I have several theories about this, but one has to do with the idea that a lot of the core theology of the bands I gravitated toward was based in a dissatisfaction or disillusionment with mainstream Christianity to begin with.

It started by defining itself by what it wasn't. https://twitter.com/sammyrhodes/status/1266006051792486404

It would probably be impossible to run the actual numbers, and I'm not super trustful of polls anyway, but a great many of the people I knew from my time of basically total immersion in that world have ended up in one of three groups:

1. People who generally hold to a similar form of Christianity that they held back then, with some variation to a more conservative or liberal point on the spectrum, often influenced by a desire to apply the Gospel to the dominant issues of the day. And they really do believe.

2. People who have "deconstructed," and are now at least agnostic, if not atheist. I interact with more of the agnostics. They're open to the possibility of God, but disavow the version of Him that they used to proclaim. They're often a mix of sad, angry, and relieved.

3. People who have gravitated toward liturgical forms of Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican), which was almost its own taboo in the circles I frequented, because of the low ecclesiology inherent in the movement. This is a bigger group than you might expect.

I, of course, ended up in group 3, largely because of some bigger questions about paradox, history, art, and the logical implications of "sola Scriptura." But I deeply sympathize with groups 1&2, because that scene was my whole world for years, and I am who I am because of it.