Friday, June 15, 2007

It's a musical day...

A challenging song to us as Christians, to stop allowing Christ and God to be misused in the name of our country and a war we don't agree with. Greg Graffin is an atheist, but I think this song is an insightful view of how religion can be oversimplified and abused in the name of any number of things.

I don't need to be a global citizen
Because I'm blessed by nationality
I'm member of a growing populace
We enforce our popularity
There are things that
Seem to pull us under
And there are things
That drag us down
But there's a power
And a vital presence
That's lurking all around
We've got the American Jesus
See him on the interstate
We've got the American Jesus
He helped build the
President's estate
I feel sorry
For the earth's population
cuz so few
Live in the u.s.a.
At least the foreigners
Can copy our morality
They can visit but they cannot stay
Only precious few
Can garner the prosperity
It makes us walk
With renewed confidence
We've got a place to go when we die
And the architect resides right here
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day
(exercising his authority)
He's the farmer's barren fields
The force the army wields
The expession in the faces
Of the starving children
The power of the man
He's the fuel that drives the clan
He's the motive and conscience
Of the murderer
He's the preacher on t.v.
The false sincerity
The form letter that's written
By the big computers
He's the nuclear bombs
And the kids with no moms
And I'm fearful that
He's inside me


This song is from Bad Religion's 1993 album "Recipe for Hate". I think it's remarkable how much it still rings true.

5 comments:

Bob Ferguson said...

Great stuff. Thanks for posting it. I now trying to figure out to put it on the Baptist Forum!

Bob Ferguson said...

I am very pleased. I did it. I am getting pretty good for an old man.

C. Joshua Villines said...

Your Dad's post sent me here. Good stuff here, and in your other posts. Glad I "found it".

Nice dissertation countdown clock, but seeing yours reminded me that I should be working on MY dissertation :(.

Joshua

Angela said...

Joshua, blessings for the journey ... dissertation writing, that is.

Leland Bryant Ross said...

Thanks. Powerful lyrics. Even if I agreed with the war it would not be right to misuse Jesus/God in support of it.

Haruo
who also found it through your dad's post at Baptistlife.com