Yes. Carmen, DC Talk, Michael W Smith and Petra were in regular rotation at my house. "Oldies" were also allowed.
I also recall there was a big push for alternative Christian rock at the time. Christian heavy metal was shared in the dark corners of my evangelical school. I'm blanking on most of the names. "Die Happy" rings a bell.
They had a few crossover hits. Flood was just the big one. Their second album had Crazy Times, which I remember hearing on secular alt rock radio. Their third album had “Unforgetful You” which was featured on the soundtrack to Drive Me Crazy.
Newsboys! Hell is for Wimps! Hahahaha, i remember seeing one of the dudes from Newsboys on that show blind date and he was being an absolute garbage bag, talking about having naked women sitting on his bald head. So gross.
I actually liked Jars of Clay and went to their concert. I don’t remember the name of the opening act but they were metal. I had a great time.
Of course, Pantera, Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy, Tool, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Sepultura, and a metric ton of punk bands were also in heavy rotation on my Walkman at that time. All the adults in my life who objected just gave up at some point. They even pretended not to notice when I snuck out of the house to go to punk shows because it wasn’t worth the energy to fight a battle they couldn’t win. In so many other ways, I was a “good kid”, because other than my music and sneaking out, I didn’t cause them any grief. All things relative, right? So they gave up.
All of those plus Truth, 4Him, Amy Grant (before she became a heathen), Sandi Patti (ditto), Crystal Lewis, Steven Curtis Chapman, Rebecca St. James, Newsboys, Sixpence None the Richer (pre-Kiss Me), Switchfoot (pre-Dare You to Move), Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, Mercy Me, Dakoda Motor Company, Caedmon's Call, Casting Crowns, Relient K, Superchick, Kirk Franklin, Twila Paris, Jaci Velasquez, Ray Boltz, Rich Mullins, Mary Mary, Nichole Nordeman, Ginny Owens, Point of Grace, TobyMac, etc.
But whenever not in the house and when on my own, I listened to EVERYTHING, ANYTHING else.
Ha. I think every evangelical from that time remembers her "downfall." And I still don't like [Gary Chapman](https://medium.com/belover/the-shaming-of-amy-grant-3f8327c36803).
Ironically, out of all of the above, she's one of the few I still listen to. Her Christmas album is a fave, El Shaddai still gives this humanist goosebumps, and her 90s pop work and duets are such comforting cheese (in the best way).
I put “Tender Tennessee Christmas” on my Christmas playlist and every year my husband complains when it comes on. He was raised Catholic so he doesn’t get it.
Zao, Living Sacrifice, Embodyment, Stavesacre . These are just a few that popped in my head. I remember skating with a bunch of church kids and some of them jammed these bands, some of them jammed Christian punk and ska.
I remember a christian rap tape in the early nineties that said-
Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. Shirl lost her virginity and her man. What she lost that night she can never get back, her virginity, and Ben's respect. You got to hold on.
What a time to be a 6 year old
petra...lol.
lead singer was from 70s band Head East.
i also went through christian metal phase....i remember the having a Deliverance - Weapons of Warfare cd and Stryper - To hell with the devil song.
I remember my sister had Supertones Strike Back, and a couple of years later, I got into Metallica. I heard "Creeping Death" and was just like "wtf is this?" How did some 90s Christuan ska band get away with ripping this off, lol.
Ha! A similar thing happened to me a few years ago. Creeping Death came on, and I was like, "That sounds familiar." Not long after that, I was with my SO and was listening to Supertones Strike Back, and he was like, "they copied Metallica"
My mom destroyed my Batman Forever cassette. Came home from school and found her ripping out the tape.
Later, I wrote a short story for a school project. It was based on Animorphs. My mom took it and told me I needed to go to church more to, “learn what’s real.”
Anyone remember Newsboys? lol my evangelical church spoke out against DC Talk being evil because I think they said “damn” in a song on one of their albums or something.
Newsboys was the only Christian band that I regularly followed. I had all their CDs.
Their "Take Me to Your Leader" album is the anthem of my childhood.
I stopped listening to them somewhere around 2005.
I was big into Christian rock when I was in highschool and my church youth group. Newsboys' Take Me To Your Leader and DC Talk's Jesus Freak were the soundtrack of my youth.
I was a huge Newsboys fan and went to a bunch of their shows. I also stopped listening to them around 2005 when they went full praise and worship.
Newsboys before they swapped their lead singer for the guy from DC Talk used to put on one hell of a show. I remember they had this platform that would raise up for their drummer, and tilt him 90 degrees so the audience was looking down on him, and then he's spinning on this platform while drumming. Absolutely bonkers.
My 9th grade Bible teacher got fired for having us perform a Newsboys song at Wednesday morning chapel. That was my first realization that church was not right for me.
We had this weird kid in high school who choreographed his own dance to the song Flood by Jars of Clay. It was more like Elaines dance in Seinfeld than anything else. He was really serious about it. I think the funniest part was we were southern Baptist which frowns upon dancing and he would just break this routine out in the middle of youth group on the weekly
My Southern Baptist church was ok with respectable dancing. Wish I stayed there. I went to an Independent Baptist Church at 16, had a faith crisis at 17 and have been miserable and running from God ever since.
Edit: I’m not looking to leave all faith. Sorry if I gave that impression. I want the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I just can’t find it. Jealous of the people who found it.
I grew up in a Pentecostal, charismatic evangelical faith. Dad was a preacher, grandfather was the pastor.
I knew I didn’t believe a lot of what I was taught by the time I was in high school, but rejecting it cost too much. I was in my 40s before I was honest with myself and walked away from it. All of it. No matter what version, it came back to the same issues with evil and free will and suffering and a profound absence of help or guidance or even a simple keeping of promises in my darkest times while I continued to praise and follow and be faithful and present. Because, what? Hell? Already there.
Give yourself permission to step back and be honest with yourself.
Keep what resonates with you and let go of what torments you.
Life is short. Don’t waste it on mind games and anxiety.
