Knights In Satan’s Service?????

Lake Charles, LA

The following story happened to me quite a few weeks ago, but with all of the hype surrounding KISS’ induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (long overdue, by the way), old memories were drawn up from the pit of my brain.  So, here it goes…..

I was strolling through a local department store minding my own business when a smiling gentleman in a cowboy hat walked up to me.  I gave him a smile in return and considered our little encounter complete, but he then pointed at my shirt (which had the KISS band logo on it) and asked me, “Do you know what KISS stands for?”  I replied half-questioning, “Keep it simple, stupid?”  “Nope,” he said, “It stands for Knights In….”  I cut him off as politely as possible and finished the phrase for him, “Satan’s Service, right?”  I figured that that was what he was going for, but I mentioned “Keep It Simple, Stupid” hoping that I was wrong.

I wasn’t.

He said that the members of KISS were evil and worked for the devil.  Being a lifelong Christian (and a Roman Catholic convert since 2000) who just so happens to be pretty well versed in both the Bible and KISStory, I simply replied, “Have you ever heard the story of Gene Simmons?”

He seemed a bit taken aback by my response.  I didn’t lash out at him or ridicule him for what he had just asked me, but instead I went into a very brief history of the life, hardships, and charity of The Demon and eventually the good works of KISS in general.  I mentioned how Gene and his bandmates have donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, give free concerts to soldiers overseas, and discount military tickets stateside.  I also mentioned how Gene doesn’t drink or do drugs and outside of his love of the ladies, manages to be a fairly devout Jewish boy.

The man wasn’t ready for that response.  He started to say something else, but I politely cut him off again with a pleasantly stern “No, they aren’t Knights In Satan’s Service.  They’re a rock band,” and walked away.  He stood there for a couple of seconds and then shuffled off.

Once I got back into my car for the ride home, my little encounter with this guy was spinning around in my brain.  I wanted another chance to talk with the guy.  Not about KISS or Satanism, but about judging people based on their clothes.  He obviously assumed that I was an unsaved heathen rocker because I was wearing a KISS shirt, but I am actually a former Southern Baptist/Congregationalist/Pseudo-Evangelical/Catholic convert that has done his homework when it comes to his own faith.  I wanted to tell the guy that I could have made quite a few judgement calls myself.  He was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, so automatically I could assume that he listens to country music.  Also, based on his age, I could assume that he doesn’t listen to bro country or the pop with a fiddle in it that passes for modern country music these days.  Nope, he looked like a hardcore Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, George Jones, Hank, Jr. kind of fella.

Then I started to think how I could tell him that if he did listen to such music, he’s listening to nothing better than rock n’ roll, since country music deals with drinking, cheating, stealing, and a whole ton of other topics (including murder).

Why do I let such things get to me?  Why didn’t I tear into him like I knew that I could?

If his intention was to somehow save my soul or convert me, he went about it the wrong way.  Telling someone to their face that they are wrong (whether they are wrong or not) is not the way to get them to change their ways.  Ridiculing or (and this rings particularly true for people claiming to be Christian) judging someone and then “calling them out” on this judgement is DEFINITELY NOT the way to convince someone to join your team.

I’m sorry for going off on this tangent, but it really, really bugs me.  I don’t go about pointing out the shortcomings of other people, nor do I correct them if what they believe is wrong in my eyes.  I try to open up a discussion with them.  Not with the intention to convert them, mind you, but to get their perspective.  As long as they respect me, I’ll respect them, even if we disagree.

Again, I’m sorry for blowing off a bit of steam with this post.  I promise I’ll get back to Insanity and my nerd musings soon enough.

Thanks for reading, friends.  Comment below if you’ve had a story similar to this one.  I’d love to hear it.