Testing God

Aren’t all heavy metal bands basically atheist? Not really. Many thrive off dark themes and toy with occult fantasies, but none that I have heard have dedicated their lyrics to the challenges of becoming and living as an atheist among family and communities held together by fundamentalist religious teachings.

First, let’s get the legitimacy of this music out of the way. This album will rock your socks off. You want a simple comparison? Listen to Black Sabbath’s “God is Dead?” from their album “13”, then listen to Monster On Sunday’s version. Dare I say it is not only a worthy homage to Sabbath, but perhaps even a little more soulful (pardon the pun) in its delivery. The rest of the Baby Eater album I can assure you is solid (and I have seen firsthand that they can deliver this material live too, so check them out on stage for a high energy performance the first chance you get).

You can see the lyrics on the band’s website (http://monsteronsunday.com/lyrics/), so I won’t cover them in detail, but here is a summary of the meaning of some of the songs to me:

Baby Eater - a delicious example of the ad-hominems that atheists face in the world.

Stardust - Hail Sagan. That is all. This one sends a chill up my spine.

Make a Believer - if believers only knew how futile their efforts are in trying to “save” apostates.

Just Like You - God is made in the image of man… all too often the very worst man you can find.

Pain - I didn’t suffer this degree of indoctrination, but I can feel the pain in this song and you will too!

Monster On Sunday - We’re the monster? No, everyone perpetuating religion is the monster.

Believe in Yourself - Yep

I highly recommend this album. It will definitely clear your head of the nonsense you have to listen to at work, the store, or your local elevator. Dig into the meanings of the words when you can pay attention, and when you can’t just enjoy the hard driving melodies, heavy metal riffs, and the hauntingly powerful vocals this album consistently delivers.

If two people hold a position, one is true, and one is false; would the manner of each person's behavior towards you or their general temperament have any bearing on who holds the true position, and who holds the false position?

No.

If both persons were both holding valid (but two different or alternative) positions; would their temperament have a bearing on which position you might choose to select?

Perhaps, and probably yes.