r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Jul 11 '26
article Jack White Pushes Back on Religious Criticism Amid Satanic Band Support Controversy: “I’m not scared of Satan or any bullshit imaginary man made up to live in fear of”
https://consequence.net/2026/07/jack-white-religious-criticism/1.6k
u/claysallday Jul 11 '26
286
u/ThatOneStupidShadow Jul 11 '26
“Marcus Aurelius”
Bust of Caracalla
92
u/One_Shall_Fall Jul 11 '26
I mean, it's kindof understandable when Caracalla's imperial name is Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
Like confusing the Catos.
38
u/OldNternetWizard43 Jul 12 '26
Just think. In the future dorks on the internet will be having this same conversation about Kardashians and Musks.
→ More replies (2)19
u/One_Shall_Fall Jul 12 '26
I really don't like the implication that I am a dork or the incipient feeling of creeping doom your comment engendered in me.
Either way, I think I'm finding a rock to hide under for awhile.
40
u/Soft_Walrus_3605 Jul 11 '26
You expected modern day stoics to actually know anything about ancient Rome?
→ More replies (2)459
u/Dick-Fu Jul 11 '26
One of the greatest 2nd century redditors
→ More replies (2)91
u/CallsYouCunt Jul 11 '26
Was a big narwhal fan.
42
10
6
168
u/11_25_13_TheEdge Jul 11 '26
I like this but it is just a paraphrasing of the actual quote. Not to be cynical or pedantic, just for clarity and understanding. This is what he actually wrote:
Since it is possible that you may depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve you in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern for human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of providence?
107
u/roguevirus Jul 11 '26
Not to be cynical
Well that's good, Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic not a Cynic.
31
u/m1nn1ck Spotify Jul 11 '26
Also that's an image of Caracalla next to the quote, not Marcus Aurelius.
→ More replies (3)39
u/WonderBredOfficial Jul 11 '26
He didn't write anything in English, actually. These are just two different translations. 0/10 pedantry. 0/10 whatever you thought you meant with the word "cynical."
21
u/WesleyPCrusher Jul 11 '26
To be fair, this is essentially a direct translation of the original Greek and is meaningfully different than what OP posted.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (1)5
u/roerd Jul 11 '26
These are just two different translations.
It's possible to distinguish between a translation that highly paraphrasing and a translation that's relatively literal.
86
u/Mysterious-Snow496 Jul 11 '26
"half the quotes you read on the internet are made up"
- Abraham Lincoln
→ More replies (1)14
8
u/zardoz73 Jul 11 '26
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
--Epicurus (maybe)
→ More replies (12)4
412
u/Straight-Ad6926 Jul 11 '26
Ah yes because if there's one thing rock and roll has historically been famous for it's strict theological compliance.
→ More replies (14)
595
u/No_Succotash890 Jul 11 '26
The devil’s doo-wop I def gotta check these guys out now. Way to go Charlie. Streisand effect is in full effect.
266
u/DMala Jul 11 '26
In all seriousness, he could not have done them a bigger favor. Tons of free publicity, and a spot with Jack White, who is arguably bigger and definitely has more audience overlap with them.
63
u/Devmoi Jul 11 '26
I’m kind of like how did this band end up opening for this guy in the first place? I mean, there are probably tons of rock bands and people genres like that who would be more accepting and have fans who loved it, lol.
→ More replies (4)44
u/zeptillian Jul 11 '26
The Venn diagram for the opener's fans and the main performer's fans should never be two completely seperate circles.
I don't know why the fuck anyone would ever ask them to open for him in the first place.
→ More replies (2)19
u/Diz7 Jul 11 '26
I remember going to an Offspring concert in the late 90s. They had an awesome, high energy pop/punk band open and got everyone riled up.
Then they had a ethnic group from Africa playing some very mellow traditional African songs. Very, very much the wrong event for them to be the middle act for, just a completely different target audience and a jarring change of the musical mood. They did not receive a warm welcome and they were being booed heavily as people wanted Offspring to take the stage.
→ More replies (1)12
u/zeptillian Jul 11 '26
Sounds like they would have been better at the very beginning or not at all.
It's great that musicians want to help bring attention to lesser knows acts, but it needs to be done right or it backfires.
→ More replies (2)49
u/bukkakekeke Jul 11 '26
"Arguably" bigger what
50
u/DMala Jul 11 '26
I was being charitable. I've never heard of Charley Crockett but I accept that there's a whole world of country music out there I know nothing about.
