UPDATED::Christian metal singer gets six-year prison sentence in California murder plot

UPDATE:: Christian Band Reunites With Lead Singer Who Hired Hitman to Murder His Wife

In 2013, Tim Lambesis, the lead singer of the Christian band As I Lay Dying, hired a hitman to murder his wife.

That hitman turned out to be an undercover cop, and not long after Lambesis handed over $1,000 for expenses and agreed to pay a total of $20,000 for the attack, he was arrested. He later received a sentence of six years in prison. He was released on parole at the end of 2016.

And now, to the shock of many of the band’s fans, Lambesis is back to being their lead singer. They just released a new single, “My Own Grave,” and announced a comeback show beginning on Saturday in San Diego.

An update to this story from February ,,,

The lead singer for a heavy metal Christian rock band was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison for pleading guilty to trying to hire a hit man to kill his wife, prosecutors in California said.

Tim Lambesis, 33, lead singer for the band As I Lay Dying, had been in a custody dispute with his wife, Meggan, over their three children in May 2013 when he asked a personal trainer at his gym if he knew anyone who could kill his wife, according to charging documents in the criminal case.

The trainer contacted the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, which sent an undercover detective to meet with Lambesis.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Lambesis admitted that he had paid the undercover detective $1,000 in cash for the murder, with an additional $19,000 to be paid when his wife of eight years was dead.

Christian metal singer gets six-year prison sentence in California murder plot

FOLLOW-UP::▶ TIM LAMBESIS: The Murdering Atheist Rocker - YouTube

 Some follow-up thoughts concerning Tim Lambesis.

After my initial posting and then the Alternative Press interview, I had a nagging thought concerning the whole Tim Lambesis story. First came TJ "The Amazing Atheist" Kincaid's video and a few hours later, Chris Stedman's article hit my feed and helped solidify what was bugging me.

First, TJ's raucous video:


Not much that I can say or add to that other than in his own manner TJ drives home the point very early.

Next up is Stedman's article, a quieter tone but still hits on many valid points.

Unfortunately, the narrative linking his actions to atheism will probably continue to gain traction now that Lambesis no longer seems to identify as an atheist. In April of this year, As I Lay Dying issued a statement saying that “[Lambesis] was not a Christian at the time of his arrest… [but he] has spent much of the last year reevaluating what originally convinced him to abandon belief in God… After much brokenness and repentance he sees things differently [and] considers himself a follower of Jesus.”

So the point that was nagging at me, Stedman and TJ Kincaid both mention. It seems that William Lane Craig's writings have brought Tim "back into the fold". Although not the evangelical or fundamentalist fold. I am glad I am not the only one that picked up on that point.

William Lane Craig is a brilliant writer. He wrote about the movie and about how there’s a part of human nature that yearns for a divine sense of purpose. Whether those guys admit it or not, they are definitely preaching their message as if it's the calling on their lives. It’s important for me, where I’m at now, to acknowledge these guys are brilliant scientists. I can agree with their science without abandoning a belief in God. It may conflict with super-conservative Christianity, but that’s not what Jesus was teaching to begin with.

It seems his roid rage also confused his mind as well as his body. Or is that just another excuse? Sadly as Stedman noted, his so-called atheism is what the Christian press is focusing on. And no, losing his religion did not cause him to try and have his wife murdered, that's called being and asshole.

One point that I do not agree with in regards to Stedman's article:

The mutually accusatory Christian and atheist responses to Lambesis’s story reveal a common problem. People are quick to jump to conclusions that conveniently fit their agenda of demonizing another group. But just as it was wrong to imply that Lambesis’s murder plot was connected to his Christianity, it is equally wrong to attribute it to his atheism.

I can't speak for other bloggers or the news media, but my agenda is to point out the hypocrisy of those that claim to be religious (Christianity primarily); that their ethical and moral grounding is of a higher standard because of gawd.  If that is the case then fucking act like it.  Putting out a hit on your wife,  fucking male prostitutes, defrauding millions of dollars from people, or murdering your child claiming you or others can heal is not ethical (or as a group think moral).  So yes I will keep jumping on headlines (although I made no comment till after more information came out) to illustrate this point.  Sorry but the last person I want running this country is some jack-wad that insinuates that the Bile is a science book - "It may very effectively serve as a "textbook" of scientific principles within which we can satisfactorily explain all the data of science and history." - or that our country should legislate and be run by its dictates.  Or rather their interpretation of its dictates.

▶ TIM LAMBESIS: The Murdering Atheist Rocker - YouTube

ADDENDUM::As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa responds to Tim Lambesis - Alternative Press

As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa (now of the band Wovenwar) has released a statement in response to former bandmate Tim Lambesis and his lengthy interview with AP’s West Coast editor Ryan J. Downey.

