Christian rock frontman Jon Steingard of the group Hawk Nelson, has stated publicly "I No Longer Believe in God."
Jonathan Steingard, the lead singer for Hawk Nelson, renounced his faith last Wednesday in a lengthy Instagram post. The singer said he has questioned God and the Bible for at least a year.
www.dailymail.co.uk
I don't know the group, but they appear to be pretty popular. He was the son of a pastor and grew up in the church his whole life. Who knows what kind of theology he was taught (I noticed his prominent tattoos). Perhaps he's just now facing difficult theological and moral questions for the first time that the comfort of his church life sheltered him from. I can understand having doubts, particularly the well-known "Why does God allow bad things?"
What troubles me is the public affirmative statement of God not existing. It's a positive statement, as if he knows beyond a doubt that God cannot exist. It beckons others to follow him and question their faith. It is selfish. It's narcissistic to publicly proclaim ones doubts or sins. There is a big difference between being agnostic and atheist. It's also incredibly damaging to his fellow band mates--I assume they are all out of a job now.
The guy was in a position to really influence people. I looked through a few lyrics from more famous songs of his, and didn't see anything very deep. Yes, America is theologically weak, and we have many problems. Why not try to fix them? Why not be a leader or a force for good? I'm trying not to judge, but his lyrics don't show a very deep connection to or understanding of God. One of their top charters, Words, states:
Almost like the Eric Cartman method of writing Christian music.
It seems they were really mainstream--they had songs used in Sunday Night Football promos, won numerous awards, topped Christian charts, etc. so now I'm wondering if there was ((someone)) encouraging him to make this public statement.
