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The Hard R

DALLAS PONTIFICATES ON LUCK AND GOD

Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 1:20pm by

What Is Real, Neo…

Most of us have had those moments where an opportunity comes up that hits our senses so hard that there are three ways which things go down in our body: there’s a good feeling, a shady feeling and a bad feeling. There is a rush of blood that hits our brain so fast that the only reaction we get is of the gut.

When we found out we were going to be signed I got that GOOD feeling. The feeling of goose bumps. The nervous energy in the pit of your stomach we call butterflies. That was a good feeling. Those moments where you wonder,”Am I dreaming? Is this real?” Then there’s the fear that something can go terribly wrong and you don’t want to look like an idiot for having that feeling that things are going to be OK. Misery is an easy friend and feeling good has it’s consequences. In most cases, the better you feel the worse it can get.

I’ve had a lot of these good moments in my life. I wonder why at times. I think it comes down to one thing: Luck. Luck plays a big part in any opportunity most of us run into. If you’re not quick, that opportunity can pass you by so there is some kind of personal fortitude that goes into these good things that happen to us. Even with that said, luck is what it was for me. I was lucky to be born in a musical family. I was lucky my dad screened crazy movies for me as a kid. I was lucky my family gave me the encouragement to do music for a living even though they knew how hard it was going to be and still is. Shit, I’m lucky I have idiots across the country calling God Forbid a second rate metal-core band when I state my opinion on things. Those beeyatches keep the fire brewing. They say a legend doesn’t die if people still speak of them. I’m not even dead (or a legend) and people are talking about me and my second rate metal-core band! Shit is good!

When these situations happen it makes me think of God. I’ve never been a believer so to speak but I’ve always believed in something. I don’t know if you praise Jesus, Allah or Jehovah but I do think something exists. With the amount of amazing things I’ve been through and experienced there has to be something, doesn’t there?

The cosmic unconscious maybe? I’ve always believed in the nature of gravity, the laws of physics and how the earth rotates. Like history repeating itself. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

I know it’s a weird subject to ask but what do you believe in? Why do you get up every day and do what you do? Was it a person, a thing or a place? Is it a material thing that you crave?

What makes everything we do here real? I have no fucking clue…

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  • John

    emo…

  • Cisco

    Definitely God. All things are possible through the Heavenly Father.

  • vmanv

    Do I have to wait for an official post to comment on the new Metallica song? Ugh. I think they’ve just run out of ideas. plus, they need a new drummer

  • Alec29

    While I’m not a religious person, I do beleive in a higher power, cuz after all this CAN’T be all there is……at least I hope not. As far as luck goes, I don’t really beleive in that. I think you make your own luck through determination, skill, and hard work. Nothing and I mean nothing that’s good comes from “luck”. If somebody’s faith helps them to acheive their goals then that’s great. For me, it has to come from the work I put into those goals. As I stated earlier, I do think there is a higher power but I have faith in myself. I can’t afford to take a chance on anyone else making things happen for me.
    Another great column, Dallas!!

  • http://metalmartyr.com Metalmartyr.com

    I’ll tell what I get up for every morning and what I live for…

    MESSHUGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Stixnstond in L.A.

    Very insightful Dallas, thanx
    I guess people need something to believe in. Not necessarily a ‘GOD’ of sorts but something to give meaning to something. The ever burning question, “WHY?!” I consider myself an Athiest, a bit of an Antichrist too. Coming from this part of the world, bottom line is we’re breed to consume. The RatRace is the reason we get up in the morning, to support ourselves, our family, our system – justice, economical, social. But how many of those things support us? I put my fate in my own hands and definitely DO NOT rely on a fictitious character. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny… I’ve made many MANY bad choices in my 30 years on this dirt pile… what have i learned? ” Those who hesitate, masterbate”

    What do I believe in? I believe that musically i will accomplish something. I believe in following in the footsteps of the greats. I believe in keeping the METAL scene alive and adding to the chapter of legends like DimeBag, Rhoads, Cliff Burton, John Bonham. I believe in enlightening the fans of this music (MUCH LILKE YOU DALLAS) to a reality that isn’t all pop, flowers & ‘bling-bling’. If it wasn’t for METAL giving me my wake up call, I would have been worm food a long time ago…

  • Will

    I have had a few of those moments that you speak of in my life too. Getting a job in the games industry, getting married, starting a metal band, etc.

    I’ve always been fascinated with those people that never seem to stop working. Not just working on anything, but working on things that you love. Those could be relationships, pet projects, your own advancement in your job, your band, etc.

    I feel that always having goals is one way to keep myself motivated. I guess I’m happiest when I’m working on things that I enjoy.

