Unlikely Sources for Sunday School Lessons: The Banned Music of a Hedonist Uncovers Our Own Sinful Worldview

Unlikely Sources for Sunday School Lessons:
The Banned Music of a Hedonist Uncovers Our Own Sinful Worldview

This review unfortunately has to come with many disclaimers. I’m not usually one for setting out disclaimers ahead of time, but then again, I still am trying to point to things which are godly.

Disclaimers about Caeser Pink & the Imperial Orgy
1. This music/band is not appropriate for most audiences.
2. A review in this space does not imply an endorsement of the band, its shows, or its worldview.
3. The band’s name itself may be offensive to some.
4. I have not included links to the band’s Website which contains some offensive material.
5. When push comes to shove, there are only 2 strong tracks out of the 4 tracks on the EP.

With those disclaimers fully disclosed, what is that you can find as material for Sunday School? Adult Bible Studies may find two tracks from Caeser Pink’s Gospel Hymns for Agnostics and Atheists as being honest reflections of a worldview that goes against God—but a worldview that we may all find working within the sinful hearts of Christians, a worldview that we still tempts us away from God’s truth.

“The Amazing Tenacity of Job & His Brethren” and “In Praise of Shadows” are indie rock goodness with enough Gospel swing to differentiate them from the crowd. Pink sings with abandon, while Angelica and Erin Boyd soulfully back him up.

“Job & His Brethren” tears apart faith in most things of the supernatural sort while exposing the hypocrisy of those in religious circles. It’s a song of hopeless speech, which would provide ample discussion in a Bible study trying to explore why people have trouble believing there’s hope beyond this world. It’s a song of Gospel spirit aimed at undermining our religious pride, which may lead to that much-needed time of confession during a Bible study, pulling aside our righteous masks and showing how often we fail to act as we speak.

There’s no second chances
And no one forgives
People come and people go
They just move on, this much I know

There’s nothin’ you can count on
And nothin’ comes for free
The devil speaks with a child’s tongue
And if you believe in those naïve dreams
His work will be complete

Pills can make you happy
I seen it on TV
So drug me with your video screens
S & M scenes and altered genes
Drug me, drug me, drug me ‘til I believe

We preach what we lack
We curse what we sow
And people are the opposite of what they show

“In Praise of Shadows” creeps out of the darkness of fatalism with its chorus:

Lay down lay down
Don’t you cry
I’m here by your side
Lay down lay down
Rest your head
What is, it shall be

Whereas Christian prayers close with an “amen,” meaning “it shall be so,” those prayers often are requests that God change “what is” to be something different for the future. Here Pink says that there’s no reason to think that anyone can make anything different, and religious hope in asking for God to save us has no effect.

So hosanna hey-sanna what do we do now?
Should we huddle in the corner
Live with fear in our hearts

Rather than calling for God to save (“hosanna”), Pink implies it’d be better to accept what is, dismiss of the fear, and enjoy what the shadows have to offer. A song of such fatalism would be appropriate in the context of an Adult Bible study that seeks to understand a fatalistic view of the world and how that can even creep into our thoughts of the true God when we focus on His sovereignty in exclusion of His mercy which may relent and intervene when we are experiencing evil, punishment, or consequences of this sinful world.

Caeser Pink & the Imperial Orgy pride themselves as a rock ‘n’ roll band, art protest troupe, and religious-like leaders of erotic dance parties. While I appreciate how the group is using art to comment on the hedonism of corporate culture through some of their street protests, Pink is said to lead concertgoers to abandon their inhibitions as if he is a reverend possessed by ancient sex gods and goddesses.

Of course, based on my understanding of God’s will for our lives, I wholeheartedly reject this pantheistic, hedonistic approach. However, it is unclear to me whether these stories and images associated with the group are all true—or whether they are simply the arm of a diverse art protest project, aimed at stirring up controversy in order to prove a point. Either way, they venture too far from righteousness for me to endorse such art.

Yet, Caeser Pink & the Imperial Orgy may have thought they would elicit more condemning, banning type words from me when they knowingly sent their CD to “Pastor Ben Squires” for review. However, “The Amazing Tenacity of Job & His Brethren” and “In Praise of Shadows” condemn us all in our sinfulness; now simply comes the need to hear the forgiveness of Jesus Christ to take away the guilt of our actions in those dark corners of our lives.