So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Maybe it's too late for an intellectual debate,
But a residue of confusion remains.
Changing with the times,
And amphetamine tortured minds
Are average the citizen's sources of pain.
Tell me what we're fighting forâ??
I don't remember anymore,
Only temporary reprieve
And the world might cease
If we fail to tame the beast
From the faith that you release
Comes an atheist peace.
Atheist peace.
Political forces ran
Political winds of discontent,
And the modern age emerged triumphantly.
But now that safety's gone,
And it's time to de-evolve
And relive the dark chapters of history
Tell me what we're fighting forâ??
No progress ever came from war,
Only a false sense of increase
And the world won't wait
For the truth upon a plate
But we're ready now to feast on an atheist peace.
Atheist peace
But a residue of confusion remains.
Changing with the times,
And amphetamine tortured minds
Are average the citizen's sources of pain.
Tell me what we're fighting forâ??
I don't remember anymore,
Only temporary reprieve
And the world might cease
If we fail to tame the beast
From the faith that you release
Comes an atheist peace.
Atheist peace.
Political forces ran
Political winds of discontent,
And the modern age emerged triumphantly.
But now that safety's gone,
And it's time to de-evolve
And relive the dark chapters of history
Tell me what we're fighting forâ??
No progress ever came from war,
Only a false sense of increase
And the world won't wait
For the truth upon a plate
But we're ready now to feast on an atheist peace.
Atheist peace
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castrophony has a damn good point, you know...religion is often used as a justification for war to rationalize it for a nation/group, but it is not the actual cause in many cases. Without religion, international anarchy, fear, greed, hatemongering, etc. would still exist; the governments/institutions who conduct war would just have one less tool to use in selling wars. Yes, wars would be harder to justify to "the masses" without religion, but the geopolitical and economic causes of many, especially modern, wars would still exist.