Underoath Offer Feelings and Stances on Christianity

What Aaron states is on point.

 

Feel like something like this comes out monthly.

 

As a pastor, I fully endorse everything both dudes are saying here (which is very sad. In my opinion).

As a lover of tattoos, I think those keys on Aaron's throat are just the most awkwardly placed things ever.

 

I can relate to and respect what both of them say in the video. Here's my two cents though:

I was raised Catholic. Even went to a prestigious Catholic high school, where I received a very good education. But around that time I began to question the Church's views on many things (gay marriage, abortion, women's rights) and also experienced a lot of nastiness at the hands of other Christians. It wasn't long before I eventually became agnostic, and then completely atheist shortly after. The hypocrisy of Catholic leadership as well as its followers pushed me away, and made me question whether any of it was true.

Aaron speaks of how we need to not place so much emphasis on organization and "the rules", and more on "the reason". It's clear he still believes in Christ personally, but does not give blind devotion to the Church as a structure of power. Here's my problem with that: when you're raised Christian, everything you know and believe about Jesus Christ comes from the Church. It sounds really moderate and pleasant and compromising to say that you believe in Christ but don't blindly obey the Church authority, but all of that, ALL OF THAT, comes from thousands of years of fallible, man-made authority.

To me, it's tainted. People like Aaron are just in the middle of a journey to eventually no longer believing at all, in my opinion. Once you start down the road of questioning any aspect of faith, I find it opens up your mind in a way that no longer accepts incomplete answers. Most people in my experience will follow that journey to its natural conclusion: atheism.

 

I've known a lot of people who landed where you did, and that's totally understandable. But I've also known just as many who end up landing on a more open minded, accepting faith. Christianity is like an ice cream shop - sure, we're all eating ice cream, but the flavors are so different it can feel like it's not the same thing at all. And so while lots of people leave the ice cream shop (your experience), others just find a new flavor they like better.

I think it's important for public figures like this (and Thrice, especially with Dustin moving away from neo-Calvinism and fundamentalism) to exist. We'll never all agree, but we can all live at peace. And I think that's super important to see modeled, especially since so many Christians DON'T.

 

This is very random, but Spencer looks very happy these days. Seems like there's a lightness that he's experienced after getting honest with his faith experience.

 

I know a lot of people, including myself, are at where Aaron is and resonate with what he is saying. He is talking along the lines of not listening to what your preacher or parents tell you and listen to them because they said it’s in the Bible but to read it yourself and to understand the hermeneutics of the Bible. It’s practically more faith in God and less faith in how others interpret the Bible. It’s keeping your faith but losing your identity in the organized part of religion. It’s how a lot of my friends have turned out after college and exploring their own Christianity with just them, their bible, and God. It’s not questioning God or Christianity but just understanding it more and questioning outside perspectives on it and from my experience and the experience of people around me it actually strengthens faith because a lot of issues people have growing up is with how others interpreted the Bible and placed it on them without them being able to discover it for themselves.

 

Cool little video.

Fat Mike is somewhere wondering if they finally believe in dinosaurs.

 

Didn’t Fat Mike do cocaine with Spencer?

 

No idea.

 

I think that this is irrelevant. I am sure that there are plenty of people who have done cocaine and don’t believe in dinosaurs. Also, people who think they’ve done dinosaurs and don’t believe they’ve done drugs.

 

I wasn’t trying to connect it to them believing in or not believing in dinosaurs. I was just asking a question about Fat Mike and Spencer being that Fat Mike was brought up

 

I was just joking. Also, I have been conditioned to automatically assume that most stories that begin with “Didn’t Fat Mike do [drug or outlandish act] with [additional context]?” to be true without much further thought.

 

I remember seeing a photo of them in a tour bus but it was a long time ago. It’s sad that people tried to make Spencer look like a bad guy. No one wants to be addicted to cocaine.

 

Agree with what they say so much, it's pretty insane.

 

Great video. I respect these dudes even more now.

 

Most educated scholars will agree that the bible is full of holes, edits that can't be traced, and inconsistent scripture in the gospels. The fact that 90% of Sunday school lessons completely ignore this context is wrong. I went to a christian college and studied religion, and ultimately left two years in, without my faith. Leaving the church when you have grown up in it can be really hard and stressful, so more power to these guys for coming out the way they have and shared their experiences and stories. I still get anxious seeing someone I use to know from church, I know there were rumors about me and nothing but judgement. Not one person reached out to me to question my disappearance after spending 13 years of my life there. I hope Spencer and Aaron find happiness and freedom outside the church.

 

I think that a lot of people just had this view of the guys in Underoath being these “perfect” Christians (unironically and ironically, depending on the person), so it shattered their perceptions when one of the members (gasp, the singer!) admitted that he had done drugs altogether. What more people should have seen at the time was that, like us all, he was an imperfect human being more than anything.

 

Back in high school, I used to despise Underøath for the conservative stances they were rumored to have - Something I felt very alone in opposing. I’ve let that resentment Color my perception of them for all these years.

After watching this video, on top of numerous interviews with them over the past year or so, I realize that they are well and truly past those beliefs, if they even held them in the first place.

In light of all that, I can honestly say - I still don’t like them. (Though I guess now it’s mostly down to their music and their neck tattoos...)

 

I’m on the same page. I liked a few songs but I never could get into them because of their Christian background. I was raised in a super Christian household which I resented, and I just couldn’t take these guys serious

 

Don’t get why people ignore history and how the spread of Christianity came to be. Like, the facts are out there and available to all yet most wish to turn a blind eye.

Raised Catholic. Drank the wine and ate the bread for many years. Now an atheist. Religion is a way of life, or a choice of structure to make life easier. That’s fine with me because we are all free to live as we want.

However, in my time on this planet, I’ve seen religion breed nothing but judgement, fear, and division.

 

Has VEVO ever done anything remotely similar to this with another artist cos wtf

 

I don’t think so. They know there’s a huge group of Underoath fans that will click on a video of them speaking about Christianity so they decided to make that video.

 

Yeah I've never been into this band beyond like one album and a few random songs.

This video was pretty cool though. I've never really been religious, and generally the "church community" is a very small thing over here, so it's interesting to hear about it from those who have experienced it.