One pastor, Stephen Angliss, received considerable backlash after posting a video of Anthony’s Scripture reading and saying, “I’m probably gonna get roasted for this…I don’t appreciate a guy famous for a song that says ‘$hit,’ ‘bull$hit,’ ‘d@mn’ and takes the Lord’s name in vain using God’s Word for his concert. James 3:10”
Replying to Angliss, someone wrote, “Based on a Jason Howerton tweet earlier this week, he wasn’t even religious a month ago. He was a depressed alcoholic who cried out to God and asked for help getting sober and chasing his dream.”
“He seems to be a new Christian and seems to have a humble spirit. He likely just needs some guidance,” the commenter went on to say.
“Absolutely,” Angliss answered. “He’s free to change his lyrics to honor Christ and we should pray for that.”
Other comments Angliss received weren’t as civil, an experience that later prompted him to share a follow up post, saying, “I want to thank everyone who DM’d me with encouragement after the wave of lewd, slanderous vitriol I received over the past 24 hours. I’m totally fine. My faith is in Christ alone. I only ask that you read their comments yourselves and judge the fruit accordingly.”
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Anthony’s blue collar country ballad has taken over iTunes’ No. 1 spot on its Top 40 US Country Songs chart.
One fan of “Rich Men North of Richmond” described the overnight hit as “not a song. It’s an anthem for 80+ million Americans who have been smeared, ignored, mocked, slandered, and robbed by their own government.”
Another said, “A foul mouthed, sweaty redneck with no Mdiv or a coffee bar just telling off the Gov leaders and upstaging BigEva? This is not winsome but it is attractive in so many ways, because he’s speaking truth.”
“@AintGottaDollar may disappoint us all some day, but that day is not today. Today we need to encourage this boldness in others around us and despise not the youth when they dare to rise up,” the comment continued.
Radiowv says that Anthony’s desire is to “give hope to the working class and your average hard-working young man who may have lost hope in the grind of trying to get by.”
ChurchLeaders has reached out to Anthony to ask him more about his conversion and faith. At the time of the article’s release, he has yet to respond.
