Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)
This creeps me out...
I recently dug up some old CD's and converted them to
MP3. I ran across a The The album...and as I was ripping the file, the music was
playing. I heard this track after perhaps 10 years...and realized that 14 years
since it's first release...not much has
changed.
Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)
Are you ready for Jesus?
Uh huh
Buddha?
Yeah
Muhammad?
Ok
Well, I like this
Let's Go
They're 5 miles high as the crow flies
Leaving vapour trails against a blood red sky
Moving in from the East towards the West
With Balaclava helmets over their heads, yes
But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hi-jacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
It's war, she cried
It's war, she cried
This is war
Drop your possessions all you simple folk
You'll fight them on the beaches in your underclothes
You'll thank the good Lord for raising the Union Jack
You'll watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating back
Watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating back
But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hi-jacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
"Get the gun, get the gun, get the gun"
"Stay away from the gun, stay away from the gun"
If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA
Oh, the lights that now burn brightest behind stained glass
Will cast the darkest shadows upon the human heart
But God didn't build himself that throne
God doesn't live in Israel or Rome
God doesn't belong to the yankee dollar
God doesn't plant the bombs for Hezbollah
God doesn't even go to church
And God won't send us down to Allah to burn
God will remind us what we already know
That the human race is about to reap what it's sown
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here
"It's saying that God doesn't commit these evil acts. The things that are committed in the name of God are not God's doing. They're just mankind's doing. All this wickedness is the animal nature of man being expressed. There is no Satan. The Devil lives in the human heart. The only devil is the human ego or the lower nature of man. The God that inspired the prophets is the one God no institution or religion has a monopoly on. That same force is here today for anyone to use it. God is not a relic from the past. It's a human birthright. I feel very strongly about the misuse of God as a tool for suppressing humanity, which is what it's been used for throughout the centuries."
-Matt Johnson/The The
Melody Maker 1989
------------
When this album first came out in 1989, I had just graduated HS and was off to college. I didn't know (or care) anything about Israel, Palestine, or the Middle East in general. In fact, I'm sure that prior to September 11, most Americans had their heads up their ass about the world. I'll admit that I first started to get concerned about the Middle East around the time the Taliban was destroying anything that they perceived as a threat to Islam (although Allah can take care of himself). I just couldn't believe that a governing power could be so backwards.
We all had a wake-up call on September 11 regarding our place in the world and the general stability of developing (and some developed) nations. We've learned that a governing theology (Iran) can be as dangerous as any governing ideology (North Korea).
I believe that Islam can be dangerous, in the wrong hands. I believe the same for Christianity. Any religion or idea can be twisted to fit the desires of a small group of people, at the expense of the greater population. This is why preserving the secular aspects of our nation are so important. The far right see no trouble with allowing prayer in school...or allowing religious faith to creep into our governing principles. On this ideal, many Christians are united. The problem is that they are only united now...what happens when they get their way, and then the cracks begin to appear in the facade? We have seen this before in this country.
How many different factions of Christianity are there? According to census data from 1995, there are over 150 different Christian denominations (including 19 different Baptist groups), and we know that number is low because every time there is a disagreement within a congregation, some group splinters off to form another. This same thing happens within Islam...who is the true Prophet?
This instability within two of the world's largest and most influential faiths goes to show you that ruling by religion is unstable and unreliable. You simply cannot legislate morality...you must teach it. A secular nation does not limit the individuals right to worship. Just because you cannot put the Ten Commandments into a Federal Court, doesn't mean your freedom to worship has been threatened. Last time I checked, you were still free to worship at home, on the street, in a Church, in your car, and most importantly, in your heart. The right made an awfully big stink about prayer in school...but I don't remember anyone saying that you were not allowed to pray to yourself. To some people, praying out loud is as offensive as someone who reads out loud.
When I was in 7th grade, I had a crazy Industrial Arts teacher who was trying to ban the works of Mark Twain from the Junior High library. Before each class he had a moment to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He told us we didn't have to participate, but went on to imply (and actually used the word) that we were communists. I was really upset that a person would tell a group of 13 year olds that they were un-American, unless they did what he perceived to be a show of American Patriotism. Personally, I didn't have any issue with the Pledge of Allegiance, but I knew in my heart that what he was doing was wrong. And so I refrained from joining the rest of the class...and I also joined the fight against his book ban. In another defiant move, I decided I would not date his hot daughter, even if she were to ask me (which she didn't).
I submit to the Christian right, that if an Islamic public school teacher got up in class and taught to the kids that Islam was the true faith, and that any attack on Islam was wrong...you would have their head on a spike. "How dare they teach my children about such things." But that is exactly what happens when you allow any faith to infringe on the civil rights of other people.
Religion belongs in your homes and in your hearts.
Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)
Are you ready for Jesus?
Uh huh
Buddha?
