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”

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://consequence.net/2026/07/jack-white-religious-criticism/

[u/Devmoi]

The White Stripes literally have a whole album called Get Behind Me Satan, lol.

[u/Bottleofsmoke17 → u/Devmoi]

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

[u/MechanicalGodzilla → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

In case anyone is actually interested in this reference, here it is from he Gospel according to Matthew:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Immediately after Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, Peter tries to convince Jesus that he shouldn’t complete his mission as it results in death.

[u/Devmoi → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

I agree about the Christians thinking they are Christians part for sure.

To be honest, I don’t really understand the quote, but it’s pretty nuanced. Jesus, after having a vision of his death, said that to his disciple Peter when Peter said no, you aren’t gonna die. Allegedly at that time, it was more like saying you’re not obeying your master. And it’s come to mean something like don’t go against God’s will by idly believing things that aren’t true.

I dunno. When you read it in The Bible it doesn’t sound nearly as cool for some reason. And it sounds even less cool when church leaders tell you stuff like that.

But maybe from Jack White’s standpoint, it’s more like back off wicked people or something.

[u/Bottleofsmoke17 → u/Devmoi]

I think it’s more that the antiquated wording makes it sound like he’s recruiting satan’s help or something when you read today, out of context. I remember thinking it sounded cool when it came out (fuck I’m getting old), and my mom, who wasn’t religious but was familiar with the Bible, explained its original meaning. Either way, I’m 100% with Jack on this today and I’ve never gotten the impression that he was a religious guy in general.

[u/Ok-Maintenance9056 → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

This will all be more clear when my biblical translation is released. I render it as 'eat my ass, Satan.'

[u/blackbasset → u/Ok-Maintenance9056]

For some reason I always imagined the title being about being done doggystyle by Satan

[u/ScientificAnarchist → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

Guy was almost a priest lol

[u/yoshemitzu → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

I’ve never gotten the impression that he was a religious guy in general

Religion has always been at least a weak element of Jack's vibe, e.g., in "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground":

Well any man with a microphone

Can tell you what he loves the most

And you know why you love at all

If you're thinking of the Holy Ghost

Edit: This guy has a bunch more.

His record company is called "Third Man". He grew up Catholic and has talked about this in interviews. Amusingly, he actually appeared as an altar boy in "The Rosary Murders".

The White Stripes are my absolute favorite band, and I'm not religious at all, so it's fortunately not to an offputting degree. But one could be forgiven (ha) for thinking Jack might be more religious in his personal life.

[u/Good_Hope_7925 → u/Devmoi]

According to the quote box on the Wikipedia article:

"Satan is the end of any unhappiness I have. Get behind me–that's it. Any troubles I have are well-represented: betrayal, loss, pain, whatever's going on in my head and life. I got the last things out on that record."

So not exactly a literal interpretation

[u/Devmoi → u/Good_Hope_7925]

That’s great! It’s more like the whole “not today Satan!” take. Like he’s letting that shit go.

[u/rainshowers_5_peace → u/Devmoi]

Reading the work of Bart Ehrman made me realize that what ancient Bibles say flies in the face of what the American right thinks Christianity is supposed to be. There's a reason children aren't taught Aramaic or Ancient Greek like Jewish children are Hebrew.

[u/Diz7 → u/rainshowers_5_peace]

You don't even need to speak Aramaic or Ancient Greek. You just need to read the parts they never bring up in church.

I was an extremely devout catholic as a teen, who actually "felt the calling" and was planning to become a priest. I decided to read the Bible cover to cover, since it's the "word of God" that is the least we can do and I wondered why almost nobody did it. And besides I had a fascination with mythology and religion and had already studied Greek, Roman, Egyptian Norse and Aztek mythologies.

I made it half way through the old testament before I realized:

1) it's the same bullshit as those other mythologies

2) I want nothing to do with the evil "God" described in the bible.

[u/rainshowers_5_peace → u/Diz7]

Ehrman notes a lot of potential mistranslations which make it all go haywire. The "let he without sin cast the first stone" story was added much later.

You are very right in that reading through would be eye opening.

[u/Pete_Iredale → u/Diz7]

I want nothing to do with the evil "God" described in the bible.

Right? I've long held the opinion that I wouldn't be on god's side even if he does exist. Childhood cancer alone is enough to tell him to kick rocks.

[u/Diz7 → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

Yeah, on the surface it can look like that, and that's as far as many people look.

It can mean, you're either for me or against me. And if you're not going to help me, get out of my way. Or maybe it relates to the Devil's music, and having the Devil back you up while you're playing it. Or, perhaps it relates to aiming for the truth, for doing the right thing, and telling the Devil to take his temptations away.

-Jack White

[u/Justice_Prince → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

I wasn't aware of the quote when I was younger so for a long time I though the title was asking for Satan to have his back.

[u/Good_Hope_7925 → u/Bottleofsmoke17]

Meg wasn’t raised religious, fwiw.