I am SO done!!!!

A few years ago, a particular musician got SO mad at me because I called him out on his hatred for Stryper.  I called him out because he spent more time spreading hate and calling it loving Jesus.  He blocked me.

Then, I noticed I was seeing his posts again, so I figured I must be unblocked and sent a friends request on FB.  He accepted and I have just ignored most everything this man says.

So, the ONE time I try to engage in a response to him, the guy goes off on some nutty tangent that I have no clue as to how he made this jump or even why.

The original post was this:

Quote :

"Let Your Love Shine Down", produced by Keith Olsen of The Scorpions, Whitesnake, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, Santana, Journey, Sammy Hagar, Foreigner, Ozzy, & just about every platinum band when music was not replaced by laptops. Thanks a lot Napster & Sean Parker. Maybe one day, it will come back along with "real" arena bands.

To which, I replied:

Quote :

There are still aot of great albums being made using laptops. You just gotta get away from mainstream radio to find it.

I then get this response both on this musician's public page AND in Messenger:

Quote :

Chris..... There are still aot of great albums being made using laptops. You just gotta get away from mainstream radio to find it.

(name removed) Chris, I am not talking about recording on laptops. My point is music has truly disappeared thanks to this suffocating "Digital Age". One million musicians agree with me. The greatest musicians on earth, agree with me. How would you like it, if you had a great job, and someone replaced you with a robot. Now, digital nerds / thieves /& cheapskates have stolen our royalties. Only talented & schooled musicians care. This is why bands today suck. You might like the schlock that is out there.....but millions of people especially in Europe & Asia think today's music is crap. Sorry if you like it. God forbid, you are replaced at your job, by some thief who can have you replaced by a robot. The digital music scene has stolen my royalties as people even try to reproduce our CD's illegally. Ask the members of Metallica. They hate Sean Parker & Napster. You get what you pay for. Get your music for free by stealing it.....and now all the bands who tour are garage bands.

To which, I made the mistake of replying:

Quote :

I only meant that there are still good records being made using personal computers. I never said anything about liking today's music. I would agree that most of today's music is garbage due to programming instead if using real musicians. Illegal downloads do suck out the profitably of making music for a lot of musicians. Our generation dubbed tapes, too, instead of buying. Doesn't make it right, though. So, we agree more than you made it seem. I was only defending recording with a laptop as a means of making music--nithing more. I am a musician myself and this is the tool I will use in the future to make my blues infused rock playing instruments that I built from scratch.

And this is the response:

Quote :

I know you well Chris. You are a great guy, and a Youth pastor. If I remember...you were another Stryper fan. I think we had an argument(that never bothers me), about them. Yes, I think they are the worst band in the history of bands. Rotten musicians, and horrible examples of Christians. I am public about them, because I get thousands of emails about the hypocrisy of that band, and why do they call themselves Christians when they commit adultery, merchandise everything for greed and lust of money, as well as write terrible things in articles & album covers that are blasphemous. I don't like them "ONLY" because they committed a terrible act to my band a LONG time ago. It was totally NON Christian, and proves them to be scoundrels. I don't knock you for anything you like. I am OLD SCHOOL.......and very proud of it. My generation was proud to get on our knees in PUBLIC & proclaim the name of Jesus, while not using the name of Jesus to make money or CON people. Michael Sweet sells tons of "PURE JUNK" with his name on it, from his designer Coffee, to "Hands from Heaven" signed by the band, to old tickets, to little yellow and black toy guitars, to pictures that are autographed, to Disneyland Day with Stryper, to millions & millions of pieces of junk with the bands autograph on it so Mike Sweet can get rich. That band is starving, as 2 members admitted to me of being broke, with no car, no money, and NO FOOD.......but Mike Sweet bought a new Corvette, leaving his dumbash bandmates as broke mules. These are the facts. YES, music sucks today, flat out. Rap gansta' crap, that threatens women & whites, White Trash HEAVY Metal that is nothing but screaming into a microphone, pop crap that is so filled with Pablum that people are dying in elevators from stupidity, or Country & Western music that is as ignorant as humanity can become. I am passionate about my country becoming stupid and speeding toward Sodom & Gomorrah. Chris.....you are a youth pastor....so in the name of Mighty Jesus......truly.....you must see this. Great, we can all record on laptops......great. In the meantime, the music industry has lost Journey, Foreigner, Deep Purple, Robin Trower, Kansas, UFO, Queen, Gary Moore, Bryan Adams, The Allman Brothers, & millions of great artists. If Christians are stuck with Holy Soldier, Stryper, Neon Cross, & Bloodgood.....I do not want any part of that untalented crapolla. I would rather listen to secular bands that have great musicians....and make up my own lyrics to the songs. At least my favorites have melody. God Bless you brother....and I am not mad at you at all.......You are my brother....

