Satanist by boygenius
Reflection
This song may seem shocking based on its title and opening line, though it really isn’t about Satanism or the other belief systems that the members of boygenius playfully explore. Instead, they are asking the question of what happens when a belief system turns into rigid dogma, and if they could still be friends with each other if one of them decides to follow a belief system the others don’t subscribe to.
A slow pull
A seismic drift
Leaning over the edge of the continent
It's so hard to come back
You hang on
Until it drags
You under
After I graduated college, I started to have some doubts and questions about the version of Christianity I grew up with. Partially because of how tightly I held to a specific doctrine, I ended up abandoning Christianity altogether. My faith at that time was so rigid that just a few doubts led me down a path where I felt like I had no choice but to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I spent a number of years after that not really knowing what I believed. I tried to ignore all of the questions I had, so I mostly avoided religion. I eventually decided to come back to Christianity. Instead of thinking I needed to have all of the answers, I came at it with a lot of questions. This has helped me to explore my faith in a way that I never gave myself permission to do previously. Before I assumed that if I didn’t know the correct answer, I wasn’t a good Christian. I didn’t allow myself to doubt, question, and wrestle with difficult theological ideas.
I think it is important to know what you believe and why, though at the same time, we can hold these beliefs so tightly that “it drags you under”. I see this a lot right now both within the political and religious spheres. This has resulted in a lot of damage to relationships where people can’t seem to figure out how to get along with others who don’t vote for the same person or go to the same type of church. I’m fortunate that this didn’t happen to me, though I know many people who are struggling with broken relationships due to changing political or religious beliefs.
Would you still be friends with someone who said that they are becoming a Satanist, Republican, Atheist or Democrat? Is your faith or political ideology curious enough that when you are presented with contrary information, you are willing to explore it?
Links
Lyrics
Will you be a Satanist with me?
Mortgage off your soul to buy your dream
Vacation home in Florida
The collateral the Devil's repossessin' from me
Tryin' to score some off-brand ecstasy
Will you be an anarchist with me?
Sleep in cars and kill the bourgeoisie
At least until you find out what a fake I am
Spray paint my initials on an ATM
I burn my cash and smash my old TV
Will you be a nihilist with me?
If nothin' matters, man, that's a relief
Solomon had a point when he wrote Ecclesiastes
If nothing can be known, then stupidity is holy
If the void becomes a bore, we'll treat ourselves to some self-belief
(Oh, you know what I should do?)
You wonder
If you can even be seen
From so far away
A slow pull
A seismic drift
Leaning over the edge of the continent
It's so hard to come back
You hang on
Until it drags
You under, you under
You under, you under
Good questions to think about.