FALLACY #24: STATING THAT A BAND IS NS, BUT NOT PROVING IT
For a band to be national-socialist or NS, the band has to have national-socialist lyrical content that promotes national-socialism (this is my opinion, if someone else has their definition, let me hear it). Now, I have seen a lot of people making a prejudice that a band is NS because of the following reasons:
- A BAND IS NS BECAUSE IT HAS PAGAN LYRICAL CONTENT AND IMAGERY
This is a common fallacy. I believe it is common because NS and pagan content do mix often. There are bands that are NS and pagan, but one cannot judge that a band is NS if their lyrical content and imagery are pagan or promote paganism. Just because a band promotes their own pagan culture and the heritage of their own people, it does not mean they are necessarily NS. If that is the case, bands like Amon Amarth and Tyr would be categorized as NS.
- PROMOTING YOUR OWN PEOPLE IS NOT NS
There is a
misconception that if a band has lyrical content that promotes its own people
racially, ethnically and culturally, then the band is surely NS. I might
speculate why people connect these things together, but I can ask some questions.
For instance, if a Mongolian metal band promotes their own racial, ethnic and
cultural background, does that make them a national-socialist band? I would not
agree with a positive answer. Maybe the band is proud of their Mongolian
background, its heritage and the history of their own people.
Just a quick note, national-socialism is a political system which any state
could implement it.
- IF A BAND HAS 1 SONG THAT IS IN SOME WAY CONNECTED TO NATIONAL-SOCIALISM, THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM NECESSARILY NS
Let us say there is a band whose new album just came out. Let us also suppose that they are a glam metal band. They have recorded ten songs and one of them is called “Meine Ehre Heißt Treue”. That is the motto of the SS which translated to English means “My Honor is Loyalty”.
Let us continue with
the argument. Their song is called “Meine Ehre Heißt Treue”, but you have not
yet seen the lyrics so you do not know if it promotes national-socialism. When
you see the lyrics of the song, it is actually about the band´s loyalty and
dedication to the glam metal scene. To conclude, if you have a song that is
inspired by something that is connected to national-socialism, it does not
necessarily mean that it promotes NS or that the band is NS. As I said it
before, artists (in this case, musicians) have the freedom to express
themselves however they want.
FALLACY #25: MARDUK, A FALSE DEITY?
This is another case of Christianity vs other religion, or a fallacy of Christian perspective to understand what other religion is about (god, gods, stories, myths…). This fallacy concerns the Swedish metal band, Marduk. When writing about Marduk, the author stated the following:
“MARDUK is a Swedish black metal band. They took the name from some false Babylonian deity.”
Marduk is the “solar chief” in Babylonian mythology and paganism. Marduk is also probably a metaphor for the Sun itself and the problem is as it follows: In Christianity, there is only one God who is mystical, almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent and righteous. He is the ultimate good and cannot be otherwise, while in paganism you have many Gods that represent something within nature or man itself. There are no mystical Gods or Goddesses in paganism. That is why Christians cannot interpret pagan myths and legends. The interpretation that everything is a battle between the forces of good and evil is the primal disease of the mind.
On the other hand, I
want to address the second problem here. Sure, the band named itself from the
Babylonian solar deity, but what if there is a band from Japan that is also
called Marduk. Picture this. A hardcore Christian has already heard for the Swedish
band Marduk and he thinks that every deity is false except theirs. He suddenly
discovers another band called Marduk and they are from Japan. He then says:
“Ah, another band called after that false Babylonian deity…”
The catch here is that they did not name their band after the Babylonian deity
but after the Tekken character Marduk. They never heard of the solar deity
Marduk or even Babylonian mythology whatsoever.
It would be fun to see that hardcore Christian arguing against them how they
should not have the name Marduk because he is a “false deity when they are just
Tekken fanboys. Two perspectives = Two
worlds colliding
FALLACY #26: THE “ERIC HARRIS AND DYLAN KLEBOLD” CASE
I will include this
one in the text because of the next fatal logical fallacy: If you listen to (Satanic) heavy metal music as a kid, you will become
possessed by Satan and become a killer.
I will now proceed to write a quick story about the Columbine High school shooting.