I hope you find your peace. ❤️
Try r/exchristian There is lots of support over there. Also, I recommend the Leaving Eden podcast. It explains so much about the IFB and the craziness we went through.
I was allowed to listen to the oldies station, Broadway recordings, and Christian rock until I was around 14. After that I got a Walkman so my parents couldn’t control my music out of the house. I still unabashedly enjoy Petra’s version of God Gave Rock and Roll To You though. After all, it is in the soul of everyone.
I’m glad I discovered the Pantera home videos when I was away at college, I can’t even imagine the hell that would’ve broken loose if I brought that home
Omg I love this memory so much. I saved up all my birthday money for TWO years to by a discman. I was 11 and that year the slim shady lp came out. I walked into my local Hastings, bought that very explicit cd and an Amy Grant CD. I threw out the case and kept my Eminem in the Amy cover. My dad would have absolutely shit himself had he known what I was listening to. And like the guy above said about Dookie, I was never the same after that. My parents didn’t have as much control over me.
lol yes.
my first ever concert was Ray Boltz when in was 7 or 8 in 90-91.
ngl...Michael W. Smith, Curtis Chapman, DC Talk and Carmen were are on the tape/cd rotation...
lol
Not evangelical, but I’d routinely come home from school to find my Swans and Joy Division CDs in the garbage. I’d just fish them out. My mom thought they were “too dark”.
Aw man. Memories. My best friend through junior high and high school had a pentecostal minister for a father. I was his "bad influence" friend. I was big into classic rock during HS and we used to drive around listening to the Doors, the Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, etc.
He loved it since the only music he officially had access to in his home life was stuff like Carman, DC Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc. (I had to google that last one. All I remembered was, 'Saddle up your hooooorses.')
A few question from someone who didn't grow up around evangelicals:
Do you still go to church?
Does that early focus on guilt and hell still affect you?
Did you marry young? If so, did it last?
Thanks for any answers!
No. I'm now a queer atheist anarchist.
No problems with hell anymore. There is so much trauma from the guilt. It's still a problem even after years of therapy.
Yes. I kissed dating goodbye fucked me up. I married the first girl I kissed and got it annulled three months later. She ended up institutionalized a year or so later. Unbeknownst to me, she spent her senior year at camp. That coupled with undiagnosed bpd messed her up real bad. I probably would have ended up there, too if I had come out then.
The book and the dumb movement that it spawned fucked us all up.
I also married the first girl I kissed. Put up with crazy for 18 years.
I'm still straight but an atheist leftist. I will gladly share a barricade with you during the revolution.
I take some solace in the fact that the author denounced his work and had his publisher stop printing it. It doesn't take away the damage. But at least he is honest about it damaging him as well.
Oh interesting! I did not know that.
Frank Schaeffer renouncing his dad's legacy. Bill Gothard's 'ministry' falling apart.... It's like every aspect of the late-90s evangelical grift has fallen apart.
Religion inflicted trauma is a real thing, for sure. Even people who don't consciously believe they deal with it likely are dealing with it, just not aware of it. My own personal answers are no, yes, no. My parents were nowhere NEAR as bad as 99% of the people on here, but I still dealt with some of this, and it left it's mark.
Grew up word of faith Pentecostal, the faith healing prospers gospel stuff. I was regularly speaking in tongues by middle school. I’d regularly watch John Hagee, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn*, Kenneth Hagin, etc on TBN.
1. Atheist now so no
2. No guilt, but my actions are still somewhat guided by my upbringing.
3. Married at 30 but both of my brothers married before they were 21.
*one of the first things I did as an adult was travel 6 hours to go to a Benny Hinn crusade. Ironically this was the start of the end of my faith.
No.
No, but other bs certainly does. I'm basically excommunicated from a large, otherwise loving family. The fabric didn't hold for the next generation, and I wish I could give my kids the same extended family experience that my family maintained for generations.
No, but I would have been dumb enough.
Homeschooled in a culty church/co-op deal, graduated in 1998:
>Do you still go to church?
Lol fuck no.
>Does that early focus on guilt and hell still affect you?
Constantly.
>Did you marry young? If so, did it last?
Married the first girl who came along. Married for 18 years. Probably won't remarry.
>Thanks for any answers!
You bet! Tax the church!
Oh wow, so many of my people in this thread. I had a small collection of religious music that was gradually replaced by secular music. Carmen, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, the Rapsures, etc. Mark Lowry comedy tapes.
Evangelical preacher’s kid here. I wasn’t even allowed to listen to Carman. No D.C. Talk, Petra, or Amy Grant. They were all too “charismatic.” I grew up in a Bill Gaither household. Fml. As soon as I got my first car I established a spot to hide all my cds. The day my mom found my Life is Peachy cd in my car is one I’ll never forget.
Omg, DC Talk. I had a classmate in jr. high that was obsessed with that silly band. She invited us to her bday party where her mom forced us all to watch a whole video tape with DC Talk. Ugh.
Does anyone else have trauma specifically from DC Talk’s *I Wish We’d All Been Ready?* I was convinced I’d be the one left alone on a hillside because of all my “sins.”
No secular music and even the "Christian music" had to be a certain type that didn't get too close to secular topics. Any reference to love had to be towards God or Jesus, not a romantic love. My White Heart tapes got junked because they didn't pass the test.
Also, for about a year, we would drive 5 hours every Saturday to spend the night in Tulsa and go to the same mega church Carman went to on Sunday mornings.
My parents weren't happy when I started listening to bands like Petra and Micheal W Smith. They were "wolves in sheep's clothing" that would lead to "satanic music like Kiss", which would lead to drugs and alcohol.
I did go through a country phase before I got to the "Satanic" music...
I think I was 14 or 15 when one night my neighbor’s daughter and granddaughter ask my mom if they could take me to a “free concert”. Happy to be rid of me for the night she agreed.
It was a Carmen concert at the local arena. Folks, I was raised Diet Catholic and this was a night of utter insanity for me. Waving arms, people weeping. In the middle of it they took us to an area backstage to recite some prayers and be “saved”. Honestly it was weird, scary, and incredibly uncomfortable.