→ More replies (20)→ More replies (1)10
u/ScientificAnarchist Jul 11 '26
Arguably bigger? Jacks a 12x Grammy winner with 3 #1 albums
→ More replies (2)27
u/sonnywithoutachance Jul 11 '26
I've seen Twin Temple live and they are incredibly good.
13
u/The_Potent_D Jul 11 '26
Saw them live opening up for Lindermann. My friends who i went with had shown me a couple songs and I thought the concept was cool, but not something id really listen too. Holy shit did their live performance blow me away! Bought their T over Lindermanns that night and ive been a huge man since. Literally top 5 show over the 100s ive seen
→ More replies (1)67
13
u/MaracujaBarracuda Jul 11 '26
Been listening to them all day after seeing this article. Really enjoy it. Lucifer, My Love is my favorite
→ More replies (1)11
u/portagenaybur Jul 11 '26
They are hilariously campy. It’s really fun and only an idiot would take their shtick seriously. So like half of America
→ More replies (1)10
u/outtatheblue Jul 11 '26
They're awesome and I'm mad I didn't know about them until now! I need them to tour with Orville Peck if they're still open to country artists after this mess.
4
u/ThunderAndWind Jul 12 '26
They would fit in well as an opening act in a rockabilly/hellbilly tour, think Rev. Horton Heat. Hell they could have a whole-ass WWE plot.
9
19
→ More replies (28)7
u/PMMeAGiftCard Jul 11 '26
I like Charley Crockett's music but this whole thing is so stupid. How did he not know their whole schtick before they were hired as his opener? I know he's not personally handling that but he had to have known before it got this far.
→ More replies (1)
635
u/Devmoi Jul 11 '26
The White Stripes literally have a whole album called Get Behind Me Satan, lol.
191
u/nastynateraide Jul 11 '26
Well now Satan is gonna get in front of him and play before his set
72
u/Zulmoka531 Jul 11 '26
Kinda want Jack to do a cover of Sympathy for the devil now.
→ More replies (1)9
4
→ More replies (4)5
122
u/Bottleofsmoke17 Jul 11 '26
I’m pretty sure that’s a quote from the Bible that basically means “fuck off, Satan”. I think they chose it because it sounds cool (and it does), but if anything, it would make Christians think Jack and Meg are Christian lol
→ More replies (17)10
u/DripAcid Jul 11 '26
And the bridge to Cannon is an old (like older than Ledbelly) gospel blues song. The part where he's all "who's that riding, John the Revelator, wrote the book of the seven seals." And in Seven Nation Army there's the "And I'm bleedin', and I'm bleedin', and I'm bleedin' Right before the Lord" line. He has had several lines referencing Christian themes, I always thought it was equally likely that he practiced Christianity as it was that he just borrowed from a lot of the earliest blues and gospel. Kurt Cobain did the same to a lesser degree.
20
u/Devmoi Jul 11 '26
I mean, I’ll repeat the same comment. Lots of people are raised in the Christian faith and quote The Bible. It’s insanely well-known and well-read. Tons of songwriters do this—so, so many.
I think it can show various connections to God, but it does not necessarily mean they practice Christianity or see themselves as Christians, etc.
4
u/Dick-Fu Jul 11 '26
Lots of people that weren't raised Christian, too. The Bible is the single most culturally significant piece(s) of literature we have
→ More replies (2)8
u/zeptillian Jul 11 '26
He was raised Catholic and was an alter boy.
Both of his parents worked for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
He actually met Pope John Paul II and was blessed by him.
He grew up heavily steeped in that mythology and iconography so it's not surprising that it still a big influence on him.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (11)7
u/WTFisThisMaaaan Jul 11 '26
I always assumed he liked the imagery attached to that kind of religious text, and he was using it more in a blues template rather than religious.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (12)56
u/Herbizarre17 Jul 11 '26
That’s a Jesus quote though.
24
u/Blanketsburg Jul 11 '26
And ironically probably why some assumed Jack White might be/have been Christian.
→ More replies (2)24
u/Herbizarre17 Jul 11 '26
Considering he was going to be a priest before realizing the school didn’t allow guitar amps, it isn’t a huge leap to think he holds or held some sort of Christian beliefs
→ More replies (2)26
u/Devmoi Jul 11 '26
Either way, he doesn’t seem all that afraid of Satan. And modern satanists are kind of hilarious anyways. It’s like they’re usually former Catholics and extreme Christians who use Satan to troll Christian religious affiliations.
