Exactly how many kids has heavy metal sent to Hell?

Recently, someone calling themselves “April and Wayne Show” (it’s not clear whether that’s the name of a couple of the name of their show) began posting videos to YouTube purporting to expose metal bands as “Satanic Illuminati.” Although the dictionary says “illuminati” means “those who are enlightened,” many people colloquially use the term to refer to something cult-like.

As I’ve said before, while some metal bands use anti-Christian symbolism as a theater prop, very few are actually Satanic. Still, some people look at these bands and see nothing else. At first, it seems like April and Wayne Show’s videos might seem tongue-in-cheek, but the tone comes across as fairly serious and straightforward. Which means we’ve got some debunking to do.

Some of their claims include:

“Metal destroys the lives of many youth and leads millions of souls to Hell.”
“Metal has caused many youth to turn to drugs, become rebellious, and become sexually promiscuous (including bisexuality).”
“Metal promotes self-destruction (including suicide). Rock music gets millions of youth to experiment with drugs.”
“Metal artists have sold their souls to the devil and Satan uses metal bands to lead millions of souls to Hell.”
“Metal … promotes witchcraft and Satanism, demonic possession and rage, violence, blasphemy …”

Note that all of this is presented without a single shred of evidence. There’s no science backing their claims about drugs, sexuality, or even suicide. To say nothing of their more spiritual claims. Sure, it’s hard to prove whether “millions of souls” have gone to Hell, or that Satan’s using the music to lead them there, but you could at least try.

Let’s assume for the moment that these teens get to Hell by committing suicide. Roughly 4,400 teens a year succeed in killing themselves. Even if every single teen who committed suicide since 1970 — the year proto-metal band Black Sabbath released its first album — and we assume that every teen who commits suicide a) did so because of metal, and b) went to Hell because of it, it comes to 184,800. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of kids, but it’s by no means “millions.”

They go on:

“Metal artists are under demonic control during performances. These demons not only control artists’ performances, but enhances (sic) their skill.” (Quotes from artists ensue.)

Their example is a drummer they describe as “faceless,” who plays with his eyes closed (how does he have eyes if he doesn’t have a face?), but somehow plays perfectly, as shown in the video. Have these people never heard of dubbing? Or, you know, muscle memory? Many skilled musicians can play with eyes closed; it has nothing to do with demons. Also, since when are demons good at performing music?

Then there’s a narrative from a “regional bride of Satan,” named “Elaine,” who claims that numerous musicians told her that they sold their souls to the Devil, and that she attended “numerous ceremonies” in recording studios to place “Satanic blessings” on the music recorded there. And that the demons appeared on the records, especially in the “backmasked messages.”

I think it’s worth saying that we probably shouldn’t trust a woman who believes she was married to Satan. Even if you get beyond the idea that Satan is a real being who can get married, it’s not like such a marriage would be legally recognized anywhere. At this point, it’s safe to assume that “Elaine” was imagining or hallucinating pretty much everything she claims. The red herring is the “backmasked messages” comment, considering that the metal bands accused of backmasking messages were exonerated in court, after it was found that the “subliminal messages” were imagined, not intentional.

Part 2 of the video series gets into the idea of a “secret society.” “What secret society?” “The Illuminati!” — mostly old, rich guys. Who, as we know, are serious and hardcore metalheads:

I won’t go through the whole thing line-by-line, but needless to say these videos are not worth trusting. I hope parents who come across them while searching for information about their kids’ interests don’t give them too much credence. If anyone has questions about what they’re seeing in these videos, please ask in comments.

Or, if you see something in one of these videos you’d like to debunk, please do. Cite your sources!

A glimpse behind the Satanic curtain

A new study digs deep into end-of-life practices by one of the world’s most misunderstood religions: Satanism. Photo of Church of Satan High Priest Peter H. Gilmore by Flickr user David Shankbone.

Religious groups offer endless opportunities to examine human nature through beliefs and practices. Cimminnee Holt, a graduate student from Concordia University’s Department of Religion, is preparing a lengthy study for her doctor dissertation. Her focus? Satanists and how they live their daily lives.

Holt has released some of that research in a new journal article, “Death and Dying in the Satanic Worldview,” (PDF) which busts plenty of myths about Satanism and its adherents. For starters, she points out that Satanism is “an atheistic yet highly dogmatic New Religious Movement, which incorporates theatrical ritual as part of its practice. Despite its atheistic stance, the Church of Satan (CoS) has a distinct notion of a nonspiritual afterlife.”

Given that most people picture Satanists as people who worship, well, Satan — Holt is already turning the tables. In the course of her paper, she interviews two Church of Satan leaders; check out a summary here. She gets both men to open up about how they might like to be buried, and what they believe about the afterlife. In short, they don’t think there is a Heaven or Hell, but they do think that one’s actions live on after one dies. In other words, your work and legacy is your afterlife.

One leader said:

“The memory of the Reverend JR’s father is an example of Satanic afterlife; it was the father’s life that is important, not his death, and the imprint of that life on his loved ones creates a posthumous legacy.”

Holt’s paper is receiving plenty of public attention from the press, including the above CNN piece and another from the Montreal Gazette, which looks more broadly at the myths and realities of Satanism:

Characteristics of Satan that appeal to followers of the church, Holt says, include the idea that he is an adversary to other religions. As well, she adds that Satanists see merit in so-called sins such a greed and lust.

“Greed allows you to be successful in life,” she says. “If you want nice things, you have to work for them and you have to get money. If you’re a lustful person, and it’s one of the joys of life, then — with consent, certainly always with consent — if you desire, you should be pursuing.”

So, if Satanists don’t actually believe in Satan, what do they believe in? Well, for one, they believe in the empowerment and responsibility of people as individuals, Holt says.

“That means that you are the prime person responsible for actions in your life. You can’t blame the universe, God or devil for things that happen to you.”

Such a scholarly look at real-life Satanists will hopefully bring more real information about this misunderstood religion into the light, both for the general public and for the press. On their own, Satanists have not worked hard to clear up the public’s misconceptions of them. It’s time someone else took up the cause.

For more background on the Church of Satan and its beliefs, check out this interview with Church of Satan High Priest Peter Gilmore.

What have you learned about Satanism that most surprised you? Share your thoughts in comments.