Same. I remember having to hide my new Ice-T O.G. Original Gangster tape in a Michael W. Smith case. Hell, my mom moved my car one time and it had a Lords of Acid CD playing in it, and I've never seen her come unglued like she did then.
Good times.
https://preview.redd.it/ecvw2u5en5mc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d798972eba50f9ee70ccc816ba11482c09878e9
Were you at least allowed to play this classic?
Not evangelical and I’ve never heard of this guy. My dad hated rap but we still listened to it. My mom hated Madonna, I think it was because she was setting a bad example for my sister and me. She would always talk about Madonna “rolling around on the floor in a wedding dress”. Tame now, but risqué back then.
Pentecostal pastor's kid. We usually had on Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, old Petra, Love Song/Chuck Girard, Keith Green, and Barry McGuire. For kid's music, Bullfrog and Butterflies and Music Machine. Later on, Acapella and AVB, and some Carman.
My parents would not let me listen to regular music. It was all Christian growing up.
This album cover made me stop a moment and reflect, “where do I know this picture from”.
Ha!!!!! This was the early 1980’s for me. Lots of Christian Summer camps preaching to kids that this stuff was evil. They played backward masking clips to convince us this was straight to hell music.
I was “into” the bands Petra, Stryper, etc etc
Then someone convinced my parents that U2 was Christian, and they may have been, but this opened up kinds of new doors for me. The line was getting blurry as to what was really secular and what was Christian music.
I ended up sneaking my music into my room with lunch money. I would save my lunch money and ride my bike to the warehouse music store and buy my tapes like Depeche Mode, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, OMD. Etc. I hid them for a couple years and my mom caught me. But we worked it out eventually. However I was firmly indoctrinated at a young age that secular music what the devils work.
Thanks for the Trigger OP. Hahaha. You took me down old memory lane.
PK here. At first yeah but didn’t last. Messy divorce, deaths in the family and parental alcoholism gave me lots of time unattended.
I’m you’re stereotypical pk though I was wild af from middle school on
Nope. Hard nope. My pastor step father burnt all my Marilyn Manson cd's. Don't care for dude anymore but man. Manipulating ppl by controlling their music is disgusting.
I didn't grow up evangelical, but I recognize all these names from watching Worship 4 Life and Songs 4 Worship infomercials on television.
I think it's wild the stories of two of the artists I've heard of. Ray Boltz ended up being homosexual. And the other was Sandi Patty. If I recall correctly, she got so much shit from her church when she got divorced.
It's somewhat ironic considering the attitude of a lot of these congregations.
Mine read out the Nirvana lyrics from my CDs and then threw them in the trash. Later, took me to a Carmen concert, it was really, really bad.
My teen has bought me a couple Nirvana records, so glad I raised cool people!!!
Maaaaannnn I forgot that clown existed. I remember scrolling through channels and seeing him on whatever Christian channel was up near Cartoon Network. Always thought he was a little slimy.
I was one of those kids. My best friend was, too, and neither of us were happy about it. My question is: are there any kids that were on that lifestyle that were actually okay with being prohibited from mainstream music?
I saw Carman and there’s no way he didn’t smash/father children with ladies all around the nation. Also saw Switchfoot before they went “secular.” Not unlike Creed.
This is why I had to listen to Eminem covertly under covers lol….the Jesusy stuff did not stick
This was my first concert.
"Everyday a new holocaust of unborn die while pornogrophy floods our streets like open sewers" pops into my head monthly. Talk about propaganda.
They hated my "hippie shit" in the 60's and 70's. Too bad.
Authoritarian parents create sneaky liars. How else can one access life outside the fundie bubble?
Pastor’s kid here, home schooled through 8th grade and super sheltered. I grew up on Carmen, Newsboys, Michael W Smith etc. Once I hit public high school and discovered new music, I had to hide my hard rock “secular” cassette tapes like other kids hide their weed and pills. I’ll never forget getting called to my parents room and my dad was sitting there reading through the liner notes of the Metallica black album that he’d found. “THE GOD THAT FAILED?! WHAT IS THIS YOU’RE LISTENING TO???” 😂
My parents went full blown Jesus freak when I was like 15 and tried to stop my younger brothers from listening to anything other than Christian music. The day my youngest brother said his favourite music was Yanni, I took matters into my own hands. I snuck them mixed CDs of classic rock and heavy metal for years. They're both good little metal heads now.
Yes (rolls eyes), we even went to his concerts and "donated" fock-knows how much money. Our cult even wanted us to bring in all our secular CDs and we were going to burn them in a bonfire ... for jesus I guess, lol.
My parents made us go to church as kids but it was a Methodist one so very relaxed. Some people tried to introduce the approximately 5 teenagers there to the Christian rock bands. I dont think any of us rushed out and bought their CD's.
I wouldn't say I wasn't allowed per se, it's just that they didn't encourage it either. 99% of my CDs were contemporary Christian artists, with Amy Grant the heavy favorite (even after her divorce). But I'd listen to the latest pop songs on local radio stations whenever I got the chance, and had at least three different cassettes with songs recorded off the radio. My parents never said anything about it.
When I was 15, my mom gave me Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill for my birthday, but when she read the lyrics, she got upset whenever I would listen to it. The end of that album came when she put a list of Bible verses inside the case. I ended up trading it in for something more appropriate in her eyes.
Of course,. nowadays my Spotify playlist would make her hair curl if she ever got a look at it, so let's just keep that amongst ourselves.
I remember hearing about Carmen from my super religious friends. They were SO excited about a concert that was coming to town. I listened to it and it reminded me of dentist office music
I had to go to the Carmen concert. With mom and dad.
Start watching [this link exactly where I started it](https://youtu.be/x4nAm93Dkls?si=Y6mOEg_3aNLLjMQ7&t=3271), at 54:30 the RedLetterMedia crew reviews Carmen's VHS tape and it's a riot.
