I love this song, and think it's sad that people feel that a belief in deity is necessary for hope. Not that I'm saying religion is bad, some people do need it. But even people of faith should be able to appreciate Waynes message here. Look at mother Theresa, in her diaries, she turned out to be plagued by the very feelings of doubt and disconnection from the higher power she had faith in. And yet look at what she did with her life. Whether she accomplished what she did in spite of her struggles, or because of them, clearly she found strength somewhere after those introspections. As a Christian, (unless you have seen your messiah personally) If you don't have a seed of doubt somewhere in your body, then you are unobjective, and probably worthless as a person, because you are not living by faith, you are merely a regurgitation of the prevailing culture, and too weak to step into others shoes.
Personally, I think waynes just saying that you have to forget about what may or may not happen in a possible afterlife, and live your life on its own merits. I happen to think that my life is only more important in the scheme of life if I only have the time I'm here. People who are assholes are assholes whether they have religion or not, and people who are good are good regardless of whether they live their lives for an afterlife or as the only expression they will ever have. This isn't a song of sadness, but rather honest, earnest pondering about the meaning of life.
I love this song, and think it's sad that people feel that a belief in deity is necessary for hope. Not that I'm saying religion is bad, some people do need it. But even people of faith should be able to appreciate Waynes message here. Look at mother Theresa, in her diaries, she turned out to be plagued by the very feelings of doubt and disconnection from the higher power she had faith in. And yet look at what she did with her life. Whether she accomplished what she did in spite of her struggles, or because of them, clearly she found strength somewhere after those introspections. As a Christian, (unless you have seen your messiah personally) If you don't have a seed of doubt somewhere in your body, then you are unobjective, and probably worthless as a person, because you are not living by faith, you are merely a regurgitation of the prevailing culture, and too weak to step into others shoes.
Personally, I think waynes just saying that you have to forget about what may or may not happen in a possible afterlife, and live your life on its own merits. I happen to think that my life is only more important in the scheme of life if I only have the time I'm here. People who are assholes are assholes whether they have religion or not, and people who are good are good regardless of whether they live their lives for an afterlife or as the only expression they will ever have. This isn't a song of sadness, but rather honest, earnest pondering about the meaning of life.