Friday, June 22, 2007

Imagine...

John Lennon



Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

the last words were eerily familiar, and here's why:

This Jew guy who doesn't want his kids to be brought up small-minded or fundamentalist and so passes on the Jewish education and raises them as Lennonists.
To which AMoss replies,

You don't want to force your ideals on your children. But by denying them their spiritual heritage, you are forcing your ideals on them. They are missing the chance to explore their Jewish identities during their formative years. They didn't choose that, you did. You have decided their religion for them. They are Lennonists whether they like it or not.

And if that song is your bible, then they are being brought up in a much more closed-minded religion than Judaism.

You have only quoted one verse. But I think the last verse of the song is the most revealing. It proclaims a worldview as closed-minded as the most narrow extremist:

You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.


In other words, there is "you" and there is "us". You are the unenlightened ones. We have found the truth. But hopefully one day you will become one of us too. Only then can the world live as one. Sound familiar?

blah jah jah blah jah bless. shabbes shaloym.

Avi said...

Yup, yup, yup!

This ultimately is the point made that an apikoress can only be a talmid chochom. If he's doesn't know what he doesn't believe in, he's not an apikoress, he's an imbecile.

Also that, contrary to how they may like to present themselves, athiests BELIEVE in nothing. And that's a religion "not to be forced" on children as any other.

But we still don't like AMoss mostly. A little, ye, but not really.

Avi said...

And besides... look where this belief got Lennon :)

But really, I don't know that his intention was "let's build a world that has no heaven, hell, countries, religion..." but "let's treat each other as if our world had no..." and THAT's quite a noble ideal.

But REALLY really I think Lennon actually DID intend a world that HAD no differences which is silly communist, mixed with cocaine and garnished with a pinch of heroin, drivel. But, ya know...

Anonymous said...

mmhm:) send to me, plz?