Why do I like country?

Just the other day, my friend was surprised and distressed to learn that I like country music. I know it isn't perfect, but here are a few samples of why it's so cool. These are a few of my favorites.

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Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go
Life’s a Dance, John Michael Montgomery

I'm for the low man on the totem pole
And I'm for the underdog God bless his soul
And I'm for the guys still pulling third shift
And the single mom raisin' her kids
I'm for the preachers who stay on their knees
And I'm for the sinner who finally believes
And I'm for the farmer with dirt on his hands
And the soldiers who fight for this land

Chorus:

And I'm for the Bible and I'm for the flag
And I'm for the working man, me and ol' Hag
I'm just one of many
Who can't get no respect
Politically uncorrect

I guess my opinion is all out of style
Aw, but don't get me started cause I can get riled
And I'll make a fight for the forefathers plan
And the world already knows where I stand

Nothing wrong with the Bible, nothing wrong with the flag
Nothing wrong with the working man me & ol' Hag
We're just some of many who can't get no respect
Politically uncorrect
Politically uncorrect

Politically Uncorrect, Merle Haggard and Gretchen Wilson

You think you're one of millions but you're one in a million to me
When you wonder if you matter, baby look into my eyes
And tell me, can't you see you're everything to me

That's alright, that's ok
When you don't feel important honey
All I've gotta say is
To the world
You may be just another girl
But to me,
Baby, you are the world
The World, Brad Paisley

Gonna kick off my shoes
And run in bare feet
Where the grass and the dirt and the gravel all meet
Goin' back to the well gonna visit old friends
And feed my soul where the blacktop ends
Where the Blacktop Ends, Keith Urban

My old friend, this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses
Was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
Cause the love and the laughter
Will live long after
All of the sadness and the tears
We'll meet again, my old friend
My Old Friend, Tim McGraw

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance, I hope you dance.
I Hope You Dance, Leeann Womack

Life ain't always beautiful
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Life can knock you down, it can break your heart

Life ain't always beautiful
You think you're on your way
And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day

But the struggle makes you stronger
And the changes make you wise
And happiness has it's own way of takin' it sweet time
Life Ain’t Always Beautiful, Gary Allan

I wanna cry like the rain
Cry like the rain
Shine like the sun on a beautiful mornin'
Sing to the heavens like a church bell ringin'
Fight with the devil and go down swingin'
Fly like a bird
Roll like a stone
Love like I aint afraid to be alone
Take everything that this world has to give
I wanna live
I Wanna Live, Josh Gracin

And I need you to know
You can fall into me
That my arms are wide open and will always be
Right here waiting
Staying strong
Come and fall into me....
Fall Into Me, Emerson Drive

P.O.D. article

Found this just today while I was searching another Christian band...I had to write something on it! It's pure...well...I'm not sure it's pure anything...it's muddy stuff. But read it for yourself. The italicized words are the original article's and the plain are mine.

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Psalm 68:4-Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

(Please notice that this is King James Version. No “per-versions” here. I don't want this verse to look like a part of the article. The article carefully ignored this verse....)

“The Rasta god is “Jah”. P.O.D.’s album, “The Fundamental Elements of Southtown” does not contain the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, but the Rasta god “Jah” occurs 10 times. Spin magazine says of P.O.D., “…the band [has] structured their lives around a spiritual belief system that cross-fades Christianity, Rastarianism and Judaism.” (Spin, October 2001, p. 88) Guitar World writes, “A lot of the spirituality you guys project seems more akin to Rasta than mainstream Christianity”. (Guitar World, Nov. 2001, p. 104)”

As demonstrated by the topmost verse, Psalm 68:4, it is perfectly biblical to call God by an unusual name, if it is ordered in the Bible that you sing praises to that name. The Rasta connotation is purely coincidental. Do you think there’s a reason the magazine Spin is named Spin? Everyone knows that half-truths and extraneous words are known as “spin”. The words of the magazine were probably an editorial, a fact that the anti-P.O.D. site did not take into account. You’ll notice that the excerpt from Guitar World is phrased exactly as a question. The site that is using those words probably took them out of context, completely ignoring the band member’s response to the question, which may have completely disproved the question’s validity.