I have not responded except by unfollowing this artist.  He is just toxic!  Oh, he makes good music with a message, but he spends more time tearing down others who have far surpassed him in talent or success than he does making new music.  He also blames everyone else for his own band's lack of major breakthrough.  Ok, I get that you had ONE album signed with a major label, but that album was largely unheard of by most metal fans at the time. 



I might buy a new album from him, but I just cannot and will not keep interacting with someone who is constantly slamming other people and then justifying those actions.



I didn't respond because I don't know what to say and honestly don't think it would come to any good at this point.

I don't get being so full of one's self that one can't see how foolish they are.

Do you want to save music?  Then keep creating to the best of your ability.  Crappy Pop, posers and hypocrites have been around for a very long time.  Fight it by creating good music, be yourself and think before speaking.

Man, you'd think that he posted on Firestream or something 

One of my favorite authors right now is Mark Batterson. He once said "The Holy Spirit can't fill you if you're full of yourself."

Samson wrote:

One of my favorite authors right now is Mark Batterson. He once said "The Holy Spirit can't fill you if you're full of yourself."

Also, if this guy is so concerned about our country "speeding towards Sodom and Gomorrah", what's he doing about it other than ranting and venting on a keyboard? Has he spent hours on his face in prayer and fasting, interceding for our country like so many have done not only in my own church, but across the nation as well? Doesn't have to be limited to that. Anyways, his responses seem to imply otherwise. There is so much of what he said that I can counteract with Scripture but I'll just stop there.

I felt the same way, Samson, but I just don't feel that it would be heard.  So, as I said, I just unfollowed him on Facebook.  This way I can check to see if he really has new music out or if he is just ranting and raving.

I almost bought his newest album a few years back, but this anger and vitriol that comes from him has kept me from doing it.  It's almost as if he suffering from some minor mental illness, or else just an over inflated sense of self-righteous anger.  Worst part is I agree with some of what he is saying, I just don't want to make myself so bitter and angry over it.

Staybrite wrote:

I almost bought his newest album a few years back, but this anger and vitriol that comes from him has kept me from doing it.  It's almost as if he suffering from some minor mental illness, or else just an over inflated sense of self-righteous anger.  Worst part is I agree with some of what he is saying, I just don't want to make myself so bitter and angry over it.

 Ah come one . . . . go big or go home 

A lot of what he's saying has been debated here on this forum. It's nothing new. He's clearly felt wronged by some people in the industry and is using you as a vent. Letting go of past wrongs can be easier said than done. He's clearly struggling with that challenge so your first response should be prayer for him.

And your second response should be to not write him off. I just think when dealing with haters the best response is to not react to the hate, but to find some way to assure them or connect with them. It's what we're called to do. Hard thing to achieve, but not impossible. I've never met a social media hater I haven't been able to bring down by leaving my ego at the door and responding with flat emotion.

At least respond to his "God bless you brother"

This is what he sounds like.

Interesting thread. The guy in question just seems so angry. Your responses to him were pretty tame and in the spirit of trying to find common ground, but he seems so filled with anger that he just had to go off. The guy clearly has a thing or two to learn about engaging with fans, or potential fans.

I have to hand it to Jen with her response here. She has done an amazing job flipping haters, especially on our facebook page. There were not many but when they did pop up here and there she was so good at explaining things in a way that made them understand our vision. I actually think that all of them eventually wound up liking our videos and page. Why, because she was respectful of their questions and comments. Respectful of their country, beliefs, whatever it was.

We all love those classis bands that we grew up with. We all wish some of them were still around to churn out more music. But to say ALL new bands and new music sucks is just idiotic. This guy is living in the past and he needs to be more open minded.

Jen5 wrote:

A lot of what he's saying has been debated here on this forum. It's nothing new. He's clearly felt wronged by some people in the industry and is using you as a vent. Letting go of past wrongs can be easier said than done. He's clearly struggling with that challenge so your first response should be prayer for him.

And your second response should be to not write him off. I just think when dealing with haters the best response is to not react to the hate, but to find some way to assure them or connect with them. It's what we're called to do. Hard thing to achieve, but not impossible. I've never met a social media hater I haven't been able to bring down by leaving my ego at the door and responding with flat emotion.

