OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY: The "OT" bit references historical, literary, cultural issues (the particulars), the "theology" bit references the Big Picture (and why it matters). These two poles are expressed in the title. This blog concerns everything in between.
Sunday 10 August 2008
Why Brian Welch left Korn
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I got pretty into Korn when their first two albums came out ('94 and '96), but I lost track of them after that (partly because their lyrics softened with their fame, but also because a bunch of boneheads starting taking over the hard rock music scene -- i.e. frat boys and jocks started dominating concerts that used to be a safe place for misfits and street kids).
I had heard that Head had become a Christian, so it was pretty interesting to watch this interview -- thanks for posting it!
I have to admit that I've never really listened to them. I guess the closest I get is punk, but there's a world of difference! I'm always fascinated to hear about the difference Jesus makes in people's lives. I just hope it sticks and doesn't fade like with Bob Dylan.
Yes, a world of difference between punk and rap-core! I was a rudeboy and punk rocker in the '90s -- Korn et al. were only a brief diversion -- so I hear you on that.
Dylan is an interesting parallel because he also seemed to 'really get it', or rather, he really seemed to have genuinely been encountered by God... but he found his way down other roads. Welch also seems to have had that 'road to Damascus' sort of moment so, as with the rest of us, we'll see how it goes.
Regardless, as a person who works with many people who are overwhelmed by their addictions, it is good to hear of God bringing liberation from such things.
All right, I guess I have to give a shout out and represent the rivetheads and the...hmm, is there a name?...dark ambient fans.
What Brian found was not God, but a non-rational existential experience/feeling that authenticated his life and gave direction, purpose, or meaning to it. He could have called this feeling/experience "God" (Tillich) or "Satan" (LaVey) or "angst" (Heidegger) or "fear" (Keirkegaard) or "language" (Wittgenstein) or "love" (Beatles) or "absurdity" (Surrealists/Dadists) and it would be the same thing--something completely detached from any historical personage and reality whether on the earth below or in heaven above, unable to be evidenced, and without basis or foundation in reason. In either case, the only difference between, say, Brian Welch and some of the others is not that Brian found god and others didn't, but Brian's experience lead him to preserve his life whereas some of the others lead them to destroy it.
It's a shame really that that's all Yeshua and God have become--whether we can get on in life or not. If there really is no God and if Yeshua really isn't what he's been made out to be, better we just throw them off and move on than create belief and comfort out of non-rational delusion. But if there really is a God and if there really was a Yeshua that is anything like what we are lead to think, then it is also better we move on from fantasies.
Thanks for your thoughts, Slave of One. I agree that in order for Brian's conversion to have any substance it needs to go beyond experience and start wrestling with the concrete claims of Christianity. I hope he gathers the right kind of people around him to help him do that.
5 comments:
I got pretty into Korn when their first two albums came out ('94 and '96), but I lost track of them after that (partly because their lyrics softened with their fame, but also because a bunch of boneheads starting taking over the hard rock music scene -- i.e. frat boys and jocks started dominating concerts that used to be a safe place for misfits and street kids).
I had heard that Head had become a Christian, so it was pretty interesting to watch this interview -- thanks for posting it!
I have to admit that I've never really listened to them. I guess the closest I get is punk, but there's a world of difference! I'm always fascinated to hear about the difference Jesus makes in people's lives. I just hope it sticks and doesn't fade like with Bob Dylan.
Yes, a world of difference between punk and rap-core! I was a rudeboy and punk rocker in the '90s -- Korn et al. were only a brief diversion -- so I hear you on that.
Dylan is an interesting parallel because he also seemed to 'really get it', or rather, he really seemed to have genuinely been encountered by God... but he found his way down other roads. Welch also seems to have had that 'road to Damascus' sort of moment so, as with the rest of us, we'll see how it goes.
Regardless, as a person who works with many people who are overwhelmed by their addictions, it is good to hear of God bringing liberation from such things.
All right, I guess I have to give a shout out and represent the rivetheads and the...hmm, is there a name?...dark ambient fans.
What Brian found was not God, but a non-rational existential experience/feeling that authenticated his life and gave direction, purpose, or meaning to it. He could have called this feeling/experience "God" (Tillich) or "Satan" (LaVey) or "angst" (Heidegger) or "fear" (Keirkegaard) or "language" (Wittgenstein) or "love" (Beatles) or "absurdity" (Surrealists/Dadists) and it would be the same thing--something completely detached from any historical personage and reality whether on the earth below or in heaven above, unable to be evidenced, and without basis or foundation in reason. In either case, the only difference between, say, Brian Welch and some of the others is not that Brian found god and others didn't, but Brian's experience lead him to preserve his life whereas some of the others lead them to destroy it.
It's a shame really that that's all Yeshua and God have become--whether we can get on in life or not. If there really is no God and if Yeshua really isn't what he's been made out to be, better we just throw them off and move on than create belief and comfort out of non-rational delusion. But if there really is a God and if there really was a Yeshua that is anything like what we are lead to think, then it is also better we move on from fantasies.
Thanks for your thoughts, Slave of One. I agree that in order for Brian's conversion to have any substance it needs to go beyond experience and start wrestling with the concrete claims of Christianity. I hope he gathers the right kind of people around him to help him do that.
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