Yeah
Muhammad?
Ok
Well, I like this
Let's Go
They're 5 miles high as the crow flies
Leaving vapour trails against a blood red sky
Moving in from the East towards the West
With Balaclava helmets over their heads, yes
But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hi-jacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
It's war, she cried
It's war, she cried
This is war
Drop your possessions all you simple folk
You'll fight them on the beaches in your underclothes
You'll thank the good Lord for raising the Union Jack
You'll watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating back
Watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating back
But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey you've got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who's hi-jacked his name
He'll cut out his heart and turn in his grave
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
"Get the gun, get the gun, get the gun"
"Stay away from the gun, stay away from the gun"
If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA
Oh, the lights that now burn brightest behind stained glass
Will cast the darkest shadows upon the human heart
But God didn't build himself that throne
God doesn't live in Israel or Rome
God doesn't belong to the yankee dollar
God doesn't plant the bombs for Hezbollah
God doesn't even go to church
And God won't send us down to Allah to burn
God will remind us what we already know
That the human race is about to reap what it's sown
Islam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
The world is on its elbows and knees
It's forgotten the message and worships the creeds
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here
"It's saying that God doesn't commit these evil acts. The things that are committed in the name of God are not God's doing. They're just mankind's doing. All this wickedness is the animal nature of man being expressed. There is no Satan. The Devil lives in the human heart. The only devil is the human ego or the lower nature of man. The God that inspired the prophets is the one God no institution or religion has a monopoly on. That same force is here today for anyone to use it. God is not a relic from the past. It's a human birthright. I feel very strongly about the misuse of God as a tool for suppressing humanity, which is what it's been used for throughout the centuries."
-Matt Johnson/The The
Melody Maker 1989
------------
When this album first came out in 1989, I had just graduated HS and was off to college. I didn't know (or care) anything about Israel, Palestine, or the Middle East in general. In fact, I'm sure that prior to September 11, most Americans had their heads up their ass about the world. I'll admit that I first started to get concerned about the Middle East around the time the Taliban was destroying anything that they perceived as a threat to Islam (although Allah can take care of himself). I just couldn't believe that a governing power could be so backwards.
We all had a wake-up call on September 11 regarding our place in the world and the general stability of developing (and some developed) nations. We've learned that a governing theology (Iran) can be as dangerous as any governing ideology (North Korea).
I believe that Islam can be dangerous, in the wrong hands. I believe the same for Christianity. Any religion or idea can be twisted to fit the desires of a small group of people, at the expense of the greater population. This is why preserving the secular aspects of our nation are so important. The far right see no trouble with allowing prayer in school...or allowing religious faith to creep into our governing principles. On this ideal, many Christians are united. The problem is that they are only united now...what happens when they get their way, and then the cracks begin to appear in the facade? We have seen this before in this country.
How many different factions of Christianity are there? According to census data from 1995, there are over 150 different Christian denominations (including 19 different Baptist groups), and we know that number is low because every time there is a disagreement within a congregation, some group splinters off to form another. This same thing happens within Islam...who is the true Prophet?
This instability within two of the world's largest and most influential faiths goes to show you that ruling by religion is unstable and unreliable. You simply cannot legislate morality...you must teach it. A secular nation does not limit the individuals right to worship. Just because you cannot put the Ten Commandments into a Federal Court, doesn't mean your freedom to worship has been threatened. Last time I checked, you were still free to worship at home, on the street, in a Church, in your car, and most importantly, in your heart. The right made an awfully big stink about prayer in school...but I don't remember anyone saying that you were not allowed to pray to yourself. To some people, praying out loud is as offensive as someone who reads out loud.
When I was in 7th grade, I had a crazy Industrial Arts teacher who was trying to ban the works of Mark Twain from the Junior High library. Before each class he had a moment to say the Pledge of Allegiance. He told us we didn't have to participate, but went on to imply (and actually used the word) that we were communists. I was really upset that a person would tell a group of 13 year olds that they were un-American, unless they did what he perceived to be a show of American Patriotism. Personally, I didn't have any issue with the Pledge of Allegiance, but I knew in my heart that what he was doing was wrong. And so I refrained from joining the rest of the class...and I also joined the fight against his book ban. In another defiant move, I decided I would not date his hot daughter, even if she were to ask me (which she didn't).
I submit to the Christian right, that if an Islamic public school teacher got up in class and taught to the kids that Islam was the true faith, and that any attack on Islam was wrong...you would have their head on a spike. "How dare they teach my children about such things." But that is exactly what happens when you allow any faith to infringe on the civil rights of other people.
Religion belongs in your homes and in your hearts.
Posted: Fri - October 3, 2003 at 02:10 PM
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Published On: Jan 29, 2004 01:35 PM
Total entries in this category: 25
Published On: Jan 29, 2004 01:35 PM