Pure Schadenfreude: For Today Lose Another Guitarist Over Jesus Feelings

Previously, in For Today & Their Terrible Decisions: guitarist Mike Reynolds “quit” the band after being a homophobic jackass, and then he accused the band’s singer of being in a cult. All caught up? Awesome.

Well, the PRP reports that yesterday For Today kicked out Sameul Penner, the guy who replaced Mike Reynolds. And guess what, you guys? It was over religious differences.

Penner has posted an explanation on his Facebook that’s too long-winded to quote in its entirety. But during his list of reasons why the band wanted him gone, one statement stands out:

2. I was told that I was unequally yoked with the band because of my personal beliefs of how I should live my life after coming to know Jesus. For this reason, the band could no longer support me or walk with me on this path. (To be clear about this, for those who care, my personal belief is simply that a standard of living our lives after salvation has been set by God in the “Old Testament” law. Not for salvation but for living a life in service to God.)

Wait, what? Dude, the Old Testament God is a bloodthirsty drama queen. That’s the God who obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah, murdered a shit-ton of Egyptian children, and made David’s wife barren because she didn’t like him dancing naked in front of other women. THAT guy’s your religious pillar? No wonder they kicked you out of the band.

It’s especially weird when Penner goes on to say:

…The beliefs that I hold on ‘how I should live my life after salvation are contradictory to the Gospel’. It was expressed by one member that “I don’t believe in the same Jesus or gospel” as the members of the band.

For the record, Jesus wasn’t in the Old Testament. That’s…THE thing that differentiates the Old and New Testaments. Jesus shows up. The whole thing becomes about salvation and forgiveness and not fucking infanticide.

Read Penner’s full statment at the PRP, and pray he doesn’t smite me with all the armies of Judas or whatever.