  • Johnny_Bartlett

    I believe I’ll have another beer….

  • http://metalmartyr.com metalmartyr.com

    OK, On a serious note, I don’t like Meshuggha (Or however the fuck you spell their name) that much, if at all.

    Speaking of the everyday rat race, Mine comes to an end tomorrow. I’m quitting my full time job to blog full time. Sounds crazy, but I can make just as much money and love what I’m doing instead of making money and kind of like what I’m doing.

    As far as God goes, I believe, but I don’t believe everything in the bible to be true. You’d have to be a fool to think that everything in any book is true, especially one that old. I still question a lot of things and my faith sometimes, but who really doesn’t?

    As far as my life goes, I feel a lot of the good things that have happened to me as luck and hard work. I’ve never kissed anyones ass to advance and I’ve had to step on a few peoples feet to get a step ahead. If you’re not hungry for something you want, someone else will get it. And if you don’t you may find yourself living on a steady diet of government cheese while living in a van down by the river. (sorry, but that suddenly came to mind and I couldn’t resist)

  • http://metalmartyr.com metalmartyr.com

    and when did this moderation shit start?

  • terrybeans84

    I always love a good debate on life and God. I don’t conseder myself a religious person, but a spritual person, yes. I very wise man told me once that if I put my relationship with the god of my understanding first then all the things I want in life follow. I have a hard time following this suggestion though. Too often I get all consumed with work, and a desire to succed I often forget what realy matters in life. It’s working on being the best person I can possibly be. That includes working towards my goals in life. It was said before but I happen to agree that I’m happiest when I’m working on things I enjoy. through this work I feel in touch with the God of my understanding.

  • laz

    this thread is starting to sound like an NA convention.

  • Muttweiler

    I believe in a sort of sense of Karma. Bad shit begets bad shit, good to good and so on. Be careful what you wish for: you do get it but there are dire consequences, sort of paying for the good with some unpleasantness. Also if someone fucks up your universe my Karma dictates that a way must be found to fuck them up, or the universe many times will do it for you if you are patient. This seems to keep me more sane and balanced then eating straight bible flakes (I’ve always felt that the book has been edited a number of times throughout the ages) and taking your time spent in church at higher value than how you treat the universe and those in it!

  • Nick

    Ha, call me crazy but I have no doubt in my mind that there is no higher power. We are an advanced civilization and all, somehow that evolution worked out here on earth, but no one can really tell what the universe is what its part of, where any of it came from, or anything. It’s not an easy answer because no one really knows, but I think it’s foolish to believe in creation, or as George Carlin says, a little man up in the sky, watching us and judging us, controlling our fate and such. Some people just get damn lucky for their talents, or lack thereof even[paris hilton?] In the end, respect the world, the environment, it’s all we got. Faith in religion, i think, is a complete waste of time money and effort. Religion is so ridiculously fake to me.

  • Cisco

    The Bible is true and is still relevant today as it was 1,000 or 10,000 years ago. Times may change through the years but God and his living word doesn’t. Also, look at God as a chair… when you sit in a chair you put 100% belief that that chair will hold and support your weight and not collapse. Everyone will always take a seat and not even think about that chair failing them. God is the same way, give your heart to the lord wholeheartedly, and He will never fail you.

  • Stixnstond in L.A.

    ” GOD HATES US ALL!!! ”
    ” PEOPLE = SHIT ”
    ” THE GOD I HAVE DENIED, HIS POWER SHOWN “

  • alexwank

    cisco
    ‘The Bible is true and is still relevant today as it was 1,000 or 10,000 years ago’
    i dont know how pious you are, but the bible sure wasnt around 10,000 years ago. man hadnt got around to cannonising the fiction stories yet. it was a dark day he did. organised religion is not a positive force.

    it’s interesting to read that people just believe in some sort of deity because life seems so unreal and they cant believe there’s no higher purpose to life. This is a rationale for many people as is the desire for the survival of death. religion will be around as long as people are afraid of death.

    For those people who assume that there is a divine force in the universe just because evolution or the big bang seem too unreal to result in us, i recommend you look into the subjects further (if you are so inclined). there are many books available well within the compass of the lay person to understand explaining what scientists are discovering about our presence here and how we dont have to account it to a divine being, for whose existence we have not a single shred of evidence.
    if interested read some books by hawking or dawkins et al. i think you will find the explanation provided by those who embrace reason and free enquiry far more cogent than the dogma from any monotheism.

    only they wont promise you’ll survive death.. doh.. i really like the idea of that!