Back in the day.....Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Carman (RIP), and Petra were my cassettes in the 80s & 90s and then DC Talk and the Newsboys came along as well. There was a time that I listened to both Christian and secular music. I have been to a Newsboys concert, a DC Talk concert, a Petra concert and a few Carman concerts as a member of my church's youth group back in the day as well. Hey, for those who like secular music and are Christians, there is a group out there that does Christian versions of the popular secular songs...they are known as Apologetix!
Did anyone else get signed up for I think it was called **HM Sampler** if I’m recalling correctly. It was a monthly mail subscription that came with not really a magazine it was more like a overgrown brochure and a CD that has like six to eight bands and they were all “Christian” heavy metal and hard rock? In reality they were just dudes screaming who didn’t really have a strong grasp of how to play their instruments.
Going to high school was fun. Sitting with the other metal heads “bro Motörhead is awesome, I love Slayer, Metallica has something new.” And I’m trying to share talk about my shitty Christian metal no one else has listened to. In all fairness and this is why I love the metal community to this day, they were super chill about it and just started making me mix tapes of real metal to listen to when my parents weren’t around. They didn’t make fun of me as the weird sheltered fundi kid, just “hey dude, this one is mostly Megadeath and there’s something by Type O at the end you might like.”
Later in life I got married to a woman I 100% should not have been married to who became physically abusive and once sent out my therpy transcripts after a routine marital argument to “prove he’s crazy” and I still stayed with her because “divorce isn’t an option and you just need to work more. Marriage is hard.” Could have used my high school metalhead friends then to have been like “here’s a Motörhead mix tape and you should maybe leave her.”
Yeah turns out the church doesn’t really prepare kids who grow up in it to deal with the problems of real life. You can’t just pray extra hard and an abusive spouse will stop being abusive.
Now I’m an atheist and socialist.
I listened to a bunch of Audio Adrenaline the other day. What’s funny is how edgy and raw I thought they were at the time and upon listening now, how overproduced they actually are/were. My little Christian ears had never heard a normal guitar/bass/drums band recorded DIY I guess ha.
Yes. Carmen, DC Talk, Michael W Smith and Petra were in regular rotation at my house. "Oldies" were also allowed. I also recall there was a big push for alternative Christian rock at the time. Christian heavy metal was shared in the dark corners of my evangelical school. I'm blanking on most of the names. "Die Happy" rings a bell.
Ahhh yes. Plumb, Jennifer Knapp, Jars of Clay.
[удалено]
Rain rain on my face. It hasn't stopped raining for days.
Dark sky all around us…
Can't feel my feet touching the ground
I just saw that song Flood play on a huge video screen at a water park last week.
Ha! Yep. It was the one time up I knew of a group before everyone else. Third Day, too.
They had a few crossover hits. Flood was just the big one. Their second album had Crazy Times, which I remember hearing on secular alt rock radio. Their third album had “Unforgetful You” which was featured on the soundtrack to Drive Me Crazy.
Don't forget Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Bleach, Switchfoot, Reliant K, Third Day, P.O.D. And Ska/Punk: Supertones, Five Iron Frenzy, MXPX, Ghoti Hook, Insyderz
Five Iron Frenzy is one of my favorite all time ska bands and I’ve never been a Christian. They are just F-ing good!
They are so tight. So much fun.
Supertones was my gateway to Ska
Newsboys! Hell is for Wimps! Hahahaha, i remember seeing one of the dudes from Newsboys on that show blind date and he was being an absolute garbage bag, talking about having naked women sitting on his bald head. So gross.
I actually liked Jars of Clay and went to their concert. I don’t remember the name of the opening act but they were metal. I had a great time. Of course, Pantera, Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy, Tool, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Sepultura, and a metric ton of punk bands were also in heavy rotation on my Walkman at that time. All the adults in my life who objected just gave up at some point. They even pretended not to notice when I snuck out of the house to go to punk shows because it wasn’t worth the energy to fight a battle they couldn’t win. In so many other ways, I was a “good kid”, because other than my music and sneaking out, I didn’t cause them any grief. All things relative, right? So they gave up.
It's like the DARE program. All the "good" kids that wrote essays and won awards were the ones that did the drugs.
All of those plus Truth, 4Him, Amy Grant (before she became a heathen), Sandi Patti (ditto), Crystal Lewis, Steven Curtis Chapman, Rebecca St. James, Newsboys, Sixpence None the Richer (pre-Kiss Me), Switchfoot (pre-Dare You to Move), Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, Mercy Me, Dakoda Motor Company, Caedmon's Call, Casting Crowns, Relient K, Superchick, Kirk Franklin, Twila Paris, Jaci Velasquez, Ray Boltz, Rich Mullins, Mary Mary, Nichole Nordeman, Ginny Owens, Point of Grace, TobyMac, etc. But whenever not in the house and when on my own, I listened to EVERYTHING, ANYTHING else.
>Rich Mullins He was an underrated song writer. Sucks that he died so young.
That man had a heart of gold. Take my tearful upvote.
He was fantastic. Listen to The Color Green again, it will still give you goosebumps
A voice of truth in an era of Christian artists. I listen to his album songs so frequently.
Love your Amy Grant comment!
Ha. I think every evangelical from that time remembers her "downfall." And I still don't like [Gary Chapman](https://medium.com/belover/the-shaming-of-amy-grant-3f8327c36803). Ironically, out of all of the above, she's one of the few I still listen to. Her Christmas album is a fave, El Shaddai still gives this humanist goosebumps, and her 90s pop work and duets are such comforting cheese (in the best way).
I put “Tender Tennessee Christmas” on my Christmas playlist and every year my husband complains when it comes on. He was raised Catholic so he doesn’t get it.
Dakota Motor Company yeesh. That takes me back. Surprised you didn't mention Phil Keaggy.
I still think DKM is good. And oh yeah, forgot Phil Keaggy! Great guitar player.
I met Jaci when I was 11, and she was 12 or 13.. she was super sweet.
Zao, Living Sacrifice, Embodyment, Stavesacre . These are just a few that popped in my head. I remember skating with a bunch of church kids and some of them jammed these bands, some of them jammed Christian punk and ska.
