Death Metal Artist Declared Innocent After Tearing Up Bible in Poland

By Eryn Sun, Christian Post Reporter Friday, August 19, 2011

Adam Darski, a death metal singer from the band Behemoth, was declared innocent for the second time after he was accused of offending religious feeling in Poland.

Darski, commonly called by his stage name Nergal, was held on trial last year for publicly ripping a Bible on stage during a concert in Gdynia in 2007, according to The Associated Press, calling it “a deceitful book.”

In Poland, offending someone’s religious feelings is a criminal offense, which can result in 2 years of prison time if convicted.

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Illegal footage captured at the concert showed the lead guitarist throwing the ripped pages of the Bible to the audience, asking them to burn them.

He also purportedly called the Roman Catholic Church “the most murderous cult on the planet,” reported Blabbermouth.net.

Ryszard Nowak, the head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects, took offense to Darski’s actions during the concert and filed a lawsuit against Behemoth for promoting Satanism and offending religious feelings.

But the guitarist was found not guilty by the court, which did not recognize Darski’s behavior as a crime and acknowledged that it was a form of artistic expression.

The court ruling was then appealed, throwing the musician into another legal fight.

The same verdict, however, was reached for a second time on Thursday by Judge Krysztof Wieckowski who reiterated that Darski’s actions were “a form of art” consistent with the style, sound and ethos of the band, as quoted by AP.

Wieckowski also shared that the court did not want to limit freedom of expression by defining boundaries or take away anyone’s right to criticize religion.

Christians who attended the concert testified that their religious feelings were not hurt over the incident.

Darski, who was raised Catholic, expressed his relief about the verdict and shared on his band’s website, “I’m so glad to see that intelligence won over religious fanatics in my home country. Tho there’s still so much work to be done to make things right...”

“But I’m sure that I’m on the right path to ultimate freedom! The battle is won, but the war ain’t over. Heil Satan!”

A fellow band member and bassist Tomasz Wroblewski spoke about the incident in a previous interview with Decibel magazine, according to Blabbermouth, saying, “A Behemoth show is a Behemoth show, and Behemoth fans are coming to a Behemoth show. Behemoth fans know what Behemoth is about, know what the lyrics are about, and know at least a little of the philosophy behind the band.”

“So, it’s kind of surprising that there are people coming to the shows and feeling offended with what we do onstage. If such a person comes to a show, he comes with the purpose of being offended, I guess, and it shouldn’t be like that. We’re not offending any particular person. We’re just offending the religion that we’ve been raised in.”

One commenter, EPSILONERIDANI, shared on The Blaze, “As a Christian, I believe he has the right to do whatever he wants with his Bible. It’s up to God to deal with him. That said, a lot of the death metal bands come from countries where the population was essentially forced or heavily compelled to switch over to Roman Catholicism, and there is a decent percentage of people in those countries that look back with resentment on that. This is one way to rebel against that.”

Additionally, several others wondered if Darski had ripped up a Qurans, what would have been the consequences then, frustrated with the double standards placed on different religions. NEAF summed up in his comment, “No problem. As long as they do the same with all religions.”

International attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund chose not to comment about the situation to The Christian Post.

Darski is currently recovering from a bone marrow transplant after having been diagnosed with leukemia late last year.

He plans to make a comeback to the stage with his band in the "Full of Hate" tour set for 2012 featuring other acts from Cannibal Corpse and Legion of the Damned. It will be the first European tour for Behemoth since Darski overcame his leukemia, according to their website.