At least respond to his "God bless you brother"

I already know from experience what happens if I respond to any of this, though.  He blocked me for a couple of years.  If I respond, even with flat emotion, I am betting that I get the same treatment this go around.  As I have gotten older, I don't have the patience to deal with this level of drama.  Also, unlike my younger self, engaging someone just to make them mad online doesn't sound so much like fun anymore.  I kind of feel that just stepping back is the best course of action.

alldatndensum wrote:

I already know from experience what happens if I respond to any of this, though.  He blocked me for a couple of years.  If I respond, even with flat emotion, I am betting that I get the same treatment this go around.  As I have gotten older, I don't have the patience to deal with this level of drama.  Also, unlike my younger self, engaging someone just to make them mad online doesn't sound so much like fun anymore.  I kind of feel that just stepping back is the best course of action.

You've unfollowed in response so the dye is already cast, making this discussion just an academic one. My point is that you don't need to engage at their level. You don't even need to make a point (that's what I meant by leave ego out of it). You do need to be forgiving. If you really didn't want to continue talking to him, a simple "God bless you too" would have closed the conversation on a positive note. Then, at some later stage, you could unfollow if you wanted. The two actions needn't be connected.

Sorry. It's not my intention to sound like someone's mother. I'm just particularly passionate about the subject of loving haters. It's a thing

To me, this is more than "loving haters".  It is enabling someone to continue.  Besides, unfollowing someone on Facebook is not the same as unfriending or blocking.  It just removes them from your feed for a while.  They are still connected only they don't know that you've unfollowed them.  It just stops their posts from being seen in your newsfeed for a while.

Even though it was in the public thread, the artist and a loyal follower (minion) are still spewing vitrol for everything about the music these days as if rap is all there is or still slamming Stryper.  So, I asked for their suggestions for fixing or replacing the music system.  The solutions were to basically get people to like real music again and get rid of garage bands who throw Bibles from the stage.

I will most likely be banned/blocked as I told them they have become clanging cymbals or resounding gongs.  I am sure they will pick up the reference. 

Actually, I think I will remove myself before the artist gets the chance.  I am past done.  Jen, they are all yours.

I blocked this person on Facebook, before I left and returned.  You just have to step away from them.

I believe I know who it is you are talking about. Never had any run-ins with him, and for this very reason never interacted with him. But I’ve since killed my Facebook account so I don’t really know what he’s up to anymore.  I can see his point about Stryper, but at the same time he doesn’t need to be so hateful about them.

I am by no means a Stryper fanboy.  Sure, there are things they have done or sang that make me scratch my head.  I also know that, despite rumors of wrongdoings, they keep proclaiming Jesus as Lord.  Also, with the artist I have mentioned, he spends more time bashing them than he does furthering his own musical career.  To me, he blames them for his lack of success and is jealous of theirs.

Do I wish I were as popular as they are?  Yep!  Did I work hard enough to get there or have the same level of talent?  Nope.  I am also under the belief that they are where they are because the Lord lifted them up there to sing about Him to people who wouldn't otherwise hear.  I am down where I am because the Lord needs me down where I am.  I am not bitter about their success at all and hope they can continue to make music that points people to Jesus for many years to come.  Hopefully, my music will take off as well.  But, Stryper is by no means holding me down.  This artist needs to accept that and either poop or get off the pot.

There's a lot of people in the world who wouldn't have gotten into Christian music at all if it weren't for Stryper back in the early days...surely that has to count for something.

The guy also took a swing at Bloodgood, Holy Soldier, and Neon Cross.  With him being so angry at all these bands, methinks he is just jealous over the fact that more people knew who they were instead of his own band.  If we all are truly honest, we are all sinners and do wrong things.  I would say that it would be hard to find a band, even Christian band, that doesn't have some sin.  I am by no means justifying wrong living, but everyone does sin and fall short of the glory of God.  Instead of tearing everyone down, we (pointing a big finger at myself here) should be building people up not tearing them down.  We should also be thankful that, while not all bands tickle our fancy, people are hearing about Jesus through the musical careers or ministries.

With that, I think I have more than exhausted this conversation and will bow out.  I don't want to become what I have talked about with this other artist.  I will pray for him and hope for the best.  I will still support this person musically if they ever get another album out.

Neon Cross??? Really???    I guess so since they made so much money and put out so many albums 

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Neon Cross??? Really???    I guess so since they made so much money and put out so many albums 

Yes, go back to my original post and read the final rant.  It will be towards the end of text block after he mentions all the great secular bands.  You will see it.

It’s all public anyway. Just name him...Joshua Perahia. And yes, he is toxic.

Yep.  I had the misfortune of meeting him online too.  So much rage, bitterness, and envy in his heart...repentance would cure much of that.