Jesus Christ Allin: Messiah of Rock N Roll and Outlaw Scumfuck

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2009
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Haverford College. Department of Religion
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Thesis
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Award
Language
eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
GG Allin referred to himself both as the “sickest, most decadent rocker of all time," and as evidenced by the above quotation, the synthesis of Jesus Christ, God, and the Devil into the “underground messiah” of Rock N’ Roll. As the messiah of the underground of Rock N’ Roll, he on a mission to save Rock N Roll from the commodifying powers of the government, standardized education system, and all other systems that inhibit the individual from living as autonomous. In short, GG Allin opposed dogmatic conformity, and sought to break the yoke by shocking people into understanding their potential as an individual. Despite his categorical opposition to organized religion, GG Allin utilized a vocabulary appropriated largely from a Christian theological canon, to explain the elements of his most vulgar and profane stage performance and general lifestyle and ideology and create a religiously-based worldview from disorder and destruction. In many ways, GG’s appropriation of Christian language and narrative themes serves not only the literary function of providing a framework for discussing esoteric concepts, but creates a number of parallels between the function of GG Allin’s music within the musical and political community and that of organized religion. I am attempting to reconstruct the ideological vision of the GG Allin Mission to determine if it can function as a religion for the community of the underground of Rock N Roll.
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