Brian ‘Head’ Welch defends Christian faith, but slams 'cult-like' fanaticism
Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch has clarified comments he recently made about his faith early on in his Christian walk in which he described some of his actions as haphazard and those of a "fanatic."
The rocker and evangelist took to Instagram over the weekend with a screen shot of an article in which the headline reads: “Korn’s Brian ‘Head’ Welch admits that he ‘went too far’ with his Christian beliefs.” A pull quote from the article is of Welch saying, “There's nothing worse than a freaking irritating religious person just shoving it down your throat.”
“Some have taken my words out of context, but I do have a tendency to ramble without articulating my heart’s intent clear enough, which is typical when a person with A.D.D. tries to juggle the inflow of dozens of thoughts coming in at once,” Welch wrote on Instagram alongside an image of the article's headline and pull quote.
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His comments were reported by the Consequence Of Sound, which were taken from an interview he had with MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn on his "No F------ Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast.
During that interview, Welch, who left Korn in early 2005 for a time, talked about when he decided to leave the band and announced that he kicked his drug and alcohol addictions and became a born-again Christian.
Welch felt that some news reports about the interview interpreted his comments as him saying that religion became his "new addiction."
The musician felt he needed to clarify his stance.
“Let me shed some more light here: I was trying to address my early fanaticism with Christianity. Do I regret taking some much-needed time away from Korn? Not at all. I enjoyed some of the best years of my life with my daughter, making precious memories with her I wouldn’t have been able to make if I would’ve stayed,” he wrote.
“But some of the choices I made were reminiscent of a true fanatic: I ripped Jennea out of public school because it wasn’t a ‘Christian’ school. One day, I left my house with her out of the blue and NEVER returned and I hired someone I barely knew to sell all of our furniture and bring our personal items to AZ; expensive items went missing of course! I joined a group of Christians in AZ that ended up resembling a cult and the leader squandered all my money away!”
He said he even gave his mother The Book of Christian Martyrs and told her that was who he wanted to be like.
“These are only a few of the fanatical decisions I made, and they did damage to Jennea and still affect her negatively in some ways to this day,” said Welch, describing as a "cult-like mentality" and how that time affected his daughter.
However, the California native said his relationship with Christ is something he has committed his life to.
“What I will never regret though, is giving my entire being to Christ and I will share my story until the day I die,” Welch declared. “Sharing your story of faith is way different than shoving scripture down people’s throats in a heartless way as I was trying to convey in this interview with our old friend Robb.”
“Jesus Christ is my whole life’s foundation. When the storms come, AND THEY WILL COME, my life will not crumble because my foundation is very secure,” he added. “I have found true rest in the depths of my soul. Matthew 11:28; the first scripture that I found – my first scripture tattoo – came true for me in EVERY way. This life I’ve discovered is so real! I’m so glad I’ve never walked away from Christ, like many have, AND I NEVER WILL! Take that you overly religious Christian haters.”
In his documentary, “Loud Krazy Love,” Welch talked about the strained relationship he had with his daughter due to his lifestyle and detailed his faith journey.
Welch officially returned to Korn in 2013 and regularly shares his faith in Christ with others. The artist has since been very open about how God delivered him from addictions and restored his relationship with his daughter.