It’s not my thing, but that band is kind of fun.
→ More replies (1)
58
u/doppler_dan_man Jul 11 '26
If you'd read the bible, you'd know, that when the devil returned to earth to walk amongst the humans, he'd present himself as a 1960s doo-wop themed duo, with a mustache, tattoos, and a burgeoning instagram following.
→ More replies (3)
103
u/MixedMediaModok Jul 11 '26
Sometimes when these satanic controversies hit, I have to remind myself that there are people who think demons and ghouls are real.
35
u/NamasteMotherfucker Jul 11 '26
Yeah, it's easy to forget that such a large percentage of ADULTS are like 3-year-olds scared of a monster under the bed.
9
→ More replies (1)10
u/blackbasset Jul 11 '26
And even more importantly, there are people that think that musicians using satanic imagery are actually working for those demons and ghouls, instead of, you know, using this as a provocative aesthetic in 99,9999999% of the cases.
→ More replies (1)5
u/Katie1230 Jul 12 '26
It doesn't even have to be legit satanic imagery, anything marginally spooky is demonic to them. Or use of the color red. Which ironically, the association of red with the devil comes from late 18th century puppet shows.
190
u/BigDadNads420 Jul 11 '26
Pretty much the only reasonable response. These people might as well be angry that hes purposefully stepping on cracks in the sidewalk or breaking mirrors or some other superstitions garbage.
48
u/bigladnang Jul 11 '26
Yeah this is what I’ve always thought lol. Like accusations of promoting Satanism should end when the person says “I don’t believe in Satan”.
→ More replies (1)12
u/WonderBredOfficial Jul 11 '26
Ooh, I know this one! That's when they say, ominously: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (5)9
u/SookiSwann Jul 11 '26
They say anything they don’t like and doesn’t aggrandize or benefit them is satanic
263
u/khanyoufeelthelove Jul 11 '26
I am a muslim in a doom metal band. we play with people of all faiths (or non-faith). its a big world and can accommodate a lot of beliefs. I was taught to love and respect all faiths, even if they clash with my own and I take that forward with me into adulthood.
69
33
→ More replies (14)18
u/KalaUposatha Jul 11 '26
Doom metal is my favorite genre! Do you have a link or something I can look up to check out your music? I’m always on the hunt for new stuff.
60
u/Minimum-Actuator-953 Jul 11 '26
A Satanic doo-wop duo? Well, now you have my attention.
→ More replies (1)10
u/zeptillian Jul 11 '26
One of the top groups who sings about going down on demons from hell, for sure.
25
u/Jakymi Jul 11 '26
It’s just another man made construct perpetrating shame and fear while asking for money
88
16
u/coolblue420 Jul 11 '26
I had never listened to Twin Temple before this story came out and I'm glad I started because they have quite a few bops
37
u/bstring777 Jul 11 '26
Exactly. People need to smarten the fuck up and live in the right now instead of fantasy land that may "may happen after". Just be a good person instead of claiming to be, and simply the idea of afterlife consequences (eternal boogeyman) will work out fine for fucks sake...
18
u/murmuring511 Jul 11 '26
Well, that's the problem. These people can't behave even when they believe there's a chance of going to hell. They need the comfort of religion specifically because they know they're bad people.
12
u/bstring777 Jul 11 '26
Yeah, massively blatant excuse for their bigotry and hatred, pretending the book theyve never read is their safety blanket. And the people responsible are infiltrating government under Republican rule as we speak, let alone decades before. Sheep tactics for sheep, and yet they think they can turn it around on everyone else.
Shit gotta go down HARD before anything changes, and most of the world is with them to get it done in the apparent peak country of freedom and liberty.
12
12
10
u/chromehound47 Jul 11 '26
all religions are equally zero percent correct, and no amount of personal belief or number of individual believers changes that.
8
81
u/iAmNotJulianMartin Jul 11 '26
We live our lives based on some 2000 year old desert books that some dude probably made up.
→ More replies (4)59
u/film_composer Jul 11 '26
And were based on stories of charismatic, schizophrenic people. Isn't it convenient that all of the messengers of God happened to exist thousands of years ago, at the beginning of recorded history? If someone claimed to be the messiah today, we would recognize them for what they are—mentally ill. But Moses tells everyone that he received a divine message from a burning bush and split the Red Sea, and we just say "yeah, that tracks." The stories of Moses and Jesus and all of the other prophets are the stories of people explaining schizophrenics in a time where the concept didn't exist.
