And lest anyone think I'm trying to start a political debate, I'm not. I have friends along all points of the political spectrum. It's not a matter of his personal beliefs. However, as PdD pointed out, I don't want to feel like I'm singing along with something I disagree with. It's the same reason I don't listen to Theocracy, despite thinking that their music is excellent.
This is an interesting issue, for a number of reasons. Not the least of which being that rock music has a long history of being very "political". That may not be as prominent in prog and power metal, which often deals more with ethereal or fantasy topics, but it's still present there (i.e,
Operation: Mindcrime, etc). Also, there are a lot of songs in metal that are written from a specific point of view... so, does it make a difference whether that happens to be the songwriter's actual point of view? Or the listener's point of view? If I listen to "Declaration Day" by Iced Earth, "Panzerkampf" by Sabaton, or "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden does that mean I have to agree with the partisan views presented in any of those songs? Should those songs only be enjoyed by patriotic American, Russian, or British listeners?
As far as the religious angle, it's interesting you mention Theocracy... I was just listening to
Mirror Of Souls a couple days ago and while I think it's a very good album, I did indeed feel on more than one occasion that the religious themes were getting a bit over the top. But then it also occurred to me, is this really any different than when I listen to, let's say, Amon Amarth? In terms of lyrical content, they're just as much into mythological stories as any christian band. Maybe the relative popularity of the religions they present makes a difference? I mean, I have an Amon Amarth shirt with a picture of a norse god on the front, yet I don't imagine anyone who sees me wearing it thinks I go home and worship Odin. But somehow I think if I wore a christian band shirt with a picture of Jesus on the front, a lot of people would assume I was christian, or religious in some way.
Ultimately I have to conclude that I don't need to agree with lyrics in order to enjoy a song. Like most people, I'm probably neutral on the majority of lyrics I hear... meaning that regardless of whether I like them or not, I don't necessarily agree or disagree with them. However, there are also a number of songs whose lyrics I specifically disagree with, but I still like the song. Not just to the extent of ignoring the lyrics and liking the music, but actually being able to appreciate the lyrical content with the understanding of the angle from which it is being presented.
