Christians rock

The idea of faith has not connected with Andrew Beaujon, an agnostic. The evolution of Christian rock, however, has induced him to become the movement’s newest historian. Mr. Beaujon is the author of “Body Piercing Saved My Life.” The title, inspired by a T-shirt slogan he frequently saw at Christian music festivals, exemplifies how the movement’s followers bear signs of conventional rockers.

The book, released in June, opens with a description of a typical rock concert. Tattoos, metal and “earlobe-hole stretchers” adorn the bodies of 3,000 teens. The rock artist is loosening up with a jug of vodka and water before the show, and vulgarity makes an appearance in one of his songs.

Nevertheless, this crowd has not adopted “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” as its creed. These teens are sober virgins, Mr. Beaujon writes, and the concert is part of the Cornerstone Christian rock festival, although the artist, David Bazan, did break festival policy by drinking and swearing.

“It just seemed like a story that nobody was really telling,” Mr. Beaujon said. “You go to a festival and there’s 25,000 Christians grooving in cornfields, and you’re the only non-Christian.”

Mr. Beaujon said Christian rock began 20 or 30 years ago when hippies started returning to church.

“The thing about evangelicals is that they’ve always embraced new ways of communicating,” he said. “When sort of burned-out and disaffected hippies were trying to find new meaning for their life, it was evangelical churches that tried to bring them in.”

The trend first manifested itself mostly in Christian contemporary music, which he described as “very bland, very imitative, studiously non-offensive.”

He said the evolution of the Internet opened markets for Christian metal bands outside religious bookstores.

“Being known as a Christian band or as a former Christian band isn’t the former put-down that it used to be,” he said, citing the mainstream success of P.O.D. and Switchfoot.

Mr. Beaujon said many of these artists, growing up, were allowed to play only Christian music in the home. Artist David Crowder convinced his parents that Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” was a Christian song, he said.

Mr. Beaujon discovered “how diverse this supposed monoculture really is,” and became friends with the staff of Rock for Life and others, even though they held different views.

Rock for Life, a division of American Life League, uses music as a means to mobilize teens in the fight against abortion, said director Erik Whittington. The organization hosts concerts, releases compilation records, mans booths at Christian music festivals and raises money for pregnancy help centers.

Mr. Whittington said his band has had a stage at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois for at least five years. Because many non-Christians attend, RFL has a chance to persuade more people to stand against abortion.

“At Cornerstone, you get more of a mix of bands that have actually made it in the secular realms,” he said. “Most of their gigs are bars. Their message is not as up-in-your-face Christian.”

He said rock comes naturally to many Christians. “Over time, there’s been a freedom or an understanding that you can worship God with a Les Paul [guitar] and a Marshall [amplifier] stack,” Mr. Whittington said.

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