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In the Name of God Lyrics
How can this be?
Why is he the chosen one?
Saint gone astray
with a scepter and a gun
Learn to believe
in the mighty and the strong
Come, bleed the beast
Follow me, it won't be long
[CHORUS] Listen when the prophet speaks to you
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
Straight is the path
leading to your salvation
Slaying the weak
Ethnic elimination
Any day, we'll all be swept away
You'll be saved as long as you obey
Lies! Tools of the devil inside
Written in holy disguise
Meant to deceive and divide us all
[CHORUS]
Blurring the lines between virtue and sin
They can't tell where God ends and mankind begins
They know no other life but this
From the cradle they are claimed
[CHORUS]
Hundreds of believers lured into a doomsday cult
All would perish in the name of God
Self-proclaimed messiah led his servants to their death
Eighty murdered in the name of God
Forty sons and daughters, unconsenting plural wives
Perversions in the name of God
Underground religion turning toward the mainstream light
Blind devotion in the name of God
Justifying violence, citing from the Holy Book
Teaching hatred in the name of God
[CHORUS]
In the name of God
Religious beliefs
Fanatic obsession
Does following faith lead us to violence?
Unyielding crusade
Divine revelation
Does following faith lead us to violence?
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!”
Why is he the chosen one?
Saint gone astray
with a scepter and a gun
Learn to believe
in the mighty and the strong
Come, bleed the beast
Follow me, it won't be long
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
leading to your salvation
Slaying the weak
Ethnic elimination
Any day, we'll all be swept away
You'll be saved as long as you obey
Lies! Tools of the devil inside
Written in holy disguise
Meant to deceive and divide us all
[CHORUS]
They can't tell where God ends and mankind begins
They know no other life but this
From the cradle they are claimed
[CHORUS]
All would perish in the name of God
Self-proclaimed messiah led his servants to their death
Eighty murdered in the name of God
Forty sons and daughters, unconsenting plural wives
Perversions in the name of God
Underground religion turning toward the mainstream light
Blind devotion in the name of God
Justifying violence, citing from the Holy Book
Teaching hatred in the name of God
In the name of God
Fanatic obsession
Does following faith lead us to violence?
Unyielding crusade
Divine revelation
Does following faith lead us to violence?
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!”
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I really don't believe that this song targets Islam in particular. I think that the message to be taken from this truly great song is that mankind has no right to manipulate religion. I don't think any one religion is guilty here but possibly all orginized religions have had their vices. I am Catholic and I so I will be the first to point out the references to the crusades. littered about also are references to Islam and cults, as thunderbolt, YtseJam and enchiridion all point out. It criticizes those who "Blur the lines between virtue and sin", or those who twist religion for their own personal gain. This song is not an attack on God, but rather an attack on those who start wars, claiming to be carrying out His will (twisting faith into voilence in the name of God)
@JeffGodofBiscuits yes that's correct its not about religion being bad its about what you said, people manipulating it and turning it into a bad thing. I try to tell people this stuff all the time and they just don't listen, it is not Christianity's fault or any single Christians fault that some loser a long time ago was killing int he name of god, especially when god dosent endorse such a thing.
@JeffGodofBiscuits yes that's correct its not about religion being bad its about what you said, people manipulating it and turning it into a bad thing. I try to tell people this stuff all the time and they just don't listen, it is not Christianity's fault or any single Christians fault that some loser a long time ago was killing int he name of god, especially when god dosent endorse such a thing.
Just to correct Thunderbolt, this lyric was written by John Petrucci and not James Labrie.
About all the hypocrites who use fighting "for their God" as an excuse to do whatever they want. Amazing song...
This is my favorite song off of ToT by far. Best part is when the choir kicks in at the end and sings "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in the backround.
As for the meaning of this song, I feel it is about religious radicals who take it too far. Not just islam but all religions. All of the above have seemed to cover this idea pretty well.
Alright, pigbenis666, apparently an atheist...
You're saying that no God could have created us so that we evolve near close to a mathematical equation, and that no God could have created aliens that we aren't even sure exist?
Sounds like a pretty shitty thesis to me. Sure, your points may be against Christianity. But not the existence of a God.
You can only disprove the existence of a God that accords to the rules of a certain religion. (e.g. Christianity) Otherwise, can you really disprove the existence of there being a God? I don't think so. Not that easily.
I agree with webdog230, it's obviously a song about radical cults, people claiming they're the Messiah but just using people and leading them astray. I don't think it's about the Book of Revelations, and I'm pretty sure it's not debating the existence of God!
I'm not sure which cults he's talking about specifically, I did read it somewhere but I can't find it! The one thing I do know is it's not about the Jonestown Massacre as some people are hypothesising, it's a good shout but over 900 people killed themselves in that, not just 80.
Not all of them killed themselves! Most of them were forced to drink poison.
Not all of them killed themselves! Most of them were forced to drink poison.
I'm sure it's a critique against those who used the word of God to cause horrible things, which no religion is innocent of. In the Bible, causing violence "In thr name of God" is one of the worst sins you can do, which makes the Crusades, Islamic Terrorism, etc, a huge hypocrisy.
According to an interview, James LaBrie wrote this with three specific religious leaders in mind. But who?
As for "unconsenting plural wives", Joseph Smith is a possibility, although I don't know if they were unconsenting or how many there were. For more information, read "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer. It's about fundamental Mormonism. Mohammed is also possible; he took plural wives, but not forty.
I also suspect Jim Jones is one of them. He's the guy who led hundreds of people to their deaths in Guyana in 1978, ordering them all to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid when the US government investigated whether he was holding people against their wills.
At first I thought that this song was a vieled diatribe against the radical and violent clergies in conteporary Islam. The three religious leaders would be Koresh (who, I think, did take multiple, very young, wives), Jim Jones, and the Heaven's Gate guy. These are, at least, the three faces that they put up on the projection screen at their concert in Denver (this was their encore... it rocked).
this is a dam good song!!!!!!! it rules!!!