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Well hello there!
This week on The Politics of Singing, I'm talking about religion and playing songs by people who sing about religion. Here's a sneak peek of this week's show: first is a letter written to the Australian Parliament by a Christian Reverend, on the topic of same-sex marriage, and second is a collection of lyrics to some of the songs I'll be playing on the show.
Selections taken from a letter sent to Australian Parliament by Reverend Nathan Nettleton:
Many passages in the New Testament, and the stories of Jesus in particular, offer examples and rationale for questioning and reevaluating the ongoing applicability of old traditions and laws Ñ even Biblical ones. The accusation that he disobeyed Biblical laws was central to many of Jesus’ conflicts with the Pharisees, and so both his example and, where provided, his defence give support to (at least) our right to question the Bible’s statements on homosexuality. Matthew 15:1-20 and Mark 7:1-23 give Jesus’ most extended teaching on the subject, and in these he outlines how unquestioning adherence to traditional teaching, even Biblical teaching, can end up contravening the will of God. Both here and in his response to the question of the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28-34 & parallels), Jesus lays the foundation for questioning and sometimes setting aside a law because its practise has come to contravene the essence of the law.
Jesus does not argue that the laws about acts of purification were never valid. Instead he appears to be arguing that they are no longer fulfilling their purpose of encouraging and facilitating purity of heart, and that once they no longer serve that purpose, they become idolatrous. While a few laws, such as the laws of love for God and neighbour, are seen as absolute and are not only reiterated but strengthened (love your enemy) by Jesus, most are seen as purely functional. They need to be cast aside and replaced if their social context changes in such a way that they no longer perform their function or perhaps even begin to undermine it.
This principle is seen at work in the Acts and Epistles in the questioning and overturning of the requirement to observe the kosher food laws and the circumcision laws. Paul argues repeatedly that if we obey the law simply because it is the law we become slaves of the law. If on the other hand we are led by the Spirit who writes God’s covenant on our hearts, we become people of love and thereby fulfil the intention of the law, even though like Jesus we may appear to be contravening the law.
This process of Biblically grounded reevaluation of Biblical commands has continued beyond the close of the Biblical Canon. An example may help. In Acts 15 we read of the Council of Jerusalem and their discussion of what aspects of the law should still apply for gentile Christians. Peter reminds the Council of his own mission to the gentiles when he had the vision in which he was called to eat non-kosher foods (Acts 10) before visiting the home of Cornelius. The Council concludes that only four ritual laws should be retained as necessary: “eat no food that has been offered to idols; eat no blood; eat no animal that has been strangled; and keep yourselves from sexual immorality” (v.29). There is no evidence that the Council saw any hierarchy of importance in these four. Within the New Testament we see the subsequent downgrading and relativising of the first one (1 Cor. 8:1-3; 10:14-30) and although they are not set aside in the Bible, I haven’t encountered any Christians who would still campaign for the next two.
In fact, if we were to read the Bible simply as a book of absolute laws for all time, the Biblical case against the eating of blood would be far more clear cut than the case against condoning homosexual love-making. Surely if, as is so often claimed, the exclusion of actively homosexual people is purely and simply a matter of obedience to clear scriptural commands, we would have an equally passionate campaign against the people who manufacture, sell, or eat black pudding! (It’s made from blood.) The reason that we don’t is because we have all accepted that some things which are never permitted in scripture are nevertheless able to be reevaluated and permitted. This process has clear Biblical warrant, but of course its specific conclusions often do not.
There is another relevant principle that emerges from the Acts 10 account of Peter’s visit to the home of Cornelius. This story, and the reflection on it at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), not only provide an example of the reevaluation of a biblical law, but they illustrate a way of going about that reevaluation. In Acts 10:47, Peter says, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptising these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” In other words, Peter knows that immediately accepting these people into the church is a violation of the theological and biblical principles he has previously held sacred, but he is also recognising that the Holy Spirit is clearly violating these principles and giving spiritual gifts to these people. Therefore, not only do we have a reason for reevaluating our previous interpretations, but we have a method. If the Holy Spirit appears to be bestowing gifts and nurturing faith and spiritual growth in these people, then we had better cooperate with the new work of the Spirit rather than defend the old readings of the law.
Jesus implied something similar when he said, “You will know them by their fruits. ... every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:16-17) Surely a biblical approach to Christian ethics must take that statement seriously. If our reading of scripture condemns someone, but their life, faith and ministry are clearly producing “good fruits” of love, grace, compassion and justice in evidence of the Spirit at work; what are we to conclude? Either our attempts to apply biblical teaching are letting us down, or Jesus is wrong.
