I believe this song is political in nature, and in particular is addressed to George W. Bush. The members of LOG are very liberal and are not religious. Many liberals believe that Bush and/or the Republican Party stole the 2000 election, and saw the events as counter to the principles of American government. Furthermore, a lot of liberals were horrified by the beginning of the war on terror, and found things like Bush's speech from the rubble of the WTC highly disturbing. Many believe that the war on terror was a Manichean construct meant to keep the people in a permanent state of fear as the government conducted an endless war. Hunter Thompson, for example, believed this and he went so far as to kill himself. The fact that Bush is an evangelical and the Republican party is very Christianity-oriented only adds to these fears in the eyes of many of the liberal and non-religious. It exacerbates the hypocrisy of the actions of the Bush administration who they feel basically invaded the middle east for oil profits. They may think that the right wing sees the war on terror and the invasion of Iraw as religious crusades (the head of Blackwater made comments to this effect after the Iraq war started, which was after this song was written), which is highly grotesque in their view and counter to the secularism and religious tolerance of the founding of America. Religious purtiy and enforcement of religious doctrines they see as another tool of government oppression. Sensing these developments in his country, the narrator does not feel he supports his own country that he loves and people have sacrificed for generations for, and in fact wishes it ill so that it will change its course.
You really need to educate yourself on governement, taxation, the economy, politics, and the political parties. There is little difference between parties. However, one party believe you stimulate an economy by raising taxes and wasteful spending (which only makes program administrators wealthy). Bush2 will go down in history as being an inadequate president, but he will also go down in history as being not as bad as the one who followed him. Under Obama, household incomes have dropped 4 consecutive years, US jobs have gone overseas at record number since 2010, small businesses have been hampered by this president;...
You really need to educate yourself on governement, taxation, the economy, politics, and the political parties. There is little difference between parties. However, one party believe you stimulate an economy by raising taxes and wasteful spending (which only makes program administrators wealthy). Bush2 will go down in history as being an inadequate president, but he will also go down in history as being not as bad as the one who followed him. Under Obama, household incomes have dropped 4 consecutive years, US jobs have gone overseas at record number since 2010, small businesses have been hampered by this president; we have the higest gas prices under his administration, he lied about not raising taxes on the middle class (and 7 new ones are set to hit with Obamacare, a program that will be run by rich bureocrats that have mishandled the public schools, the postal service, medicare, social security, etc); he has increaased the natl' debt more than any other president in history which WILL impact negatively future generations, blacks/minorities have fared worse under his administration than other all previous admininstrations (check the stats); he has blurred the lines of church/state w/ regard to abortion/contraceptives; he has not upheld OUR own laws w/ regard to immigration; he has not protected border states that should be protected; etc, etc, etc. The most conservative judge on the Supreme Court was a democrat, but perhaps the most conservative in thinking: Thurgood Marshall. As for religion, all our laws are based on the moral codes under Chrisitianity. Once God is removed, there is no guide. What is now to keep three people from marrying? (Lawsuits in California are already pending.) What is to keep siblings from marrying? What is to keep incest from being illegal or children protected from adult predators? God has been the core of our society, and with His decline in our secular society we have seen firsthand the problems: disease, divorce, adultry, corporate greed, corruption, sloth, drug use, etc. Our forefathers were not secular humanists as you stated. They were Christians and diests (mostly the latter) who began and ended every political gathering with a prayer. Separation of church/state was not to protect the government (if you'd actually research the issue); it was to protect the churches from people like Obama. Religion is woven thoughout our society, and that has been a wonderful thing. And do get over Bush; the hanging chads were the fault of three election supervisors who refused training for their districts: two democrats and an independent. I realize the truth makes you uncomfortable, but you could at least feel an obligation to be truthful when it comes to education. One would think anyway...
IllToast2That-I'll be the first to admit that I'm not politically educated in any way, therefore, I will not comment on your political views. I would like to point out one thing that I find to be a flaw in your statement. This is about God necessarily being needed to be at the center of morality. This would imply that those who are not Christians have no morality/morals. Surely you can see that this is incorrect. Morality from the beginning of human life has always been based on the self. Pain is what is essential. A child has no intrinsic morality,...