“…the only issue that P.O.D. viciously attacks is Bible Believing Christians! Sonny of P.O.D. says, “We don’t fit in with the conservative values of Christian America.” He goes on to say, “I don’t even like saying I’m a Christian sometimes because it leaves such a bad taste in people’s mouths.” (Spin Mag, October 2001, p. 88) Marcos of P.O.D. blatantly says, “To tell the truth, though, I don’t even like the term Christian...” (GuitarWorld, No. 37, p.28)"

The site offers no proof of P.O.D’s touring with the likes of Howard Stern and does not detail what “filthy rockers” they tour with. Also, it takes the words of the rockers out of context when it states that they “don’t like the term Christian”. The site does not take into account that such “Christians” as Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn are casting an extremely unfortunate light on Christians today. Perhaps it is better not to be associated with the likes of those two men. I see no attacks on Bible-believing Christians. I do not read the words “We hate the Bible and Christianity” anywhere. In fact, I don’t even see that implication. I would have to say that if they are a hard-rock/reggae band, then they most certainly do not fit in with the regular conservative Christian values. They told the truth. And there's a problem with that? Who says that conservative Christianity is the only way to go? I was of the opinion that Christianity is Christianity if it believes that Jesus Christ is the crucified, buried, and risen again Son of God and that all that's required for salvation is belief in Him. The first thing you look for in any religion is who is Jesus to them? To the band (not a religion) P.O.D., He is the risen Son of God, to be revered and worshipped.

P.O.D.'s albums are gushing with occult symbols. One of P.O.D.'s logos is the 'triqueta'. The triqueta is Latin for "three cornered" and signifies the power of three. The triqueta is very popular in witchcraft, representing the threefold nature of the Witchcraft Goddess as virgin, mother and crone. As Christianity was polluted with many pagan symbols, the triqueta was falsely adopted by some Christians as symbolizing the Trinity.

The site does not detail that the “triqueta,” as they call it, could hypothetically be used to symbolize the Trinity. Nor does it detail what would be wrong with that-why it would be "false" to do that. Their argument that it’s an occult sign does not stand because the band is composed of professing Christians who want to use this sign in a Christian way, doing away with its former image.
They even state that the triqueta is “…commonly used in Catholic liturgical iconography.” So P.O.D’s use of this symbol (I don’t believe it is a triqueta when not used in an occult setting or for an occultic purpose) is not new.

OVERALL: You may notice that the article I’m using quotes only two sources: Guitar World and Spin magazines, neither of which have been proven credible sources. So if these folks would like to attack P.O.D., I would suggest several things. This may sound harsh, so hold on.

1. Get your facts straight. Until I read this article, I was convinced that taking words out of context and twisting facts were secular tricks. Not so, as I can see. Whoever wrote this article needs some lessons in putting the truth forth in a clear, honest manner, concealing nothing, and leaving the decisions to their readers.
2. Keep a fair point of view. The band P.O.D. is not evil, despite the somewhat goth art on their album Payable on Death. In fact, conservative Christian organization has this to say about their work.
Satellite: http://pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0000945.cfm
Payable on Death: http://pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0001598.cfm
Testify: http://pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0002564.cfm
3. Use more credible sources. Guitar World and Spin aren’t accountable news organizations. They sound more to me like tabloids…but that’s just me. Point is, they aren’t the AP.

I think that’s all. There is so much more stuff against P.O.D. and the like that I don’t even have time to cover all of it. But this stuff is pure bias. They want to make your mind up for you. They don't want you to have a balanced point of view. Otherwise, you might see that P.O.D. has taken on a particularly hard, dark part of music and is slowly turning it around. How can you fault that? P.O.D. is composed of humans. Of course they sin, of course they make mistakes. But they are no more sinful than the author of this article. It looks like the author of this and similar articles simply don't like the sound of P.O.D. Either that or they're bored. Both ways, you should avoid their garbage as much as possible.
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Like I said, there is a TON of this stuff out there. I'll have to keep writing about it. It is most interesting.