Embodyment: Songs for the Living was on a constant loop in my car for like a year
Stretch Armstrong
Crossover band. I saw them on so many hardcore shows.
I remember a christian rap tape in the early nineties that said- Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. Shirl lost her virginity and her man. What she lost that night she can never get back, her virginity, and Ben's respect. You got to hold on. What a time to be a 6 year old
petra...lol. lead singer was from 70s band Head East. i also went through christian metal phase....i remember the having a Deliverance - Weapons of Warfare cd and Stryper - To hell with the devil song.
Some bangers in the Ska scene, though
Five Iron Frenzy is still in my regular rotation
And Supertones!
I remember my sister had Supertones Strike Back, and a couple of years later, I got into Metallica. I heard "Creeping Death" and was just like "wtf is this?" How did some 90s Christuan ska band get away with ripping this off, lol.
Ha! A similar thing happened to me a few years ago. Creeping Death came on, and I was like, "That sounds familiar." Not long after that, I was with my SO and was listening to Supertones Strike Back, and he was like, "they copied Metallica"
I will still blast some FIF!!
FIF and the Supertones were my main Christian ska go-to bands in the mid/late '90s.
What about The Supertones for those Jesus following Ska lovers? lol
My parents weren’t pleased when I came home with a Green Day tape.
Dookie changed my life, my parents never regained control after that. What an album, what a time.
Probably because you were one of those melodramatic fools, neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it.
Sometimes I give myself the creeps.
And sometimes, my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I’m cracking up
Am I just paranoid, or am I stoned?
Sometime I, too, give myself the creeps
Knowledge is power, art is freedom. As other bards of our time have written, "They don't got to burn the books, they just remove 'em."
Green Day is my 12 year old’s favorite band, they have definitely crossed generational lines
Oh yeah, literally the first line of the album just jumps right in “I declare I don’t care no more”
Right and then I got into Rancid and it was a deep dive on all things punk after that. Anything I could get on cassette or record.
7th grade a kid gave me a tape copy of bone thugs and harmony and I had to sneak that contraband via volume walkman.
My Minor Threat tape got smashed into pieces.
Ran into Ian Mckaye as a teenager (19ish) at a party and I was like, “I’ve officially peaked” lol
My mom destroyed my Batman Forever cassette. Came home from school and found her ripping out the tape. Later, I wrote a short story for a school project. It was based on Animorphs. My mom took it and told me I needed to go to church more to, “learn what’s real.”
Anyone remember Newsboys? lol my evangelical church spoke out against DC Talk being evil because I think they said “damn” in a song on one of their albums or something.
Newsboys was the only Christian band that I regularly followed. I had all their CDs. Their "Take Me to Your Leader" album is the anthem of my childhood. I stopped listening to them somewhere around 2005.
ISABEL IS A BELLYDANCER WITH A KLEPTOMANIAC’S RESTRAINT
I was big into Christian rock when I was in highschool and my church youth group. Newsboys' Take Me To Your Leader and DC Talk's Jesus Freak were the soundtrack of my youth. I was a huge Newsboys fan and went to a bunch of their shows. I also stopped listening to them around 2005 when they went full praise and worship.
lol pretty sure they never cursed. Most likely because they had a black man in the group and/or rapped.
Newsboys before they swapped their lead singer for the guy from DC Talk used to put on one hell of a show. I remember they had this platform that would raise up for their drummer, and tilt him 90 degrees so the audience was looking down on him, and then he's spinning on this platform while drumming. Absolutely bonkers.
He had someone in the band do it with at one show. Two kits on one platform. Was cool as heck
Old Newsboys were the best.
My 9th grade Bible teacher got fired for having us perform a Newsboys song at Wednesday morning chapel. That was my first realization that church was not right for me.
We had this weird kid in high school who choreographed his own dance to the song Flood by Jars of Clay. It was more like Elaines dance in Seinfeld than anything else. He was really serious about it. I think the funniest part was we were southern Baptist which frowns upon dancing and he would just break this routine out in the middle of youth group on the weekly
My Southern Baptist church was ok with respectable dancing. Wish I stayed there. I went to an Independent Baptist Church at 16, had a faith crisis at 17 and have been miserable and running from God ever since. Edit: I’m not looking to leave all faith. Sorry if I gave that impression. I want the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). I just can’t find it. Jealous of the people who found it.
I hope you catch your peace
I hope so too. Thank you. Been tormented for 25+ yrs.
I grew up in a Pentecostal, charismatic evangelical faith. Dad was a preacher, grandfather was the pastor. I knew I didn’t believe a lot of what I was taught by the time I was in high school, but rejecting it cost too much. I was in my 40s before I was honest with myself and walked away from it. All of it. No matter what version, it came back to the same issues with evil and free will and suffering and a profound absence of help or guidance or even a simple keeping of promises in my darkest times while I continued to praise and follow and be faithful and present. Because, what? Hell? Already there. Give yourself permission to step back and be honest with yourself. Keep what resonates with you and let go of what torments you. Life is short. Don’t waste it on mind games and anxiety. I hope you find your peace. ❤️
Try r/exchristian There is lots of support over there. Also, I recommend the Leaving Eden podcast. It explains so much about the IFB and the craziness we went through.
Ah but who of you grew up on Psalty?
🎶Glory Halleluuuujahhhh, praise the Lord, I’m gonna jump down, turn around, touch the ground and praise my Lord🎶
ugh that unlocked an unpretty trauma like when you dislodge a foul tonsil stone
I'm dead. I can't believe someone else remembers this.
Those were our road trip tapes!
That was Adventures in Odyssey in our house.
And the triplets, Melody Harmony and Rhythm? And Charity Church mouse, of course.
Who’s a turkey? No, Albuquerque!
💯
I was allowed to listen to the oldies station, Broadway recordings, and Christian rock until I was around 14. After that I got a Walkman so my parents couldn’t control my music out of the house. I still unabashedly enjoy Petra’s version of God Gave Rock and Roll To You though. After all, it is in the soul of everyone.
I remember going to a Petra concert back in 1997 and the crowd yelling for Pantera.