On the 20th April 1999., in Columbine High School in Colorado, USA, two young
men, Eric Harris, and Dylan Klebold killed 12 other children and 1 teacher from
that school, while 23 children have been wounded. Later, both culprits have
committed suicide. During the investigation, it has been affirmed that both of
them listened to Marilyn Manson´s music and they had a fan-club in the school.
The author also wrote about it and then said:
“From this case, it is clear that the children, directly under the influence of Satan, have done this massive crime. This is actually the most serious warning to all parents to avert their children from listening to this kind of music and these people because it leads them to damnation.”
Now, I want to address the problem from this quote. The author states that the children committed the hideous murders because they listened to Marilyn Manson´s music and because they were possessed by Satan. If listening to heavy metal music would be the sole reason to commit crimes, then every metalhead in the world would be a criminal. If the music would be the sole reason for making crime, then there would be much more murders, church burnings and so forth. We can see that his statement is absolutely not compatible with logic and the reality of this world. The author should rather make a psychological analysis of the case than just concluding that they were possessed by Satan, whatever that means. I do not believe that someone will launch a crusade if they listen to Saxon´s “Crusader”.
FALLACY #27: MONEY COMES FIRST
Apparently, there are opinions that if someone has morbid and grotesque cover art for their album to attract people, they do it just to make money. I agree that morbid and gruesome cover arts certainly will attract most eyes, but the first thing you see is the art. I believe it would be unusual to see a heavy metal album cover with a Hello Kitty style of art. Back to the argument, it is not logically true that they to it just to make money. The artist can make the cover that is corresponding to his music, to send some kind of message, whatever his soul desires to do with it. If everybody were to make music or cover arts just to make money, everything would be soulless, commercialized and mainstream, in my opinion.
FALLACY #28: THE PROBABILITY ARGUMENT
“This means that there are more than 20 Satanic bands in France alone. From this, you can even conclude how many such bands are there in the world”[2]
This is what the
author wrote after writing about Mutiilation, a black metal band from France
and Les Legions Noires, a French underground group of black metal musicians and
bands.
Now, for his argument to be true, he would need to make an analysis of how much
bands there are in the world that actually are Satanic. In his second sentence,
he is implying that there are much more Satanic bands in the world. Without an
analysis, his implication means nothing and it is definitely not trustworthy.
FALLACY #29: OZZY OSBOURNE IS A MADMAN
Ozzy Osbourne had
problems with drugs and alcohol throughout his life and one can definitely say
that he has not been always clean. In my opinion, Ozzy Osbourne is one of a
kind person for whom people tend to think is a madman or a psychopath.
Primarily they think so because of the acts where he bit off the heads of a bat
and a pigeon. If you take this out of context, probably every person will be
like: “What the fuck…???”
Shockingly (to some), this does not necessarily mean that the person is mad. I
will again explain what shock value is.
Shock value is
the potential of an image, text, action, or another form of communication, such
as public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative
emotions.
Black Sabbath is one of the first bands that started using shock value as their
tool of impression of stage. To conclude, these acts do not necessarily make
you a madman.
FALLACY #30: THE DENIAL OF LIFE
This is the last fallacy that I will write about. In his book, the author applied a quote by Saint Paul from “Romans” on metal bands that have anti-Christian imagery and lyrics that are, by his words, the worst insult for God, Virgin Mary, for The Church and for all Christians. I will now present the quote, only shortened:
“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”[3]
The whole text is about how
men and women have gone into doing homosexual acts, how they embraced lie over
the truth about God and how they rather worshiped humans and animals than the
immortal God. This part is not of my interest, but the last one is. “That those
who do such things deserve death.” Notice what I have written at the beginning
of the text. He applied it to the metal bands who are anti-Christian. According
to his quote, we are full of envy, arrogance, deceit, and malice. Hence,
someone that is an anti-Christian or maybe is not in accordance with Christian
teachings, automatically deserves death. They are not much of a talker, are
they?
This is where I get to my second point. Christians praise themselves how they
help the poor, do charity and so on. They want to present themselves how they
accept life and propagate life. It seems to me they deny life and, for those
not in agreement with their religion, the propagation of death.
This is the end for now
with the logical fallacies. At least concerning the Christian perspective. I
hope you enjoy it and find it helpful. Onwards hordes!- The Mage
[1] Žažar, page 75
[2] Žažar, page 80
[3] Romans 1:18-32 NIV
Magic of Liburnia 