"The basis of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. In other words, religion is the self-consciousness and self-feeling of man who has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world." - Karl Marx
This is that part right before "opiate of the masses," and blah de blah. Anyways, I think Greg Graffin was quoted once saying that religion stood as a symbol for the band for many things it seeks to criticize. Not for itself but for something within human nature that drives it toward its own self-ruination, like the thanatos or death drive of Freudian psychology.
The first part of the song speaks about the gross violations of human rights based on color. George H.W. Bush was a former director of the CIA "the company" so this is a reference to him putting pressure through various channels on Rodney King to call for peace without restitution for the wrong that was done to him.
The second part of the song is about "doing it" whether it's exploitative sex, murder, assassination or colonization, again touching on the thanatos that drives us to ruin ourselves and others.
The third part touches on the topic of abortion and, I believe, rape as well. "Lay hands off her body" suggests a pregnancy a woman doesn't want because it was forced on her, the irony of course being that right-wing Americans want to ensure the will of the rapist comes to pass through the birth of his child and having to raise that child in shame rather than the woman resuming her autonomy over her body and being able to recover from that traumatic experience and have a normal life.
The fourth part speaks to the "miracles" of God which would be seen as horrible tragedies in the media if they occurred today. Voltaire once said "those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." If you believe in a God who truly killed all the firstborn sons of Egyptians in an act of genocide, then actually going to war and committing genocide isn't a far cry.
FYI: There is no archaeological evidence of the Exodus taking place, and from Cairo to Jerusalem is about 470 miles / 750 km which is about two weeks of walking with rest and breaks for food. It doesn't take forty years. Jews know this of course ... but to them the traditions and customs matter more than the supposed events that prompted them.
But let us ignore the humanistic rationalizations of those within a certain minority religion and focus on how Christians read the Bible like it's yesterday's newspaper ... and think about how it's always the right wingers who want violence to occur to those they believe are enemies of God, instead of wanting people simply to be fed and clothed. I don't think this is a direct criticism of Jesus as a person but of people who take all the wrong lessons from religion, people who would rather see a bomb dropped than a hungry person fed.
The end refrain being "don't pray on me" as in "don't prey on me" - revealing the true meaning of "doin' it" in the second verse. Dimmesdale (literary mistake, perhaps) preyed on Hester Prynne being a single woman seeking solace while her husband was away. Mark David Chapman preyed on the fame of John Lennon, trying to see depth where it wasn't there and eventually took his life out of anger that his man crush wasn't interested in him. Jack (John F. Kennedy) supposedly had an affair with Norma Jean Mortenson / Marilyn Monroe, and the fallout from that basically led to her killing herself. The final example of preying was is how John F. Kennedy's policy got us into the Vietnam war, and all the lives that were lost as a result of that.
To help you understand the meaning of this song:
"The basis of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. In other words, religion is the self-consciousness and self-feeling of man who has either not yet found himself or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world." - Karl Marx
This is that part right before "opiate of the masses," and blah de blah. Anyways, I think Greg Graffin was quoted once saying that religion stood as a symbol for the band for many things it seeks to criticize. Not for itself but for something within human nature that drives it toward its own self-ruination, like the thanatos or death drive of Freudian psychology.
The first part of the song speaks about the gross violations of human rights based on color. George H.W. Bush was a former director of the CIA "the company" so this is a reference to him putting pressure through various channels on Rodney King to call for peace without restitution for the wrong that was done to him.
The second part of the song is about "doing it" whether it's exploitative sex, murder, assassination or colonization, again touching on the thanatos that drives us to ruin ourselves and others.
The third part touches on the topic of abortion and, I believe, rape as well. "Lay hands off her body" suggests a pregnancy a woman doesn't want because it was forced on her, the irony of course being that right-wing Americans want to ensure the will of the rapist comes to pass through the birth of his child and having to raise that child in shame rather than the woman resuming her autonomy over her body and being able to recover from that traumatic experience and have a normal life.
The fourth part speaks to the "miracles" of God which would be seen as horrible tragedies in the media if they occurred today. Voltaire once said "those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." If you believe in a God who truly killed all the firstborn sons of Egyptians in an act of genocide, then actually going to war and committing genocide isn't a far cry.
FYI: There is no archaeological evidence of the Exodus taking place, and from Cairo to Jerusalem is about 470 miles / 750 km which is about two weeks of walking with rest and breaks for food. It doesn't take forty years. Jews know this of course ... but to them the traditions and customs matter more than the supposed events that prompted them.
But let us ignore the humanistic rationalizations of those within a certain minority religion and focus on how Christians read the Bible like it's yesterday's newspaper ... and think about how it's always the right wingers who want violence to occur to those they believe are enemies of God, instead of wanting people simply to be fed and clothed. I don't think this is a direct criticism of Jesus as a person but of people who take all the wrong lessons from religion, people who would rather see a bomb dropped than a hungry person fed.
The end refrain being "don't pray on me" as in "don't prey on me" - revealing the true meaning of "doin' it" in the second verse. Dimmesdale (literary mistake, perhaps) preyed on Hester Prynne being a single woman seeking solace while her husband was away. Mark David Chapman preyed on the fame of John Lennon, trying to see depth where it wasn't there and eventually took his life out of anger that his man crush wasn't interested in him. Jack (John F. Kennedy) supposedly had an affair with Norma Jean Mortenson / Marilyn Monroe, and the fallout from that basically led to her killing herself. The final example of preying was is how John F. Kennedy's policy got us into the Vietnam war, and all the lives that were lost as a result of that.
[Edit: expansion and clarification of comments]