Jesus’ statement about knowing them by their fruits was made in reference to prophets and teachers, but it seems reasonable to also apply it to the teachings themselves. What sort of fruits are borne by those to whom this teaching is applied? For example, I would suggest that the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching opposing the use of artificial birth control produces far more bad fruit than good
fruit. In some areas it contributes to over-population and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. In other places, including Australia, it is routinely ignored and so leads to an increase of deliberate deceit among Catholics and an erosion of respect for the teaching authority of the Church. However sound the principles on which it is based might be, the teaching bears bad fruit.
Applying these Principles to Homosexuality
When we come to ask about Christian attitudes to homosexuality, we first need to note that Jesus is not recorded as having commented on it, and ask ourselves what might be the significance of this silence. Then we need to consider what Jesus did say. Our first questions are, (1) “Does the example set by Jesus and the Apostles justify questioning our ongoing adherence to the traditional teachings about homosexuality?” and if so, (2) “In what direction were those teachings trying to lead us, and what new teachings would serve to better lead us in that direction in today’s world?”
I suggest that the answer to the first is quite clear. The example set by Jesus and the Apostles requires us to question the value of continuing adherence to any traditional or Biblical teachings that are no longer bearing good fruit; that are no longer encouraging and facilitating growth into the fullness of life in Christ. The overwhelming majority of homosexual Christians either live a lie in order to stay in the Church or abandon the Church and often lose their faith with it. Furthermore there is strong evidence that the refusal by mainstream society to validate even the most loving and faithful of homosexual relationships has been a major cause of the culture of promiscuity among homosexual people. Love and faithfulness are difficult enough to maintain even when they are socially validated and affirmed Ñ they are a miraculous accomplishment where they are scorned. In our society the traditional teachings about homosexuality contribute more to the growth of deceit, alienation and promiscuity than they do to love, faithfulness and holiness. They are bearing bad fruit. Therefore faithfulness to Christ and the Bible demands that we ask the second question: “In what direction were the Bible’s teachings about homosexuality trying to lead us, and what new teachings would serve to better lead us in that direction in today’s world?”
This question is, of course, much more complex and difficult to answer. Clearly our answers must be demonstrably in continuity with the purposes of the Bible. Finding the answers will require careful and prayerful analysis of both the Bible and the social and cultural context in which our ethical conclusions are to operate.
If I can be permitted a broad generalisation, the Biblical laws and ethical teachings were collectively intended to lead people from their present life situations towards ever-deepening love for God and one another, growing willingness and ability to entrust ourselves to God’s gracious care and leading, progressive renewing of our hearts, minds and behaviour so as to bring to fulfilment the image of God within us, and increasing engagement in the life and mission of the Kingdom of God.
If we recognise that the simple reiteration of traditional injunctions against homosexual activity are failing to serve that function, then we need to ask what will. The answers will need to be a meaningful response to the present situations and experiences of homosexual people. One can’t determine the direction someone needs to travel to a given destination without knowing where they are starting from, and so our seeking for answers will necessitate careful (but not unquestioning) listening to homosexual people.
I no longer believe that it is possible for anyone who has spent much time listening to the testimony of homosexual Christians to continue to believe that there is no genuine spiritual fruit being borne among them. Furthermore, on the evidence of a number of homosexual Christians I have known, it is difficult not to conclude that those who stop trying to conceal or eradicate their homosexuality find themselves liberated and growing in their capacity to experience and share the grace and love of God. I believe that, on the basis of Jesus’ words about good fruit and Peter’s conclusions about
the Holy Spirit’s work (Acts 10:47), we must take that testimony seriously. It is not in itself conclusive, but to ignore it or to shut ourselves off from humbly and prayerfully hearing it would be contrary to this important New Testament principle.
It is difficult to advance this argument much further solely on the basis of biblical texts. The biblical stories of Jesus and Peter and their interactions with outcasts lead to the conclusion that we must be spending time with the people under question before we are in a position to adequately hear what the Spirit might be saying to us through the scriptures.
All I can further do here is bear witness that from my observation of the homosexual Christians I know, and from the testimony I have heard from others, it appears to be clear that when they and their relationships are treated with the same acceptance and respect we accord to heterosexual people and their relationships, they are far more likely to bear good spiritual fruit and to grow in faith, hope and love. It is therefore my conclusion that we in the churches need to (1) work for an end to discrimination and vilification of homosexual people; (2) allow the full participation of homosexual people in the life and ministry of the church without any different criteria for sexual purity than we would put on those in heterosexual relationships; and (3) accommodate, validate and even bless loving, faithful, covenanted homosexual relationships.
