| Bad Religion – Pity the Dead Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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You guys are all a bunch oh hypocritical sycophants. You realize that this is not a new concept, right? This song just reflects a sentiment first written in Ecclesiastes (the Old Testament, you know, the pre-Christian part of the Bible) about 3,000 years ago. Look it up. Or better yet… “1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed– and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors– and they have no comforter. 2 And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. “ — Ecc 4:1-2 MissNeurotic, “yeah, religious people are fools. Death is scary, 'cause after that there's nothing but dreamless sleep forever and ever... ” Can you even REALLY fathom the concept of endless, dreamless sleep? I don’t think so. That’s why it’s scary, as you admit. In fact, who’s to say that’s what it is? Even BR leave an opening for the possibility that there is something more in the wording they use. These guys aren’t as dumb as that. No, instead, they say, "In the end you MAY find…”, not WILL find. And then they go on to ask “Why” Noimnot “Why do we pity the dead? I think this is a question posed to religious people. For example, a good christian who has passed away should be enjoying their afterlife in heaven by now, correct? Then why, christians, do you pity them? Why do you wish they were back in this place, with all its "disease, suffering and decay"? The "logic that swirls up in your head" would refer to realizing that the ones who have passed away are not experiencing anything anymore. As modern_man mentions, the fact that the dead now experience nothingness is a reason for us to pity the dead, and I believe that Greg does pity the ones he has lost. However, people who believe in an afterlife contradict themselves by having pity for the dead” Again, this was a question posed BY a religious person over 3k years ago, the fact that you don’t recognize that immediately means you are rushing to judgment on something that you don’t even understand. This is further proven by the fact that, ...NO, Christians don’t believe that their loved ones who have passed are already in paradise. Most EDUCATED Christians who have read the Bible (crucial point there) believe that none of the dead will see paradise until judgment day, or the day of the Rapture, when all of the saved will be taken at once. If you admit that you think that GG probably has pity for the ones that he’s lost, Why? Is it because he misses them? Don’t confuse pity for the dead with sadness for the loss that their life causes in your life. I don’t know a single TRUE Christian who would ever say that they pitied any of their deceased loved ones who were saved before dying. I’m guessing they might miss them a lot, and feel sadness for the loss in their own lives, but are comforted by the knowledge that they will see them again one day in Paradise. No, instead they pity those who passed away before being saved, who they would consider an eternal loss, and thus pitiable. If I believe in an afterlife that requires certain parameters to attain paradise or otherwise suffer an eternity in Hell, how exactly am I contradicting myself by pitying those who I loved but know weren’t saved? In fact, I would be remiss if I didn’t pity them. This question is posed to you and other atheists/agnostics. So ask yourself, “Why do We Pity the Dead?” It’s not titled we do they pity the dead! Why is it scary? Why DO you pity them? In all of my research, meditation, thinking, reading, praying (whatever you want to call it and in every combination) on the subject, the best answer I’ve been able to come up with was given by the first man that ever posed the question. “10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart…” — Ecc 3:10-11. Take the “God” part out for a second, and take the last part of that for what it’s worth. That eternity was “written” on the human heart. This would explain why religion, as a generality, has been persistent and universal throughout human culture since recorded history and before. We fear the unknown and thus we try to cling to what we know. Life. Then you just need to decide why you think it is that we, as humans, almost universally and throughout history have had eternity written on our hearts? Why? Now, put God back in the statement and quit being a robot who mindlessly repeats what they heard “someone say” and start learning to make some decisions of your own, based on your own experience, research, thoughts, and beliefs. All of you!!! Do you really think GG wants you as his robot army? Maybe, after all, he did say “I want to conquer the world, give all the idiots a brand new religion….” |
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| Bad Religion – Slumber Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I love how people on here constantly claim authority on what a band would never "say sincerely". I also love (laughing at, in a sad way) how most of those who comment on Bad Religion's songs, fail to recognize that BR's music is laced with Biblical reference and influence time anad time again. Ever heard of the book of Ecclesiastes? For those that haven't, it's in the Old Testament, ie. pre-christian (Hebrew), part of the Bible. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” - Ecc 1:2 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. - Ecc 1:18 14 The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. 