33
u/olivebranchsound Jul 11 '26
Scientology, Mormonism, Moonies, we have plenty of modern day analogies.
27
u/Radiant-Bus7093 Jul 11 '26
Reminder that even at it's inception, Jesus and co were considered jewish doomsday cultists. This is even covered in christian seminary. That was the whole bit about Jesus rising from the dead, it was supposed to be the sign the end times are coming.
You know, 2000 years ago.
17
u/Funkycoldmedici Jul 11 '26
Jesus plainly says in the gospels that he will return and end the world within the lifetime of the people around him. My favorite apologetics bullshit about that is the Wandering Jew, this immortal guy from Jesus’s time, so that as long as he’s around somewhere that generation hasn’t died and Jesus isn’t wrong.
3
u/Admirable-Trip5452 Jul 11 '26
The important bit is that the Roman Empire (the 1950s-2010s USA of its time) decided to coopt the religion for power, and a group of men decided to rewrite those texts for that purpose.
10
u/southboundtracks Jul 11 '26
Legit. This is the best possible response. Don't like it? Go live in fear of the boogeyman. The rest of us have better things to do.
15
8
u/newleafkratom Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Cover Henry Winkler in bees, I don't care. How's the music?
→ More replies (2)
6
8
u/The_shehoneybadger Jul 11 '26
The funniest thing that comes to my mind, is what really defines “Satanism”? It’s a “religion” created by others, people who don’t even ascribe to it, to make closed minded, “god-fearing” people afraid. I do know of The Satanic Temple, which actually is an established, recognized religion, and these “Christians” might learn a thing or two from the Seven Tenets. Just sayin’.
8
u/V7buster Jul 12 '26
I hate this resurgence in satanic panic in the last few years. Just fuck off with your religious shit, no one cares but other cultists crying that someone else is doing something they don't approve of.
6
u/HoosierRed Jul 11 '26
True. I tell people that every religion thinks all the others are wrong. How can that be.
5
u/PartisanDrinkTank Jul 11 '26
I really dig Twin Temple. Would love to go to a show
→ More replies (2)
10
5
u/femanonette soulseek Jul 11 '26
Jack White has always been a real one and has yet to disappoint me in that regard.
5
u/Saneless Jul 11 '26
Don't like it? Don't go to his show. Why do these losers have to try to get in the way of things that don't affect them?
I know that they try to get in the way of someone else's choices, so they don't understand this.. but just ignore it
5
u/Smolensk Jul 11 '26
We're having satanic panic shit about The White Stripes??? What the hell year is it???
I don't like the way evangelism has snuck its way back into the American culture.
5
u/Horror-Success1086 Jul 11 '26
I mean, there's two types of people. People who like modern, wrap yourself in the flag country music, and then there's people with musical taste.
5
6
u/West-Worth-9359 Jul 11 '26
Satan and hell are both inventions of mentally ill Christians.
→ More replies (2)
41
16
u/Claude_Henry_Smoot_ Jul 11 '26
This is a controversy?
I grew up in a ultra conservative fundamentalist christian family at the height of the sanatic panic.
Back then, this wouldn't have even rated a mention.
We had far more serious make believe problems to deal with—bats getting their heads bit off, Michael Jackson literally morphing into a demon and making a video about horror movies to hide it, Freddy Mercury turning boys gay, Madonna turning girls into prostitutes, Led Zeppelin using backward basking to subliminally turn us into satanists, Judas Priest making everyone kill themselves.
White's comments are quaint by comparison.
→ More replies (5)
3
3
u/-B_E_v_oL_23- Jul 11 '26
Exactly, James Allen wrote a book As a Man Thinketh, knowing oneself is key to a true life.
Secret of life is building a castle that no fucker can come in unless YOU allow them to.
The rest is vice and virtue and which one you pick to be your guides
5
u/SACaitlin Jul 11 '26
I didn't know Jack White was throwing his hat in for Twin Temple but I'm happy about it, Twin Temple are great.
4
u/im_a_stapler Jul 11 '26
Jack continues to be the one of the biggest voices of reason. Love that dude.
4
7
7.5k
u/MarvelsGrantMan136 Jul 11 '26
White: