I think the song is about religion and not goverments, really. And not only the wars that are being waged in the name of a God, but also the indoctrination and narrow-mindedness of the religious people themselves.
The "thou shalt not" at the beginning of the song could be a reference to the 10 commandments from God, as most of them start with "thou shalt not" or any other version of those words. This interpretation is backed up by the lines that follow: "Kill your father, destroy another life". The 10 commandments tell us to "honor thy father" and "not kill", so yeah, this makes some sense. Corey adds some more commandments after these, though. "Question everything we clung to for years", "Design a Better Death". I think he comments on the religious peoples mindless clinging onto their old rules and habits. They are not open for influences from the outside. At the end of this couplet he claims he is actually open for religion, but finds himself incapable of believing because he sees there is so much wrong with religion. This is followed by the line he keeps repeating: The end is the same, the world will not change. The answer is clear: etc, etc, etc. The world sucks and, according to Corey, religion is not open for any new influences, thus preventing this sucking world from changing. According to him, the answer is destroying religion.
The rest of the song easier to explain. I think it pretty much comes down to Corey telling the listeners to turn against their (religious) parents and think for themselves rather than simply take everything they are told as the truth. He says he is not trying to "control or restrain something he does not understand" (?deity?), but realises he is better off doing so (openly being an Atheïst, I guess). He was told by someone how to cast religion aside (burn the thoughts he had) and he is trying to tell us to do the same. If we want to be free of religion and the war and doubt it breeds, we will have to free ourselves from its shackles.
I might be right, I might be wrong. Nonetheless, a lovely songtext with tons of meaning in it! Its message might be a bit extreme, but I guess it's all part of their image.
lecturing mode - on
I think the song is about religion and not goverments, really. And not only the wars that are being waged in the name of a God, but also the indoctrination and narrow-mindedness of the religious people themselves.
The "thou shalt not" at the beginning of the song could be a reference to the 10 commandments from God, as most of them start with "thou shalt not" or any other version of those words. This interpretation is backed up by the lines that follow: "Kill your father, destroy another life". The 10 commandments tell us to "honor thy father" and "not kill", so yeah, this makes some sense. Corey adds some more commandments after these, though. "Question everything we clung to for years", "Design a Better Death". I think he comments on the religious peoples mindless clinging onto their old rules and habits. They are not open for influences from the outside. At the end of this couplet he claims he is actually open for religion, but finds himself incapable of believing because he sees there is so much wrong with religion. This is followed by the line he keeps repeating: The end is the same, the world will not change. The answer is clear: etc, etc, etc. The world sucks and, according to Corey, religion is not open for any new influences, thus preventing this sucking world from changing. According to him, the answer is destroying religion.
The rest of the song easier to explain. I think it pretty much comes down to Corey telling the listeners to turn against their (religious) parents and think for themselves rather than simply take everything they are told as the truth. He says he is not trying to "control or restrain something he does not understand" (?deity?), but realises he is better off doing so (openly being an Atheïst, I guess). He was told by someone how to cast religion aside (burn the thoughts he had) and he is trying to tell us to do the same. If we want to be free of religion and the war and doubt it breeds, we will have to free ourselves from its shackles.
I might be right, I might be wrong. Nonetheless, a lovely songtext with tons of meaning in it! Its message might be a bit extreme, but I guess it's all part of their image.