold up the Tourch… To shine a light in the dark… to combat the Satanic lies which Damn Mankind… and when I myself stand at the Door, I will be trusting in Christ… in the Mercy and grace of God, and will be Happy that I used my time well…
Austin asks: … “Why do we create our own answers? How can we know we are right?
Knowledge = Fear
Ignorance = Fear
Acceptance = Enlightenment…”
My Retort: “Knowledge of God’s love brings Peace. Knowledge of God’s Holiness brings a sence of Right and wrong. Knowledge of God’s purpose in creating you brings a sence of Value and meaning.”
Austin has begun his Pilgrimage… his quest for the truth.
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Jesus Christ.
No Future
I had a look around YouTube to find some suitably apocalyptic death metal to mark the end of the world Mayan calendar. Spoilt for choice! But here’s my pick, Russian death metallers Fetal Decay with No Future from their second album You Have No Choice. (Sorry about that, runners up. The judge’s decision is final!)
(No future? You have no choice? Wrong! When the world really ends, you do have a future—if you make the right choice now. Take heed of what Tim said. The Judge’s decision is final!)
Art is art
What is art? I spent the best part of a decade studying philosophy, so I had plenty of opportunity to find out, but I avoided the philosophy of art (aesthetics) religiously. “I don’t know anything about art, but I know what I like,” was, and pretty much still is, my answer to the question.
Music is art. I don’t know much about music, but I know what I like. Heavy metal is my favourite musical genre, and Slayer is the greatest heavy metal band of all time. It really is that simple.
But not if you’re an Objectivist. Lindsay Perigo is an Objectivist, and he thinks that Slayer is indescribable filth. Why does he think this? Is it because he is in thrall to Ayn Rand’s batty aesthetics as given in The Romantic Manifesto?
Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist’s metaphysical value-judgments.
Art … concretizes man’s fundamental view of himself and of existence.
The emotion involved in art is not an emotion in the ordinary meaning of the term. It is experienced more as a “sense” or a “feel,” but it has two characteristics pertaining to emotions: it is automatically immediate and it has an intense, profoundly personal (yet undefined) value-meaning to the individual experiencing it. The value involved is life, and the words naming the emotion are: “This is what life means to me.”
Art is man’s metaphysical mirror; what a rational man seeks to see in that mirror is a salute; what an irrational man seeks to see is a justification—even if only a justification of his depravity, as a last convulsion of his betrayed self-esteem.
What utter bullshit. I don’t know much about art, but I know that Rand is wrong and that Tom Araya, Slayer’s vocalist and bass player, is right. Art represents. Art reflects. Araya says that Slayer’s music is “dark reflections” of society. Here’s some snippets of an interview with Tom Araya.
And here’s the same interview, lovingly transcribed by me. First up, wicked guitarist Kerry King.
Kerry King: I like to take potshots at religion because I think it’s the …. the biggest brainwashing thing that is totally acceptable in America and probably most every place else in the world. Um, I just … I think it’s a load of shit.
Thanks for that, Kerry, you atheist douche-bag. Moving right along …
Interviewer: Tom, another well-tread path with you is your Christian background …
Tom Araya: Yeah.
Interviewer: … and the juxtaposition with your music.
Tom Araya: Catholic!
Interviewer: What place do your personal beliefs have in Slayer?
Tom Araya: I guess that what we do is art. Right? And it’s, it’s … art can be a reflection of society. And I mean … and … we’re picking up the dark reflections [laughs] … and, you know, that’s what we’re reflecting. But, evil’s everywhere, man, everybody’s got it. It sits really deep in everybody. Some people can’t control it as much as others, I think it’s … it’s … it’s there. Regardless of whatever fucking religion you believe in and whatever it is you feel is right, everybody knows what’s wrong. Everybody knows that there’s … there’s wrong things, there are just things you DO NOT DO. And the people that don’t understand that or don’t believe that, then they’re really … they’re not really connected with themselves, spiritually. It doesn’t matter what the fuck you believe.
Interviewer: But God Hates Us All, I can’t help but come back, I mean … how does it fit in?
Tom Araya: How does it fit in?
Interviewer: To the …
Tom Araya: He doesn’t …
Interviewer: To the …
Tom Araya: He doesn’t… he doesn’t … God doesn’t hate. It’s a great fucking title. When we wanted to make that an album title, I was, like, goddamn, it’s fucking really good. I think it will fucking piss a lot of people off.
Metalhead: The bands that want to be the biggest badasses pick the most badass subjects. It’s not that these people believe in this stuff. It’s just … you know, it’s … it’s a cool imagery that goes along with the music and, you know … some people believe in it, you know, I’m not going to deny that the … that the Norwegian bands are real, I mean, they’ve proven they’re real by their actions.