IllToast2That-I'll be the first to admit that I'm not politically educated in any way, therefore, I will not comment on your political views. I would like to point out one thing that I find to be a flaw in your statement. This is about God necessarily being needed to be at the center of morality. This would imply that those who are not Christians have no morality/morals. Surely you can see that this is incorrect. Morality from the beginning of human life has always been based on the self. Pain is what is essential. A child has no intrinsic morality, however, once a child has experienced pain or harm done by another, this feeling of "wrong" is then generalized to others, but not everyone, only those viewed of through love, as equals, as innocent, as good. Empathy is the tool that is used to spawn morality and the faculty which enables us to do so. We have things done to us that cause us pain and suffering and therefore make the ASSUMPTION that the action(s), or in worse cases the person, that caused us this pain/suffering is "wrong" or "bad" or "evil." And you may retort by saying "I've never been murdered, but I still know murder is wrong," but if you made this statement you would be ignoring a vital, unique, and essential ability of humans. The ability to conceptualize. While you may not have been murdered, you still have the ability to generalize/exaggerate what physical harm has been inflicted upon you in your personal experiences. You are also able to experience things vicariously. You can see a murder in a movie or read about one in a book and feel that it is wrong, and you have the logic to understand that if it is wrong in this particular circumstance, then it is wrong in other circumstances as well. Religion is woven throughout our society at every level, but so is independence and individuality. I admit that religion has helped many many people find meaning in their life and help them live more productive, healthy, happy, and moral lives, but it has also been used to oppress many many people as a means to "keep them in line" and neglect any and all of their desires that fall out of the realm of what the church deems "good" or "right." Religion denies individuals their individuality, independence, and liberty through the establishment of concerete values and the entire good/bad dichotomy, and then attempting to enforce or thrust these values upon the rest of society and the world, and judge everyone and every action by those PERSONAL and SUBJECTIVE standards. So as you see, there is an apparent contradiction that is built into the infastructure of our nation, of our hearts, and of our minds. We want religion, but not the side/negative effects of it. My dream would be for politically intelligent people, like yourself, to focus on this issue that has run through the veins of this country and come up with a political/legislative solution to it. My suggestion is to somehow get everyone to keep their religious beliefs and convictions, or lack thereof, personalized. Everyone is free to live the life they want and believe what they want, but no one is free or has the right to condemn the lifestyle, morality, beliefs, etc of others who are different from you. Now, what this means for legislature, I don't know, but perhaps laws are unnecessary. Just hear me out, what if you woke up tomorrow to find that it has been declared that murder is now legal. Would you suddenly start murdering people? I'm guessing you wouldn't and neither would anyone else. Murder is illegal now and carries the steepest penalty possible, yet people still continue to murder anyway, and this is because when someone is in the passion of the moment consequences don't matter. All that matters is alleviating your rage, hate, jealousy, hurt, vengence, etc. And actually, this type of anarchist society may just encourage people to think for themselves a little bit more. With nothing to confrom to, you have no choice but to be yourself and form your own beliefs and ideals and morality. If you (and by "you" I mean anyone/everyone) would take the time to think honestly and openly about why we find this good or this bad and how all of morality came to be, you would see what it truly means to be human, to be yourself, to know yourself. Could we not then know the meaning of life? Your response is much appreciated.
I believe this song is political in nature, and in particular is addressed to George W. Bush. The members of LOG are very liberal and are not religious. Many liberals believe that Bush and/or the Republican Party stole the 2000 election, and saw the events as counter to the principles of American government. Furthermore, a lot of liberals were horrified by the beginning of the war on terror, and found things like Bush's speech from the rubble of the WTC highly disturbing. Many believe that the war on terror was a Manichean construct meant to keep the people in a permanent state of fear as the government conducted an endless war. Hunter Thompson, for example, believed this and he went so far as to kill himself. The fact that Bush is an evangelical and the Republican party is very Christianity-oriented only adds to these fears in the eyes of many of the liberal and non-religious. It exacerbates the hypocrisy of the actions of the Bush administration who they feel basically invaded the middle east for oil profits. They may think that the right wing sees the war on terror and the invasion of Iraw as religious crusades (the head of Blackwater made comments to this effect after the Iraq war started, which was after this song was written), which is highly grotesque in their view and counter to the secularism and religious tolerance of the founding of America. Religious purtiy and enforcement of religious doctrines they see as another tool of government oppression. Sensing these developments in his country, the narrator does not feel he supports his own country that he loves and people have sacrificed for generations for, and in fact wishes it ill so that it will change its course.
You really need to educate yourself on governement, taxation, the economy, politics, and the political parties. There is little difference between parties. However, one party believe you stimulate an economy by raising taxes and wasteful spending (which only makes program administrators wealthy). Bush2 will go down in history as being an inadequate president, but he will also go down in history as being not as bad as the one who followed him. Under Obama, household incomes have dropped 4 consecutive years, US jobs have gone overseas at record number since 2010, small businesses have been hampered by this president;...