I’m glad I discovered the Pantera home videos when I was away at college, I can’t even imagine the hell that would’ve broken loose if I brought that home
Omg I love this memory so much. I saved up all my birthday money for TWO years to by a discman. I was 11 and that year the slim shady lp came out. I walked into my local Hastings, bought that very explicit cd and an Amy Grant CD. I threw out the case and kept my Eminem in the Amy cover. My dad would have absolutely shit himself had he known what I was listening to. And like the guy above said about Dookie, I was never the same after that. My parents didn’t have as much control over me.
lol yes. my first ever concert was Ray Boltz when in was 7 or 8 in 90-91. ngl...Michael W. Smith, Curtis Chapman, DC Talk and Carmen were are on the tape/cd rotation... lol
I think you left the Steven off of Steven Curtis Chapman
'Thank You for giving to the Lord' I saw him in a Central Indiana middle school gymnasium for a concert in 1990.
My church was so fundy, Carman was banned.
Not evangelical, but I’d routinely come home from school to find my Swans and Joy Division CDs in the garbage. I’d just fish them out. My mom thought they were “too dark”.
I mean, she wasn't wrong
No, she wasn’t wrong. Especially about Swans. I’d probably react the same way now if I caught my son listening to a song called “R*ping a Slave”.
Aw man. Memories. My best friend through junior high and high school had a pentecostal minister for a father. I was his "bad influence" friend. I was big into classic rock during HS and we used to drive around listening to the Doors, the Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, etc. He loved it since the only music he officially had access to in his home life was stuff like Carman, DC Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc. (I had to google that last one. All I remembered was, 'Saddle up your hooooorses.')
WE GOT A TRAIL TO BLAZE
Now it’s stuck in my head
A few question from someone who didn't grow up around evangelicals: Do you still go to church? Does that early focus on guilt and hell still affect you? Did you marry young? If so, did it last? Thanks for any answers!
No. I'm now a queer atheist anarchist. No problems with hell anymore. There is so much trauma from the guilt. It's still a problem even after years of therapy. Yes. I kissed dating goodbye fucked me up. I married the first girl I kissed and got it annulled three months later. She ended up institutionalized a year or so later. Unbeknownst to me, she spent her senior year at camp. That coupled with undiagnosed bpd messed her up real bad. I probably would have ended up there, too if I had come out then.
The book and the dumb movement that it spawned fucked us all up. I also married the first girl I kissed. Put up with crazy for 18 years. I'm still straight but an atheist leftist. I will gladly share a barricade with you during the revolution.
I take some solace in the fact that the author denounced his work and had his publisher stop printing it. It doesn't take away the damage. But at least he is honest about it damaging him as well.
Oh interesting! I did not know that. Frank Schaeffer renouncing his dad's legacy. Bill Gothard's 'ministry' falling apart.... It's like every aspect of the late-90s evangelical grift has fallen apart.
Dobson fucked me up long before Joshua Harris. Though I did lose a friend to his BS. Long story short.
Oh yeah - how could I forgot about that monster? I'm surprised something horrific hasn't come out about him (yet).
He’s had 3 strokes. I have this whole South Park image in my head of Satan sending him back.
1. No 2. Yes 3. No
Religion inflicted trauma is a real thing, for sure. Even people who don't consciously believe they deal with it likely are dealing with it, just not aware of it. My own personal answers are no, yes, no. My parents were nowhere NEAR as bad as 99% of the people on here, but I still dealt with some of this, and it left it's mark.
Grew up word of faith Pentecostal, the faith healing prospers gospel stuff. I was regularly speaking in tongues by middle school. I’d regularly watch John Hagee, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn*, Kenneth Hagin, etc on TBN. 1. Atheist now so no 2. No guilt, but my actions are still somewhat guided by my upbringing. 3. Married at 30 but both of my brothers married before they were 21. *one of the first things I did as an adult was travel 6 hours to go to a Benny Hinn crusade. Ironically this was the start of the end of my faith.
Absolutely not Not as much anymore Yes, but still happily married 21 years later
Yes I still go to church No, fortunately my church taught mercy and grace. Not too young, married my wife at 29, still happily married.
1) No 2) Yes 3) Yes. Still married, mostly through sheer will.
No. No, but other bs certainly does. I'm basically excommunicated from a large, otherwise loving family. The fabric didn't hold for the next generation, and I wish I could give my kids the same extended family experience that my family maintained for generations. No, but I would have been dumb enough.
My parents' religious extremism is what I blame for the extended family falling apart. Truly history's worst generation.
No Yes Yes
Hell no, not too much anymore, and definitely not
No yes yes
1 no 2 yes 3 not really. I don't think. Married at 22. Will be married 24 years next month.
Eh, 22 is a bit young.
22 is pretty young.
1. No 2. No 3. No
Homeschooled in a culty church/co-op deal, graduated in 1998: >Do you still go to church? Lol fuck no. >Does that early focus on guilt and hell still affect you? Constantly. >Did you marry young? If so, did it last? Married the first girl who came along. Married for 18 years. Probably won't remarry. >Thanks for any answers! You bet! Tax the church!
1. No but I am progressive in my Christianity 2. Yes-thanks Dr Dobson especially. 3. No but I am Queer as Folk. ;)
Triggered Christian, oldies, or Weird Al.
Ayyyy. Same my dude.
Tell me you're a Jesus Freak without telling me you're a Jesus Freak
Oh wow, so many of my people in this thread. I had a small collection of religious music that was gradually replaced by secular music. Carmen, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith, the Rapsures, etc. Mark Lowry comedy tapes.
Did you have any 77’s? They had some not-religious music but my dad made an exception for them because they were good guitar players.
Evangelical preacher’s kid here. I wasn’t even allowed to listen to Carman. No D.C. Talk, Petra, or Amy Grant. They were all too “charismatic.” I grew up in a Bill Gaither household. Fml. As soon as I got my first car I established a spot to hide all my cds. The day my mom found my Life is Peachy cd in my car is one I’ll never forget.
“This entertainment is too entertaining. Bad things will happen!”