Interviewer: OK. So Venom and Slayer aren’t real.
(One day I’ll post about “the Norwegian bands.” Black metal. EVIL stuff. Google ‘Varg Vikernes’, if you must.)
Below are two pictures, one of Tom Araya who writes songs about serial killers, and one of Heath Ledger who played the part of psychopathic uber-villain The Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight.
Tom Araya writes songs about indescribable filth. He is not himself indescribable filth. Heath Ledger played the part of indescribable filth. He was not himself indescribable filth.
Heath Ledger got an RIP from Perigo, and his death was cause for a rewatching of Brokeback Mountain. Yet Slayer deserve to be branded “indescribable filth”? What’s the difference?
The difference is this. Tom Araya’s taking on the role of a serial killer – getting into the mindset of the psychopath, such as in the song Killing Fields – has harmed no one. Heath Ledger’s taking on the role of The Joker – getting into the mindset of the psychopath – has killed people, including, arguably, Ledger himself.
On Friday, 23 January 2009, in Dendermonde, Belgium, a 20 year old named Kim De Gelder, dressed as the Joker, conned his way into a day care centre and attacked babies and infants with a knife, stabbing them repeatedly in their heads and neck, killing 2 babies and a daycare provider and leaving numerous infants injured. (Wikipedia)
On Friday, 20 July 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside of a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. The sole suspect is James Eagan Holmes, who was arrested outside the cinema minutes later. … According to two federal officials, he had dyed his hair red and called himself “the Joker” … Seventy-one people were shot or otherwise wounded, reported by mainstream news as the most victims of any mass shooting in United States history. (Wikipedia)
“He’s a psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” — Heath Ledger on his portrayal of the Joker in the Dark Knight film. (source)
“Well,” Nicholson told reporters in London early Wednesday, “I warned him.” — Jack Nicholson, who had played the Joker in an earlier Batman movie series, commenting on the dangers of playing the Joker after Heath Ledger’s death. (source)
Locust Star
Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts have eaten.Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched from your lips.
A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
Grain offerings and drink offerings
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.
The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness. (NIV)
I am a man.
Greetings. This is D. Randall Blythe, checking in from my beloved hometown of Richmond, VA, United States of America. I was recently released on bail from Pankrác Prison in Prague, Czech Republic, after over a month of incarceration. Now that I am out for the moment, I would like to say a few things.
1. While in prison, I had minimal knowledge of how my case was viewed anywhere but the Czech Republic. I was told by my attorney that I had a lot support from peers in the music industry, my hometown, fans, and of course my family. I cannot express how emotional it made me upon my release to read about even a fraction of the voices that were raised on my behalf. From legends in my music community, to fans across the world, and even people who were previously unaware of my existence but sympathized with my plight- I am truly humbled. I cannot thank you enough for your thoughts and prayers. I would especially like to thank the people of Richmond, VA, for standing by me. In the 48 hours I have been home, many people I have never met before have stopped me on the street, waved and smiled as I passed by, or said hello in a restaurant. All have said “We are glad you are home, Randy”. You all make me proud and grateful that I call Richmond home.
2. I would like state that I suffered no abuse, from either authorities or inmates, during my incarceration in Pankrác. I received no special treatment, and was in general population with everyone else- make no mistake, it was prison, not some celebrity rehab tv show. But I was treated fairly by the guards and kindly by my fellow inmates. People are dying of starvation all over the world. Men and women are losing their lives daily in the Middle East and other war torn regions. I had food, clothes, shelter, and no one was trying to kill me. I cannot complain over a short stay in prison while many people elsewhere fight to survive on a daily basis.
3. If it is deemed necessary for me to do so, I WILL return to Prague to stand trial. While I maintain my innocence 100%, and will do so steadfastly, I will NOT hide in the United States, safe from extradition and possible prosecution. As I write this, the family of a fan of my band suffers through the indescribably tragic loss of their child. They have to deal with constantly varying media reports about the circumstances surrounding his death. I am charged with maliciously causing severe bodily harm to this young man, resulting in his death. While I consider the charge leveled against me ludicrous and without qualification, my opinion makes no difference in this matter. The charge exists, and for the family of this young man, questions remain. The worst possible pain remains. It is fairly common knowledge amongst fans of my band that I once lost a child as well. I, unfortunately, am intimately familiar with what their pain is like. Therefore, I know all too well that in their time of grief, this family needs and deserves some real answers, not a media explosion followed by the accused killer of their son hiding like a coward thousands of miles away while they suffer. I am a man. I was raised to face my problems head on, not run from them like a petulant child. I hope that justice is done, and the family of Daniel N. will receive the closure they undoubtably need to facilitate healing. I feel VERY STRONGLY that as an adult, it would be both irresponsible and immoral for me not to return to Prague if I am summoned. This is not about bail money. This is about a young man who lost his life. I will act with honor, and I will fight to clear my good name in this matter. Thank you for reading this, and I wish you all peace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfBr73TAxOU
Earlier this month, LAMB OF GOD vocalist Randy Blythe was indicted on manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic, and manager Larry Mazer issued the following statement.