You really need to educate yourself on governement, taxation, the economy, politics, and the political parties. There is little difference between parties. However, one party believe you stimulate an economy by raising taxes and wasteful spending (which only makes program administrators wealthy). Bush2 will go down in history as being an inadequate president, but he will also go down in history as being not as bad as the one who followed him. Under Obama, household incomes have dropped 4 consecutive years, US jobs have gone overseas at record number since 2010, small businesses have been hampered by this president; we have the higest gas prices under his administration, he lied about not raising taxes on the middle class (and 7 new ones are set to hit with Obamacare, a program that will be run by rich bureocrats that have mishandled the public schools, the postal service, medicare, social security, etc); he has increaased the natl' debt more than any other president in history which WILL impact negatively future generations, blacks/minorities have fared worse under his administration than other all previous admininstrations (check the stats); he has blurred the lines of church/state w/ regard to abortion/contraceptives; he has not upheld OUR own laws w/ regard to immigration; he has not protected border states that should be protected; etc, etc, etc. The most conservative judge on the Supreme Court was a democrat, but perhaps the most conservative in thinking: Thurgood Marshall. As for religion, all our laws are based on the moral codes under Chrisitianity. Once God is removed, there is no guide. What is now to keep three people from marrying? (Lawsuits in California are already pending.) What is to keep siblings from marrying? What is to keep incest from being illegal or children protected from adult predators? God has been the core of our society, and with His decline in our secular society we have seen firsthand the problems: disease, divorce, adultry, corporate greed, corruption, sloth, drug use, etc. Our forefathers were not secular humanists as you stated. They were Christians and diests (mostly the latter) who began and ended every political gathering with a prayer. Separation of church/state was not to protect the government (if you'd actually research the issue); it was to protect the churches from people like Obama. Religion is woven thoughout our society, and that has been a wonderful thing. And do get over Bush; the hanging chads were the fault of three election supervisors who refused training for their districts: two democrats and an independent. I realize the truth makes you uncomfortable, but you could at least feel an obligation to be truthful when it comes to education. One would think anyway...
IllToast2That-I'll be the first to admit that I'm not politically educated in any way, therefore, I will not comment on your political views. I would like to point out one thing that I find to be a flaw in your statement. This is about God necessarily being needed to be at the center of morality. This would imply that those who are not Christians have no morality/morals. Surely you can see that this is incorrect. Morality from the beginning of human life has always been based on the self. Pain is what is essential. A child has no intrinsic morality,...
IllToast2That-I'll be the first to admit that I'm not politically educated in any way, therefore, I will not comment on your political views. I would like to point out one thing that I find to be a flaw in your statement. This is about God necessarily being needed to be at the center of morality. This would imply that those who are not Christians have no morality/morals. Surely you can see that this is incorrect. Morality from the beginning of human life has always been based on the self. Pain is what is essential. A child has no intrinsic morality, however, once a child has experienced pain or harm done by another, this feeling of "wrong" is then generalized to others, but not everyone, only those viewed of through love, as equals, as innocent, as good. Empathy is the tool that is used to spawn morality and the faculty which enables us to do so. We have things done to us that cause us pain and suffering and therefore make the ASSUMPTION that the action(s), or in worse cases the person, that caused us this pain/suffering is "wrong" or "bad" or "evil." And you may retort by saying "I've never been murdered, but I still know murder is wrong," but if you made this statement you would be ignoring a vital, unique, and essential ability of humans. The ability to conceptualize. While you may not have been murdered, you still have the ability to generalize/exaggerate what physical harm has been inflicted upon you in your personal experiences. You are also able to experience things vicariously. You can see a murder in a movie or read about one in a book and feel that it is wrong, and you have the logic to understand that if it is wrong in this particular circumstance, then it is wrong in other circumstances as well. Religion is woven throughout our society at every level, but so is independence and individuality. I admit that religion has helped many many people find meaning in their life and help them live more productive, healthy, happy, and moral lives, but it has also been used to oppress many many people as a means to "keep them in line" and neglect any and all of their desires that fall out of the realm of what the church deems "good" or "right." Religion denies individuals their individuality, independence, and liberty through the establishment of concerete values and the entire good/bad dichotomy, and then attempting to enforce or thrust these values upon the rest of society and the world, and judge everyone and every action by those PERSONAL and SUBJECTIVE standards. So as you see, there is an apparent contradiction that is built into the infastructure of our nation, of our hearts, and of our minds. We want religion, but not the side/negative effects of it. My dream would be for politically intelligent people, like yourself, to focus on this issue that has run through the veins of this country and come up with a political/legislative solution to it. My suggestion is to somehow get everyone to keep their religious beliefs and convictions, or lack thereof, personalized. Everyone is free to live the life they want and believe what they want, but no one is free or has the right to condemn the lifestyle, morality, beliefs, etc of others who are different from you. Now, what this means for legislature, I don't know, but perhaps laws are unnecessary. Just hear me out, what if you woke up tomorrow to find that it has been declared that murder is now legal. Would you suddenly start murdering people? I'm guessing you wouldn't and neither would anyone else. Murder is illegal now and carries the steepest penalty possible, yet people still continue to murder anyway, and this is because when someone is in the passion of the moment consequences don't matter. All that matters is alleviating your rage, hate, jealousy, hurt, vengence, etc. And actually, this type of anarchist society may just encourage people to think for themselves a little bit more. With nothing to confrom to, you have no choice but to be yourself and form your own beliefs and ideals and morality. If you (and by "you" I mean anyone/everyone) would take the time to think honestly and openly about why we find this good or this bad and how all of morality came to be, you would see what it truly means to be human, to be yourself, to know yourself. Could we not then know the meaning of life? Your response is much appreciated.