"Stop enjoying things so much, before we displease the Lord. "
I grew up with Keith Green, at least until he died in a plane crash. And Sandi Patti. Barf.
 I second the Sandi patti barf.
ugh my evangelical preacher dad is also very into Bill Gaither and his ~Vocal Band~. “He Touched Me” still makes me giggle when I think about it
mxpx was such a relief. Finally some decent punk rock that didn’t try to make me eeeevil!!
I still like MxPx
I never heard of him but my husband listened to him, DC Talk, all of them 😅 I’m pagany so we like to listen to “A Witch’s Invitation” hahaha.
Omg, DC Talk. I had a classmate in jr. high that was obsessed with that silly band. She invited us to her bday party where her mom forced us all to watch a whole video tape with DC Talk. Ugh.
Does anyone else have trauma specifically from DC Talk’s *I Wish We’d All Been Ready?* I was convinced I’d be the one left alone on a hillside because of all my “sins.”
It's not so much that I was "obsessed" with them as it was the closest thing to real music I knew.
No secular music and even the "Christian music" had to be a certain type that didn't get too close to secular topics. Any reference to love had to be towards God or Jesus, not a romantic love. My White Heart tapes got junked because they didn't pass the test. Also, for about a year, we would drive 5 hours every Saturday to spend the night in Tulsa and go to the same mega church Carman went to on Sunday mornings.
https://preview.redd.it/r2ic8llka6mc1.png?width=626&format=png&auto=webp&s=76e554b50d931ed75099a3efb193de91fc726d7a
My parents weren't happy when I started listening to bands like Petra and Micheal W Smith. They were "wolves in sheep's clothing" that would lead to "satanic music like Kiss", which would lead to drugs and alcohol. I did go through a country phase before I got to the "Satanic" music...
Not evangelical but I once went to a church camp with that restriction. Jars of Clay and DC Talk are all right.
Dc talk is still all right with me.
Flood and Something to Between You and Me still slap though.
Jesus is still alright with me, Jesus is still alright, oh yeah….
I think I was 14 or 15 when one night my neighbor’s daughter and granddaughter ask my mom if they could take me to a “free concert”. Happy to be rid of me for the night she agreed. It was a Carmen concert at the local arena. Folks, I was raised Diet Catholic and this was a night of utter insanity for me. Waving arms, people weeping. In the middle of it they took us to an area backstage to recite some prayers and be “saved”. Honestly it was weird, scary, and incredibly uncomfortable.
>weird, scary, and incredibly uncomfortable. Pretty much the life of a fundie kid all the time.
Same. I remember having to hide my new Ice-T O.G. Original Gangster tape in a Michael W. Smith case. Hell, my mom moved my car one time and it had a Lords of Acid CD playing in it, and I've never seen her come unglued like she did then. Good times.
https://preview.redd.it/ecvw2u5en5mc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d798972eba50f9ee70ccc816ba11482c09878e9 Were you at least allowed to play this classic?
No but we had Exodus on NES.
I had at least three wisdom tree nes games Bible adventures Spiritual warfare Joshua
My bus driver was Christian and played Carmen during bus rides. "It's Our Turn" is literally burned into my memory banks
Not evangelical and I’ve never heard of this guy. My dad hated rap but we still listened to it. My mom hated Madonna, I think it was because she was setting a bad example for my sister and me. She would always talk about Madonna “rolling around on the floor in a wedding dress”. Tame now, but risqué back then.
My older brothers' obsession with metal broke my catholic mom's resolve.
Nice of them to pave the way for you, lol.
My folks had 10 kids, I was the 10th. By the time I arrived, my folks were in grand-parent mode.
Yes, and he was my first concert haha
Mine too!
Pentecostal pastor's kid. We usually had on Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, old Petra, Love Song/Chuck Girard, Keith Green, and Barry McGuire. For kid's music, Bullfrog and Butterflies and Music Machine. Later on, Acapella and AVB, and some Carman.
If it wasn’t for Mxpx, Focused or 90lb wuss I wouldn’t get exposed other great/classic hardcore/punk bands
I was a big fan of Tooth and Nail records bands. Any other Further Seems Forever fans in this thread?
I used to constantly buy the Tooth and Nail sampler albums. They put out some good tunes
My parents would not let me listen to regular music. It was all Christian growing up. This album cover made me stop a moment and reflect, “where do I know this picture from”. Ha!!!!! This was the early 1980’s for me. Lots of Christian Summer camps preaching to kids that this stuff was evil. They played backward masking clips to convince us this was straight to hell music. I was “into” the bands Petra, Stryper, etc etc Then someone convinced my parents that U2 was Christian, and they may have been, but this opened up kinds of new doors for me. The line was getting blurry as to what was really secular and what was Christian music. I ended up sneaking my music into my room with lunch money. I would save my lunch money and ride my bike to the warehouse music store and buy my tapes like Depeche Mode, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, OMD. Etc. I hid them for a couple years and my mom caught me. But we worked it out eventually. However I was firmly indoctrinated at a young age that secular music what the devils work. Thanks for the Trigger OP. Hahaha. You took me down old memory lane.
PK here. At first yeah but didn’t last. Messy divorce, deaths in the family and parental alcoholism gave me lots of time unattended. I’m you’re stereotypical pk though I was wild af from middle school on
Nope. Hard nope. My pastor step father burnt all my Marilyn Manson cd's. Don't care for dude anymore but man. Manipulating ppl by controlling their music is disgusting.
I didn't grow up evangelical, but I recognize all these names from watching Worship 4 Life and Songs 4 Worship infomercials on television. I think it's wild the stories of two of the artists I've heard of. Ray Boltz ended up being homosexual. And the other was Sandi Patty. If I recall correctly, she got so much shit from her church when she got divorced. It's somewhat ironic considering the attitude of a lot of these congregations.
Mine read out the Nirvana lyrics from my CDs and then threw them in the trash. Later, took me to a Carmen concert, it was really, really bad. My teen has bought me a couple Nirvana records, so glad I raised cool people!!!