After a three month investigation, the prosecutor in the Czech Republic has decided to move forward with an indictment of Randy Blythe on the charge of manslaughter with intent to cause bodily harm. Obviously, we intend to fight vigorously against these charges as we feel that in no way did Randy intend to cause bodily harm on the young fan who subsequently died from injuries sustained at the show. As he has stated previously, Randy intends to go to Prague to defend himself at trial.
While it is a tragedy that a LAMB OF GOD fan died following a performance by the group, in no way do I feel that Randy did anything improper that led to the young man’s injuries and subsequent death. The price of a ticket to a show does not entitle audience members access to a band’s stage. In the years since the murder on stage of Dimebag Darrell Abbott, performers of all genres have had to become more guarded while performing in response to the dangers presented by fans trying to become part of the performance. We believe that Randy responded professionally to the numerous amount of fans rushing the stage that day, a number of them captured on videos that have been posted on the internet. We have testimony from the venue operator that acknowledges lax security and an improper barricade being used that evening. Numerous testimonies from fans also were contradictory as to the actions of the multiple fans that tried to access the stage.
At this point, all that the band, myself, and our lawyers can do is to present a defense and try to convince the panel of judges who will hear the case that Randy is innocent of all charges and that his name and reputation need to be cleared and that he be permitted to carry on with his life and career always mindful that a fan passed away after a LAMB OF GOD performance.
Cowboys from Hell
Truly I tell you, I don’t actually like the legendary thrash/groove metal band Pantera very much. Just not my cup of tea. The title of their 1992 studio album, ‘Vulgar Display of Power’, pretty much sums up my feelings about the band.
But today is the 8th anniversary of the death of Pantera’s revered guitarist, Dimebag Darrell.
During the mid- to late-’90s Pantera began to fall apart due mainly to vocalist Phil Anselmo’s rampant drug abuse. The Abbott brothers, guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, moved on to form the band Damageplan. It was during a Damageplan performance in Columbus, Ohio on 8 December 2004 that Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed onstage.
This post, then, pays tribute to Dimebag Darrell. (Also it’s the back story to my next post.)
Divine Intervention
Awaken
In a web like Hell
How did I reach this place?
Why are they haunting me?
I cannot look at God’s faceParalysing
Brilliant light
Trying to run
Want to scream, but cannot speak
I cannot look at God’s faceBlind my eyes, I can’t see
What is being done to me
In my mind only pain
All the memories are drainedVictimized
Specimen
Deathless torture
Void with no mercy
Black shroud blinds those who seeViolated
Naked before you I stand
Shattered shrine of flesh and bone
God’s piercing through my soulSegments of my life
Morbid pieces of reality
Twisted personality
Many faces yet faceless
Familiar things give way to strange
No mercy no reason just painFatal
Sub-conscious control
Threshhold of pain unfolds
Transfixed martyr saving race
Who am I to judge thy grace?Awaken
In a web like Hell
How did I reach this place?
Why are they haunting me?
I cannot look at God’s faceBlind my eyes, I can’t see
What is being done to me
In my mind only pain
All the memories are drained
Their eyes bulge with fat
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.
They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes;
when you arise, Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds. (NIV)
The Ozzman Cometh!
The Prince of Darkness and his reunited band of metallers will come to New Zealand for one show.
Ozzy Osbourne and the original Black Sabbath line up of bassist Geezer Butler and guitarist Tony Iommi will play at Auckland’s Vector Arena on April 20 next year.
Credited with creating heavy metal, and widely regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time, this will be the first New Zealand show for the original Black Sabbath in nearly 40 years.
The last time they were on these shores was in 1973, when they played the Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival.
Hailing from Birmingham, England, the band released their debut album in 1970. This was followed up by the classic record Paranoid, which featured the anthems War Pigs and Iron Man.
Black Sabbath has sold in excess of 70 million records worldwide, and the band is currently recording their first new studio album in more than 33 years, which is due to be released in April 2013.
BLACK SABBATH
WHEN: April 20, 2013
WHERE: Vector Arena, Auckland
Tickets from Ticketmaster