  • Cisco

    @alex:

    Well, I was just trying to make a point with the time analogy… point is God and his living word will always stay the same and never change. What He said, be it one million years ago or yesterday, will always be the same.
    I’m not here to try to convince anybody that God does in fact exist, I was just commenting on Dallas’ post and where my faith stands.
    I believe that everybody knows that God exists, but they either choose to believe or not. Athiests say they believe that there is no such being, there’s no logical explanation for the Heavenly Father, his Son and the Holy Ghost so they choose not to believe. The books you mentioned is just propaganda, authors who are athiests who try to prove their point to unsuspecting people who never had a chance to hear the living word of God, and logically, like many people (including me so many years ago, yes, I used to be an athiest myself), make the logical choice and choose not to believe.
    Granted there’s many a religious based propaganda, but only there to serve one person’s agenda. I understand why so many people are turned off by religion because of all the judgement that’s been cast towards them by ‘religious’ people, or hypocrites who swear like a sailor, smoke a pack a day, drink all week and then have to gall to act all innocent and sweet Sunday morning in church like they’re feces don’t stink.
    That’s what turned me off as well, but it wasn’t until I turned 25 that I found God and my life has truly been different ever since.
    I do suggest that if anybody truly is curious about God, please go and read the books by the authors that alexwank suggested and then go to a church of your choice and talk to the pastor and ask him questions and why he believes and then you can make the choice for yourself.
    Sorry V and A, I hope I’m not stepping on your toes. Anyways… Keep it metal and….

    HORNS!!!!!!!!! \m/

  • http://www.conorschaefer.com/blog/ Conor

    Thanks for the insightful post, Dallas—although why no podcast this week? Would have been great to hear you really rant about this!

    I’d say that I believe in belief. I’m not trying to dodge the question or disrespect it or mollify it or anything like that. I just believe that belief itself is the unifying force for cognition, that sacred space acting like a strong nuclear force on all of humankind’s thought systems over the millennia.

    Believe what you want, man, be it in Allah or in gravity. I gotcha. And you know what? It’s always gonna be deep.

  • alexwank

    cisco

    “The books you mentioned is just propaganda, authors who are athiests who try to prove their point to unsuspecting people who never had a chance to hear the living word of God, and logically, like many people (including me so many years ago, yes, I used to be an athiest myself), make the logical choice and choose not to believe.”

    so stephen hawking is a propagandist, obfuscating the truth in order to hoodwink people into believing there is no god??? ummm, ok..

    you are free to believe this. however i think most people, whose minds are unencumbered by dogma, would be of the mind that hawking et al are free thinkers whose massive intellect allows them to follow their curiosity to conclusions based upon evidence and reason.
    These books are not propaganda. The infomation is based upon experimentation, discovery and verification. anyone who so chooses, can follow the systematic, rational steps taken to arrive at the conclusions they have. further to this they undergo massive peer review. and science is very competitive. all their peers want to do is prove them wrong. so if something makes it as an accepted theory, you can be sure it has undergone the most rigorous examination.
    i do not follow these books dogmatically, i simply accept that they are the best desciptions of life and the universe that mankind as come up with thus far.

    not to be perjorative, but scripture is much closer to propaganda. scripture asks you to take certain facts as faith – having no evidence to back those facts. in fact, religion makes a virtue of this faith.

    i am glad you have found peace and that religion is doing great things for you and i understand your desire to share it. Just dont attempt to tarnish the names of emminent scholars with baseless statements, just because you do not happen to agree with their world view.

  • me

    “what do you believe in? Why do you get up every day and do what you do?”

    your second rate, washed-up, metal-core band!!!

  • Pingback: Way Too Loud! > God Forbid Guitarist Talks About Luck And God

  • Revrant

    People call God Forbid a 2nd rate metalcore band because that’s exactly what it is.

  • Cisco

    I didn’t post any comment here to start a debate. As a matter of fact, I hate debates… everyone always arguing and trying to prove their point. I believe in God and that Jesus is his Son and the only way to get to the Heavenly Father is through him. Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace and King of all Kings. I’m not a religous person whatsoever, or why else would I frequent this site or sites like it? Why is metal my prefered taste in music? I don’t just listen to Christian metal, I listen to Death, Prog, Hardcore, and yes even Metalcore occasionally. I even despise all religous people. I also despise ‘Churchianity’.
    People who are turned off from Christ are represented by those just mentioned… Christianity is not a religion no matter what anybody says, or thinks. Christianity is a personal relationship bewteen you and Christ, hence the term ‘CHRIST-ianity’. I would love for others to experience what I’ve experienced and taste the Truth, but it’s not my job to convert or make believers out of everyone, that’s up to the Holy Spirit.

  • Cam

    I’ll listen to 2nd rate metalcore all day before I listen to K-Mart Metal ::cough::Disturbed::cough::