Whenever I've listened to this, I've always got the mental picture of like terrorism and suicide bombing kind of thing. Sometimes literal references, sometimes more subtle...
i.e. Literal = "pray that you will make it out alive", "dynamite is strapped to my chest", "bringing civilization to its knees"
and more metaphorical
"a text book infection" (reference to a holy book?)
and the "ailment" being his belief...
and just that kind of thing.
But all the other explanations are perfectly plausible too, so... who knows!
Hmmm.
Whenever I've listened to this, I've always got the mental picture of like terrorism and suicide bombing kind of thing. Sometimes literal references, sometimes more subtle...
i.e. Literal = "pray that you will make it out alive", "dynamite is strapped to my chest", "bringing civilization to its knees"
and more metaphorical
"a text book infection" (reference to a holy book?) and the "ailment" being his belief... and just that kind of thing.
But all the other explanations are perfectly plausible too, so... who knows!