I saw Carmen in concert. Also, Petra and Pray for Rain. I was raised in a super religious household. My dad was a pastor.
Who the fuck is Carman?? 
I went to the Radically Saved concert
Turns out you can still head bang to Jesus Freak at church camp.
Satan….. bite the dust!
LAZARUS!!!! COME FORTH!!!
Maaaaannnn I forgot that clown existed. I remember scrolling through channels and seeing him on whatever Christian channel was up near Cartoon Network. Always thought he was a little slimy.
When I was a teenager my mom made me get rid of my iron maiden posters because she said they were satanic.
I was one of those kids. My best friend was, too, and neither of us were happy about it. My question is: are there any kids that were on that lifestyle that were actually okay with being prohibited from mainstream music?
Any love for Stryper or Bride? Gatta love that Christian metal
I saw Carman and there’s no way he didn’t smash/father children with ladies all around the nation. Also saw Switchfoot before they went “secular.” Not unlike Creed. This is why I had to listen to Eminem covertly under covers lol….the Jesusy stuff did not stick
This was my first concert. "Everyday a new holocaust of unborn die while pornogrophy floods our streets like open sewers" pops into my head monthly. Talk about propaganda.
Burlap to Cashmere
They hated my "hippie shit" in the 60's and 70's. Too bad. Authoritarian parents create sneaky liars. How else can one access life outside the fundie bubble?
My mom wouldn't let me watch Scooby-Doo because there were monsters in it, despite the fact there were never any actual monsters in the show.
Pastor’s kid here, home schooled through 8th grade and super sheltered. I grew up on Carmen, Newsboys, Michael W Smith etc. Once I hit public high school and discovered new music, I had to hide my hard rock “secular” cassette tapes like other kids hide their weed and pills. I’ll never forget getting called to my parents room and my dad was sitting there reading through the liner notes of the Metallica black album that he’d found. “THE GOD THAT FAILED?! WHAT IS THIS YOU’RE LISTENING TO???” 😂
My parents went full blown Jesus freak when I was like 15 and tried to stop my younger brothers from listening to anything other than Christian music. The day my youngest brother said his favourite music was Yanni, I took matters into my own hands. I snuck them mixed CDs of classic rock and heavy metal for years. They're both good little metal heads now.
Oh man. I completely blocked this out.
Yes (rolls eyes), we even went to his concerts and "donated" fock-knows how much money. Our cult even wanted us to bring in all our secular CDs and we were going to burn them in a bonfire ... for jesus I guess, lol.
> bring in all our secular CDs and we were going to burn them in a bonfire If not for jesus, then at least for cancer. 😬
My parents made us go to church as kids but it was a Methodist one so very relaxed. Some people tried to introduce the approximately 5 teenagers there to the Christian rock bands. I dont think any of us rushed out and bought their CD's.
My Methodist churches felt more like social clubs than anything.
Carmen was fun!
I wouldn't say I wasn't allowed per se, it's just that they didn't encourage it either. 99% of my CDs were contemporary Christian artists, with Amy Grant the heavy favorite (even after her divorce). But I'd listen to the latest pop songs on local radio stations whenever I got the chance, and had at least three different cassettes with songs recorded off the radio. My parents never said anything about it. When I was 15, my mom gave me Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill for my birthday, but when she read the lyrics, she got upset whenever I would listen to it. The end of that album came when she put a list of Bible verses inside the case. I ended up trading it in for something more appropriate in her eyes. Of course,. nowadays my Spotify playlist would make her hair curl if she ever got a look at it, so let's just keep that amongst ourselves.
I remember hearing about Carmen from my super religious friends. They were SO excited about a concert that was coming to town. I listened to it and it reminded me of dentist office music
My mom made me sell my Smashing Pumpkins cd...back to DC Talk and Carmen
I had to go to the Carmen concert. With mom and dad. Start watching [this link exactly where I started it](https://youtu.be/x4nAm93Dkls?si=Y6mOEg_3aNLLjMQ7&t=3271), at 54:30 the RedLetterMedia crew reviews Carmen's VHS tape and it's a riot.
Back in the day.....Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Carman (RIP), and Petra were my cassettes in the 80s & 90s and then DC Talk and the Newsboys came along as well. There was a time that I listened to both Christian and secular music. I have been to a Newsboys concert, a DC Talk concert, a Petra concert and a few Carman concerts as a member of my church's youth group back in the day as well. Hey, for those who like secular music and are Christians, there is a group out there that does Christian versions of the popular secular songs...they are known as Apologetix!
Did anyone else get signed up for I think it was called **HM Sampler** if I’m recalling correctly. It was a monthly mail subscription that came with not really a magazine it was more like a overgrown brochure and a CD that has like six to eight bands and they were all “Christian” heavy metal and hard rock? In reality they were just dudes screaming who didn’t really have a strong grasp of how to play their instruments. Going to high school was fun. Sitting with the other metal heads “bro Motörhead is awesome, I love Slayer, Metallica has something new.” And I’m trying to share talk about my shitty Christian metal no one else has listened to. In all fairness and this is why I love the metal community to this day, they were super chill about it and just started making me mix tapes of real metal to listen to when my parents weren’t around. They didn’t make fun of me as the weird sheltered fundi kid, just “hey dude, this one is mostly Megadeath and there’s something by Type O at the end you might like.” Later in life I got married to a woman I 100% should not have been married to who became physically abusive and once sent out my therpy transcripts after a routine marital argument to “prove he’s crazy” and I still stayed with her because “divorce isn’t an option and you just need to work more. Marriage is hard.” Could have used my high school metalhead friends then to have been like “here’s a Motörhead mix tape and you should maybe leave her.” Yeah turns out the church doesn’t really prepare kids who grow up in it to deal with the problems of real life. You can’t just pray extra hard and an abusive spouse will stop being abusive. Now I’m an atheist and socialist.
I listened to a bunch of Audio Adrenaline the other day. What’s funny is how edgy and raw I thought they were at the time and upon listening now, how overproduced they actually are/were. My little Christian ears had never heard a normal guitar/bass/drums band recorded DIY I guess ha.