By Al Menconi*
August 1997 – A few months ago I went to a Marilyn Manson concert. This popular drug-using, bisexual rocker is one of the most demented artists to hit the scene in the history of rock music. His songs dwell on the themes of murder, hatred, and suicide. He has gone on record saying that he wants to destroy Christianity through his music. There are rumors of self-mutilation and animal sacrifices at his concerts. I decided I needed to see this guy in action.
The concert was loud and profane, with many in attendance cross-dressing just like their hero. While he did strip down to a leather jock strap and cut himself with broken glass, I didn’t see any animal sacrifices. Probably the most disturbing moment was when he tore up a Bible and closed the concert by leading his audience in a chant of “We love to hate/We hate to love. ” This guy is definitely a sicko.
A short while later, the Academy of Motion Pictures published their list of Oscar contenders and Fargo received seven nominations, including movie of the year. It was also getting a lot of favorable comments from my Christian friends and neighbors. They suggested that I “needed” to see it before I spoke in Minneapolis, because it was cute how they portrayed Minnesota culture in the movie.
Despite my reservations about watching R-rated movies, I decided to take a look. I found it to be sick and perverted. I don’t think of myself as naive, but the graphic violence, profanity, and sexual scenes shocked me to a point of revulsion. For me, watching this movie was much worse than attending the concert.
I couldn’t believe how shocked some of my Christian friends were when they heard that I went to see Marilyn Manson. Some of them even asked if I wasn’t afraid of demon possession! And yet, some of these same people enjoyed Fargo without any reservations! How can this be? How can Christians be so concerned about satanic bands, and so indifferent to violence, profanity, and sexual situations?
I believe movies like Fargo do more to destroy Christian values than perverts like Manson. Why? Because Manson warns us that he’s out to destroy us. We see him coming and we keep up our spiritual defenses. But films like Fargo only want to “entertain us,” so we relax our spiritual defenses.
Folks, there’s more to sin than just Satanism. And just because some sins are more entertaining than others doesn’t mean they’re any less deadly to our souls. 
* Al Menconi is president of Al Menconi Ministries, a Christian Ministry whose mission is to educate and equip Christian parents, leaders and youth to consider the values communicated in their entertainment – especially today’s music – and encourage choices consistent with God’s Word. For more information, contact Al Menconi Ministries at P.O. Box 5008, San Marcos, CA 92069, phone: 619-591-4696.
