(Disclaimer: I am not religious and, if I was pressed, would consider myself agnostic leaning towards being an atheist. The views on Christian metal here are not intended to be used to start an argument, merely to examine why Christian metal gets such a bad reputation among metal fans. If this is an issue you do not wish to read, feel free to ignore this entire post. Thank you in advance for being understanding.)
When I think of metal, one major stereotype that is noticeable is that of a Satanic nature. This can be traced all the way back to Black Sabbath's debut album, although it's also noticeable as far back as with the song "Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones. As such, it's often surprising for people who are not metal fans to discover that metal has actually been made by Christian musicians to help spread the faith of God. Possibly not so surprisingly, many a metal fan will be very vocal about this being a problem with them for some reason or another (and, nearly always, never regarding the actual music).
What I'm puzzled about with this reaction is that many of these same metalheads have no problem with Satanic lyrics, which arguably are the same thing as Christian lyrics. Which begs the question: what's all the fuss about?
Well, ignoring the obvious fact that rock music has been argued by many self-righteous Christian fundamentalists as being the devil's music since as far back as the times of Elvis Presley (seriously!), I suppose part of it is simply the fact that Satanic themes have been part of metal for so long that seeing a band completely bucking the trend is a somewhat new experience. While most sensible people would judge the music and not react to the lyrics unless they are horrendously written (not mentioning any examples here, *cough*mylifestyledeterminesmydeathstyle*cough*), some will naturally find reason to complain that the lyrics can be very preachy (again, something that also happens with some Satanic bands). And, at least there, they do have a point: if the lyrics feel like they are trying to recruit you into becoming a Christian, you would have a fair reason to object to it if you do not believe in God or are from another religion entirely. However, this can come across as very strange if the lyrics do not enter that territory (although, as with most music, this will be a very subjective level to make: some have no tolerance for it, while some have a level of tolerance large enough to travel around the Earth a good few times). Also, this can be rather hypocritical for the reasons I've pointed out before.
Another potential issue would be the fact that Christians in general have a rather bad reputation among metalheads. Now, before I go into this area, I must stress that not every metalhead will have issues with Christians just because of their religion (indeed, I do not have the same level of vocal hatred of Christianity some metalheads will have, although I will admit to not being comfortable with the idea of a holy war and how religion can be manipulated for war purposes: if you pardon me sounding religious for a few seconds, my view on the subject is that religion itself is fine, it's mankind abusing religion that is the problem). However, since Christians were generally the most vocal speakers against metal music in the 80's, being well known for demanding censorship of music for occasionally ridiculous reasons, this has caused many metal fans to be mistrustful of organised religion (and the PMRC, but that's almost become a battle of the PMRC vs most music these days...). On this, I will admit that I think the detractors have a point, albeit not one that I agree with: if Christianity can be the cause of so many problems across the world in history, why should it be accepted as part of a music style encouraging individuality? To this, I would again point out that it's more mankind abusing religion that is the problem, not religion itself.
Another issue (and, on this one at least, I cannot argue) is that, if you were raised with another religion, it is very unlikely that you are likely to agree with another religion where it differs from your own. On this, I can only say that you would be best judging the music and ignoring the lyrics. This might seem like a unfair request, but bear in mind that Black Sabbath treated the occult nature of the lyrics to their first six albums more like horror movie entertainment, as do Slayer. Alternatively, it may be better to simply avoid listening to it where you can.
The thing that I believe Christian metal is doing is that it is opening a pathway to metal for those who are interested in it, but do not support the lyrics of standard metal. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that you'll find Christian metalheads refusing to headbang to music just because the style is against their religion, but more it allows them to listen to metal without having an issue with the Satanic lyrics (if they have that issue). This might seem like a very bad idea to many people, but think of it from this perspective: metal, as a whole, is about the music and the image. While fans may not want to follow the image most associate with metal (I probably look more like a typical nerd than a metalhead) the music is the thing that connects metal fans together, not the Satanic themes and refusal to conform to what others expect of them. By offering a hand of friendship (or, at least, a truce) to those Christians who want to discuss their faith in the music, the two sides benefit together in the long run: the metal fans get more great music (if they do not have the problem with the Christian themes I covered earlier) and the Christians who become metal fans can become accepted by non-Christian metal fans because of that connection between them. Do I believe this will ever happen? Honestly, I do not believe it will happen, but it would be nice to see it happen, as it would open the door to other religions to do the same thing and, in the end, provide a richer pallet of music for all the sides involved.
In the end, my viewpoint on Christian metal, not being someone who dislikes Christianity, is that Christian metal is a sign of progress for both sides: it shows a willingness to accept that not all metal is the stereotypical devil worshiping from the Christian's side of the argument and, from the metal fan's side, it allows for other ideas to be included into metal, hopefully signalling that metal will be able to experiment with unusual themes in the future and develop beyond the slightly stagnated genre it has become now.
I can only hope it happens in my lifetime...
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