Christian punk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christian punk is a form of Christian alternative music and a subgenre of punk rock with some degree of Christian lyrical content. Much disagreement persists about the boundaries of the subgenre, and the extent that their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies among bands. For example, the seminal band The Crucified explicitly rejected the classification in their songs.<ref>I'm Not a Christian Punk. The Crucified Page. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.</ref>

Christian punk bands that target a Christian audience explicitly state their beliefs and use overt Christian imagery in their lyrics may be considered a part of the contemporary Christian music (CCM) industry; some observers would consider this music to fall outside the scope of Christian punk.

Given the edginess of punk and some of its sub-genres, such as hardcore punk, many bands have been rejected by the Christian and CCM music industry.^{[citation needed]} Some bands generally avoid specific mention of God or Jesus; likewise some bands may specifically reject the CCM label or express disdain for that niche of the music industry. For example, Ninety Pound Wuss vocalist Jeff Suffering said about the breakup of the band in 2000, "...[N]obody wanted to continue playing in [the] "Christian" music industry." <ref name="SufferingQuote">Ninety Pound Wuss - Raft of Dead Monkeys: Jeff Suffering. SHZine (2000-06). Retrieved on 2006-10-19.</ref>

Related genres are Christian hardcore and metalcore, Christian rock, Christian alternative music and Christian metal.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Christian punk's origins during the wider 1980s punk rock scene are somewhat obscure. As the Jesus Movement gave rise to cultural institutions such as Jesus People USA (JPUSA), these served as an incubator for various Christian subcultures including punk, in part through JPUSA's label Grrr Records. Crashdog is one characteristically punk band that was rooted in JPUSA.<ref name="ChgoReader">Mehr, Bob. "Giving the God Squad a Fair Shake", Chicago Reader. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.</ref>

In the 1980's many bands performed at Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel in Orange County California.^{[citation needed]} A particularly popular group with a cult following was Undercover (band), who proclaimed that "God Rules" with a combination of rockabilly and hardcore elements.^{[citation needed]} Another early influential group were the Altar Boys.

The Crucified and (to a lesser extent) Circle of Dust and Under Midnight were major players in proto Christian Punk.^{[citation needed]}

The Cornerstone Festival provided an important venue for Christian punk bands.

See also: Christian hardcore

[edit] Growth of the scene

During the 1990s the underground scene grew as bands such as Officer Negative and Headnoise greatly influenced many of their peers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Emergence into the mainstream

In the 21st century developments in Christian punk parallels broader punk, with pop punk bands such as Relient K and FM Static very popular with the mainstream crowd, but they started as Christian bands, playing at church groups and youth gatherings.

Other bands with Christian roots that have become very popular within their genres are Zao (metalcore), Norma Jean (newer hardcore), and mewithoutyou (post-hardcore).

There are also secular bands that contain Christian songwriters who, despite the varying beliefs of the individual band members, sometimes write lyrics that have clear Christian themes (e.g. Thrice or Comeback Kid).

Chirstian punk record labels include Tooth & Nail Records and its subsidiaries Solid State Records and BEC Recordings; The Militia Group, which signs groups that straddle the boundary between Christian and secular music; Flicker Records, owned and operated by the members of Audio Adrenaline; Gotee Records, owned and operated by TobyMac of dc Talk; and up-and-comer Mono vs. Stereo.

[edit] Fashion

Fashion is similar to normal punk fashion, but also includes the Christian Ichthys, the cross, a crown of thorns, the JCHC symbol, and similar symbols.^{[citation needed]} Chi Rho is a popular symbol amongst more anarcho-Christian bands, such as The Psalters [1]. However, The Psalters are not considered, to the extent of the Christian Punk genre, to be a true "Christian Punk band."^{[citation needed]} In Europe the most used symbol is the anarchy symbol, modified as it might become an A and Ω.^{[citation needed]} This is the Greek alphabet symbol for "Alpha" & "Omega" (the English equivalent is "A" and "Z".; which in Christian symbology means that God is the omnipresent, such as seen in Revelation 1:8. The symbol is a visual play on the anarchy symbol but with a different meaning and intent.

[edit] Christian and Punk

Acceptance of Christian punk is at times challenged both amongst members of the punk subculture and in some Christian churches There are strong elements of anti-authoritarianism in both, such as challenging the uncritical acceptance of social norms in the church and the world.

One illustration of this is seen in the concept of "anticonformity", which can be seen in Christian punk music, including the song "Anticonformity" by Krystal Meyers. Within this perspective, the Christian's view of anticonformity is different from the punk view. The Christian's reason for anticonformity is found in the Biblical Epistle to the Romans: "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed."

Some may still argue that punk is anti-religious and thus in opposition to Christianity. Their argument is generally that the practice of Christianity (or any established religion) is, by definition, conformity to rules set forth by someone other than the individual for him or herself. One response to this claim is that punk rock encourages people to think for themselves, and that a Christian's choice to obey God's Word is his or her own decision to make, regardless of what others (including punks) would think of it.

Some Christians also do not agree with organized religion. They say that real Christianity is not a religion because it's not supposed to be about rituals and rules. They believe true Christianity's a relationship with Jesus, not a religion. Many Christian punks are against religion like other punks, yet they are strongly in support of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ separate from rules and tradition.

Contrary to popular belief, Christian Punks are not a sub-culture of Marxism or a form of anarchy or communism. This belief was often held by extreme conservatives during the 1970s and 1980s, however, this was only used because of the clash between conservatives and the Jesus Movement. Evangelists such as Jimmy Swaggart used this term in order to associate the Jesus Movement as anti-Christian. The vast majority of Christian Punk bands do not advocate anarchy or communism, including Relient K, MxPx, Dogwood, Hawk Nelson, and Stellar Kart. The Psalters, are one of the few exclusions, as they openly advocate the ideas of Karl Marx.^{[citation needed]} The Psalters are an anarcho-punk band, but some politicised Christian punk bands are liberals or socialists. A good example are the liberal band, Crashdog.

The term "JCHC" is often used by Christian punks, and it means "Jesus Christ Hard Core".

[edit] Record labels

• BEC Recordings
• Bettie Rocket
• Facedown Records
• Flicker Records
• Gotee Records
• Mono Vs Stereo
• Raging Storm Records
• Rescue Records
• Solid State Records
• Squint Entertainment
• Tooth & Nail Records

[edit] See also

• List of Christian punk bands
• Christian rock
• Christian socialism
• Christian communism
• Christian anarchism
• Liberation theology
• Christian feminism
• Religious communism
• Anarchism and religion
• Punk ideology
• Post Christian
• Taqwacore

[edit] External links

• God Save the Teens: Local Kids Seek a New Kind of Church Through Hardcore and Hip-Hop by Lauren Sandler in the Village Voice 30 May - 5 June 2001
• Hardcore/Punk Guide to Christianity - Why Christianity Has No Place in Punk Rock (criticism of Christian punk)
• http://www.christianpunks.com
• http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/punk.htm
• Christian punk-rockers find acceptance on 'straight edge'

[edit] References

<references />

it:Christian punk pt:Punk cristão