Wife and I went to see Walk the Line a week ago. It was essentially about the drug problems of Johnny Cash, and although it tried to end on a high note the effect on me was rue.It's hard to be sorry for having enjoyed his music, but the effect of that was his having gone on tour. And that exposed him to far more temptation - he himself would have said, this was essentially an autobiographical picture - than his character was up to. It was just a sad story, end it at whatever point you might choose. I guess he was just a manic personality.
He's on record saying that when Johnny Cash first came to him, he wanted to sing gospel. Sam wanted him to have more of something to say in his songs. He talked of darkness and "living a life worth living" (see the Sun Records documentary from PBS from a few years back).
This is not to say that Sam Phillips was not religious in his own life or disliked religion. He did record and release some gospel songs early on.