Hipa, along with other As I Lay Dying members—Phil Sgrosso and Josh Gilbert—were present in the courtroom last Friday, when Lambesis was sentenced to six years in prison for attempting to hire a hit man to kill his wife. In the statement, Hipa is very critical of Lambesis, saying, “The prosecution of this case profiled him as a sociopathic narcissist in definite need of rehabilitation. For those of us who truly know the man for who he is, it’s shameful that in spite of all he is still as he ever was and just as they say.”

As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa responds to Tim Lambesis - Alternative Press

ADDENDUM::Tim Lambesis world exclusive interview: The As I Lay Dying singer breaks his year-long silence - Alternative Press

It was ingrained in my mind, then, that if there was no God, there is no objective morality. So when I abandoned all belief in God, I had nowhere to put my feet. I was 30 years old and asking myself that same question, “Where does morality come from?” If there was no God, then morality is whatever I want to make it. That began to justify a lot of crazy behaviors in my life.

__ 

I find it fascinating that out of a six page story, this is what the Christian news sources are focusing on:

Now, the founder of As I Lay Dying is now making another confession—the Grammy-nominated Christian metal singer says he's not really a Christian at all.

In an interview with Alternative Press, reporter Ryan J. Downey asked Lambesis a pointed question about a YouTube video in which the rocker discussed a new side project called Pyrithion. Lambesis described it as "satanic."

[Wrong, this is what he actually said: " I was trying to put out the fire by saying the easiest thing, “I’m not a satanist!” Truthfully, I was an atheist. The “strategy” I had at the time was cowardly. Two of the songs on that record were about coming to grips with the idea that life has no purpose, no meaning. These were negative themes I wasn’t “allowed” to deal with in As I Lay Dying songs. I thought making As I Lay Dying darker would be bad for my career. That was my thinking.]

And

As he continued to fall deeper into sin, Lambesis asked a personal trainer at his local gym if he knew any hitmen that could kill his wife. The lead singer was soon arrested and taken into custody following an undercover sting operation where he allegedly supplied police with directions and cash to carry out the murder. He was sentenced to six years in prison in March of this year.

But Lambesis just recently came forward with the truth about his atheism and the front that the band put on to sell records.

While also ignoring this:

I was a philosophy major in college. I thought it was something I’d enjoy that would help me grasp what people are thinking in order for me to help people better understand Christianity. I thought I would learn how to defend the faith. I was naïve.

I ended up touring, so I finished it up through a distance study program. I switched from philosophy to religious studies, as they wouldn’t let me do philosophy via distance learning. I’d get three pages of the traditional evangelical conservative point of view, then three paragraphs or sometimes even just three sentences from the atheist perspective. But even in just a few sentences, I’d think, “This point of view makes more sense,” even when it wasn’t being well represented. In the process of trying to defend my faith, I started thinking the other point of view was the stronger one.

And glossing over this:

Have you seen the movie The Unbelievers? It's Dawkins and Krauss traveling the country spreading the gospel of new atheism. These guys travel the world, creating a movement for new atheism with a seemingly divine sense of purpose. Now they have this movie that's supposed to inspire people to become unbelievers. But what inspired them to want to do that in the first place if it's all meaningless? William Lane Craig is a brilliant writer. He wrote about the movie and about how there’s a part of human nature that yearns for a divine sense of purpose. Whether those guys admit it or not, they are definitely preaching their message as if it's the calling on their lives. It’s important for me, where I’m at now, to acknowledge these guys are brilliant scientists. I can agree with their science without abandoning a belief in God. It may conflict with super-conservative Christianity, but that’s not what Jesus was teaching to begin with.

But what really galls me forgetting why this is news in the first place:

Heavy metal Christian rock star Tim Lambesis admitted last month to hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife. He was sentenced to six years in prison for paying to have Meggan Murphy Lambesis murdered.

And

A so-called Christian heavy metal band whose frontman was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife has admitted that it duped fans into believing that they were Christian in order to sell their music.

Here's the back-story: Lambesis was in a custody dispute with his wife over their three children. According to charging documents in the criminal case, in May 2013 he asked a personal trainer at his gym if he knew anyone who could kill his wife. The trainer called the cops and an undercover sting led to his arrest.

That's it, that is all they wrote on his attempt to have his freakin wife, mother to his children, murdered. Priorities!!

Tim Lambesis world exclusive interview: The As I Lay Dying singer breaks his year-long silence - Alternative Press

(Christian) Metal Singer Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Estranged Wife - NYTimes.com

Tim Lambesis, the singer for the Christian metal band As I Lay Dying, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to trying to hire an undercover sheriff’s deputy to murder his estranged wife, Meggan Lambesis. The singer’s new plea — he had pleaded not guilty in September — brings the case nearly to an end: he will be sentenced, in San Diego County on May 2, nearly a year after his arrest. Until then, The Associated Press reports, the singer, 32, is free on $2 million bond. He faces a nine-year jail term and a $10,000 fine.

Mr. Lambesis was arrested after a sting operation that was set up after he tried to hire a fitness trainer to kill his wife, who was divorcing him, and who, he feared, would walk away with more than half his income, prosecutors said.

Metal Singer Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Estranged Wife - NYTimes.com