15 Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” 16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! - Ecc2:14-16 The only place I see a potential departure from the writer of Ecclesiastes would be the source of the historical significance of one's life. The conclusion is still, in essence the same. Both conclude that there is meaning in life, but the line "I don't fear the consequence" tends to negate the last part of the following passage (while the rest of the song echoes the sentiment); 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. - Ecc8:15 Additionally, the futility of the Ecclesiastes passage; 18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them? - Ecc3:18-22 ...is summed up in BR's sentiment, "If life makes you scared and bitter, at least it's not for very long". Ironically, the Bible as a whole, both Old and New Testaments (Hebrew and Christian), echoes the prophetic message that "we pitch in to help it die", but for different reasons. I'm not saying that BR couldn't have come up with this prior to reading Ecclesiastes. We all read things that echoe our own personal feelings or thoughts all of the time. But given the fact that so many other BR songs scream themes parallelling other Ecclesiastical ideas (Pity the Dead, for one), and knowing that another of their often mentioned influences, Thomas Wolfe, considered Ecclesiastes to be one of the best pieces of LITERATURE of all time, I have no doubt they have read it. That's what makes them one of the most intelligent bands ever. They read, they ask why, and then decide for themselves what they believe. Everyone's free to believe what they want as long as they ask themselves why they believe that. But until you ask why you believe what you do, investigate the matter, and then come to your own decision, you're already a slave. Yes, you! Besides, no ideas are original, Ecclesiastes was written about 3,00 years ago, "...there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecc 1:9" |
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| Bad Religion – Operation Rescue Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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pinkfade, Man, this isn't normally the kind of thing I'd respond to, and it's been 2.5 years since your post, but for the sake of any other kids like you who might read this, I have to respond. First off, if you had taken the time to read the previous posts, you'd have seen that Operation Rescue is an ACTUAL ORGANIZATION. A pro-life group (anti-abortion, in case I need to break it down further). On that note, maybe if you would make an effort to listen more, read more, and learn to figure out for yourself the answer to, "Why do people say what they say or do the things that they do?", you might learn to appreciate your parents a little more. Every word or action (from ANYONE you encounter) is driven by a motive (conscious or subconscious). Figure out the motive and then judge your response. In MOST cases your parents genuinely love you, in spite of what you might believe. With that in mind, the things they tell you to do are generally driven by the belief that it is what is in your best interest. I'm not saying they are always right, dumb people can often have great motives. I'm just saying that maybe you ought to cut them some slack and at least consider the possibility that they know something you don't and think about what it is they are saying, and why they are saying it. Want to know my motive for telling you this? I've been there, and my hatred for the "system" is probably best described by the Ramallah song "Heart Full of Love". It pisses me off that the vast majority of sheeple are so blind to the injustices, criminal acts, thievery and oppression that the power elite commit in our world every day. Why? Because I've come to understand that I genuinely love the sheeple. Poor, stupid bastards, I can't stand to see them taken advantage of just because they are too stupid to ask "Why?". My love for all people is what makes me hate seeing others make the same mistakes that I have. Calm down, brother. Look at the prisons and the graveyards, the streets and the treatment centers, and you'll find them filled with people who can't let that anger and hatred go (or at least have channeled it poorly). A world of addicts, bangers, and domestic terrorists is NOT the world I want to live in. In fact, these end up being the people that the "system" uses to justify MORE AND MORE strict enforcement of conformity. We need change, but burning down your school just makes YOU look crazy, it doesn't affect the REAL culprits AT ALL. In essence, you are making things worse. You want to make things better? Calm down, it's a long road. Don't go popping off like a bottlerocket, they don't impress anyone. I'm pretty sure that Bad Religion (or Ramallah, Rob Lind for that matter) never intended to glorify that anger (as you relate to from the burning kid on the "Suffer" album), as much as point out that it is a SYMPTOM OF the state of society (that "society had better learn to recognize" ...as Lind says in a different tune). The song is definitely about the pro-life organization of the SAME NAME. Oh, and by the way, to punkpirate ...like it or not, this song IS pushing a morality. EVERYONE pushes morality. You saying, "live and let live" IS a judgement against anyone who feels compelled to stop abortion. The general consensus of society pushes it's weighty morality on each and every one of us in different ways every day. We can't all be happy about everything all of the time, and that's just the way it is. Cheer up, "Slumber Will Come Soon". |
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| Bad Religion – The Quickening Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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First off, the lyrics as printed above are wrong in more than one place. Latchkey Kid got one. "Madness on the way" ...doesn't even rhyme. Try "madness on the wing". "oh lost and by the wind grieved coast"? Come on now, this isn't the first reference to Thomas Wolfe's (the original, not the contemporary Wolfe) work (see "Stranger than Fiction"). The line is "Oh lost, and by the wind grieved ghost, Please come back to me again", a direct quote from Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel". It's not "for science...", but "Poor science in the service of a faith". StarryStarrySkies hit the nail on the head with the sacred and profane concept developed by Durkheim, which was further expanded on in a book by Mircea Eliade, titled (surprisingly), "The Sacred and Profane". All of that said, I have to agree with the first part of presidentwax's post. Abortion. Not the first time BR has covered this topic (see "Operation Rescue" and maaaybe, "Tiny Voices") and it seems to be a no brainer when you consider the agreed understanding of the term the "quickening" coupled with the question posed in the last line, "Who will bear the mark of Cain?" If you don't already know, part of God's punishment for murdering his brother was that Cain would be marked so that all would know he was a murderer. Not a stretch to imagine the song is about abortion when these things are considered together. |
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