Difference between Heavy Metal & Cameras

Heavy Metal Draws Finnish (Finland) Teen to Church​

CAIRO — Heavy metal is the new attraction luring Finish teens and youngsters to churches in the Scandinavian country.

"It's nice that there are slightly different church services compared to the usual ones," Teea Pallaskari, 15, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, September 16.

She and her classmates skip their school classes to make the Metallimessu or Metal Mass in the plain, red-brick Lutheran Church -- the state religion -- in this small town about 60 kilometers north of Helsinki.

At the beginning, the service looks as it follows the normal communion service liturgy.

Then all at once, the band mates plug in the amps, loud electric guitars and bass drums, and the lead singer starts singing the hymns that are arranged in metallic music wildly onstage.

Down the stage, the faithful, mostly teens and youngsters, are seen squashing together on packed pews, as they sing out the hymns along with the band.

When the music stops, the students burst into ecstatic applause and whistles.

"It was really good," said Akseli Inkinen, a 17-year-old high school student, after a metal mass band finished performing in the Lutheran Church of Maentsaelae, a small town north of Helsinki.

Heavy metal is the reason why he is now keen to attend the church mass.

The first Metal Mass was held in Finland, where this type of music is now mainstream, in 2006.

Since then, the ground-breaking service has been taking place in churches nationwide.

Change

At the beginning, not everyone was happy with the church and heavy metal mix.

Mikko Saari, a co-founder of Metallimessu, admits they faced a lot of skepticism.

"Of course some Christian circles were scared and some true metal people were irate," he told AFP.

"But many said that the idea was great and that they had been waiting for it."

"For me, metal mass was a surprise," said Kimmo Kuusniemi, one of Finland's metal music pioneers who is producing a documentary about Finnish metal music.

"Metal music and church did not fit in the same room."

Some churchgoers feel loud rock music has no place in a house of God, and some pure metal fans accuse the Lutheran Church of co-opting their music to lure young people.

"This is not the Church's plan. Bishops did not plan this. It was started by five metal fans, three of whom worked at a church," insists Saari.

"Finns are known to be reserved, serious and very honest.

"Somehow heavy metal fits into this as it is no-nonsense, honest, straightforward and quite gloomy."

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Saudis Divided on Televised Tarawih ​

Jeddah — With leading media outlets racing to broadcast the Tarawih prayers during the fasting month of Ramadan, Saudi worshippers and scholars see the media mania is causing them to lose the spiritual atmosphere during the rite.

"I lose concentration during prayers when cameras are in," Saed Mohammad, 31, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, September 13.

"I feel as if someone is watching me."

Khalid Al-Yazeedi, 24, has a similar view.

"I got annoyed when I heard that a camera was airing the prayers from the mosque where I'm praying," he said.

"The camera will distract me from minding the verses being recited."

Yazeedi said many worshippers lose concentration during the prayers because of the cameras.

"Watching the cameras, you would find worshippers whose eyes are glued to the cameras."

In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through prayer and self-restraint.

"Broadcasting the prayers may disturb worshippers during the prayers," imam Hani Al-Refae told IOL.

Refae, the imam of Al-Anani mosque in Jeddah, was asked by a media corporation to broadcast the Tarawih prayers from his mosque.

"But after consulting the worshippers, they refused because the broadcasting may disturb them during the prayers."

Positive

Some Saudi scholars, however, support the live broadcasting of the Tarawih prayers.

"I don't mind the presence of cameras during the prayers," said imam Mohammad Al-Ghazali.

"But the cameras should be placed at the backyard and should not focus on broadcasting the faces of the worshippers."

He said the live broadcast is sometimes needed during religious ceremonies or the last Tarawih prayers.

"But cameras should not be visible in order not to distract the worshippers," said Ghazali, the imam of Al-Gaith mosque.

Dr. Saud Al-Fanissan, the former dean of the Faculty of Shari`ah, Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, sees the live broadcasting of prayers as "positive".

"It is a positive phenomenon and a way to transmit the prayers to other countries," he said.

Fanissan agrees that the broadcasting has some negative consequences.

"But the benefits are much greater."

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"Finns are known to be reserved, serious and very honest.

"Somehow heavy metal fits into this as it is no-nonsense, honest, straightforward and quite gloomy."

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P.S. Is general music & singing inside the church an innovation in Christianity?

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