On Reformers and the Tolerance of Intolerance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzaCCxMa8VA&app=desktop
Over the weekend, reader Jeremy O. sent us a link to the above lyric video for a song called “Abomination” by the band Reformers. Jeremy was understandably upset by the song’s lyrics, which are, simply put, moronic (although, truth be told, the music is so bad that the vocalist could be reciting Shakespeare and it wouldn’t really matter). The gist of the song can be summed up by the lyric “Tolerance is hate” — basically, they’re upset that if they say “Being gay is wrong is and all homosexuals are going to hell,” there are a lot of people who will stand up and say “Fuck you, asshole.” They don’t like that people call them bigots when the precise dictionary definition of “bigot” describes them perfectly: “a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group.” These are the same kinds of idiots who spend time on the Men’s Rights section of Reddit or celebrating Heterosexual Awareness Month or bemoaning the lack of a White History Month. Cry me a river! They interpret the fact that some of us demand equality for all as infringement of their First Amendment rights, despite the fact that no one is actually stopping them from saying whatever they want. In other words: they express very hostile opinions about minorities, and then try to play the victim when they get very hostile responses. I guess when they say “Fags go to Hell,” we’re all just supposed to keep our mouths shut. They’re so thin-skinned they can’t stand any opposition whatsoever.
And I guess Jeremy wasn’t the only person upset by this allegedly-tolerant message about how intolerant the tolerant are towards intolerance (got all that?). Because Reformers released a video claiming that the song is “not singling out homosexuals” (so the phrase “twisted sexuality” must be referring to… uh…), and then their label, Mediaskare, took to Facebook to defend the band thusly:
“Mediaskare Records is a platform for music as an art form. Neither pro or anti anything. Just art.
“Art is there to invoke feeling, thought and debate. It’s not supposed to be liked by everyone, nor just sit in the background. It’s supposed to make you feel, one way or another.
“One persons or groups opinion is merely that, the opinion of that person or group and in no way reflects on our own personal opinions or views. We might not personally agree, but we believe in the right for you, them or anyone else to have the right to say it.
“When you start censoring art you become the problem and part of an ideology. All views, whether political, religious or otherwise are represented on this Mediaskare Records. We have Christian bands preaching the love of god, we have atheist bands preaching otherwise, we have political bands from all spectrums. Not once do we steer, interfere or advise artists in what their content should be.
“If your canvas is silence and you paint with sound, if we like it, we put it out. If there is meaning, hidden meaning or has no agenda at all just doesn’t come into the equation because art is relative to each person and is extremely subjective.
“And just like our artist, we respect our friends and family’s views. You don’t like a band or their message, we understand. That’s your opinion and you have every right to air it.
“I hope you understand that we feel art is the one place politics, religion and social ideologies should be aired and expressed freely and without censorship, no matter what end of the spectrum it comes from.”
Which is all well and good, except for two things:
- No one is trying to censor Reformers. They’re just trying to point out that the message of Reformers’ music is actually quite hateful.
- You could stand behind this argument for pretty much anything. You could sign a white power band and say “Hey, art is meant to provoke and they’re entitled to their opinions and they’re entitled to express those opinions in their music,” and you’d be right. But that doesn’t mean you have to sign them and release their music. Let some other label put this shit out into the world. When you take on a band with this kind of moral stance, you’re condoning that moral stance by association. So you forfeit the right to be upset when people are upset. If Reformers can whine about “twisted sexuality,” the rest of the world can whine about what a bunch of assholes Reformers are, and you can take shit for working with them.
In conclusion: yes, Reformers can say anything they want to, but guess what? So can everybody else! The problem isn’t that the band is religious — the problem is that they’re hypocritical, weak-minded pricks.