Only the third of those is directly relevant to this Senate Inquiry. On this matter, I would again invoke Jesus’ teaching about good and bad fruit. The alternatives to validating such relationships on an equal footing with heterosexual marriage are presumably to tolerate homosexual relationships but refuse them the honour accorded to heterosexual marriage, or to outlaw them entirely. We do have one branch of the Christian Church that has sought to impose compulsory celibacy on its clergy. The fruit of this policy has been very very poor and so, taking heed of Jesus’ words, we should be very cautious about any attempt to impose celibacy on an entire group of people.
Tolerating homosexual relationships without validating or honouring them also seems to be more likely to produce bad fruit than good. As I have already pointed out, when we refuse to validate and encourage the practice of sexual fidelity, it becomes even more difficult to sustain and so contributes to the incidence of infidelity and promiscuity. Bad fruit. It is manifestly unfair to criticise the level of promiscuity in the homosexual community and at the same time refuse to honour and support those among them who endeavour to to be faithful to one partner for life.
If we are to legally validate stable homosexual relationships, should it be by changing the definition of marriage to include it, or by creating an alternative structure with a different name. I have a fair bit of sympathy for both sides here. The view that we could recognise and affirm same-sex relationships but we should call them something other than marriage makes some sense to me. Yes, there are some things objectively different about them. The Australian Christian Lobby argued this at the hearing in Melbourne saying that if we call same-sex relationships marriage, then we change the meaning of the word marriage. That's true. But the meanings of words evolve all the time and marriage is a good case in point. What the ACL failed to show (in my opinion) was why such a change of meaning would be detrimental to anyone. The definitions of marriage they were putting forward and wanting to protect were very modern and would have sounded odd to anyone much before the Enlightenment. Marriage used to mean a number of things about property rights and family alliances, but the meaning of the word has changed and few would argue that the change was a bad thing.
As I listened to the arguments that said that the state could legally recognise same-sex relationships but not call it marriage, I became less and less comfortable with that position. In the end it began to sound snobby. It began to sound as though the underlying message was “Please don't let them into our exclusive club”. “Please reserve this badge of honour for our group only, and exclude them.” It began to sound mean-spirited, a bit like it would if someone was arguing that immigrants could be naturalised under law, but the word “Australian” or perhaps the word “citizen” should not be used to describe them but reserved for a more exclusive in-group.
I don't know about the effect on any of the senators, but my time listening to that argument at the hearing left me rather more unwilling to be associated with it than I was at the start of the day. Instead, I became persuaded that the gay response to that argument is probably correct: if it isn’t given the same name, then it won't be given the same respect but will be regarded as second rate. That would then effectively cripple its capacity to encourage and support sexual fidelity.
It seems to me quite possible that removing the words “a man and a woman” from the definition of marriage might actually result in a strengthening of the understanding of marriage. I wonder whether our society too easily thinks of any ongoing male-female coupling as more-or-less a marriage, so that if you are a man and a woman together, marriage is just what you do. So I would speculatively suggest that removing the phrase “a man and a woman” might actually refocus our attention on the rest of the definition and thus strengthen our understanding of and grappling with the notions of voluntary, mutual, life-long and exclusive of all others. If it did that, surely that would strengthen the institution of marriage. That would be good fruit.
I do not claim to be certain that my conclusions are correct. What I do strongly assert however, is that in arriving at them I have maintained a deep love for and commitment to the authority of Christ and the scriptures, and that I have sought to be rigorously faithful to the whole witness of the Bible and to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the absence of any basis for absolute certainty one way or the other on these matters, Christians must seek to be prayerfully and humbly attentive to what the Spirit is saying through the whole witness of scripture and through the evidence of people seeking to live godly lives in a range of situations. Some Christians are reluctant to reconsider these issues because they fear the judgement of God if they are wrong. But, in the end, we could stand before Christ accused of wrongly “welcoming sinners and outcasts”, or we could stand before him accused of wrongly “tying up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and laying them on the shoulders of others” (Matt 23:4). Personally, I would much rather stand before Jesus accused of the same thing he was accused of!
And now, lyrics to a few of the songs I'm playing this week:
Ziggy Marley: Love is My Religion
Love is my religion, Love is my religion, Love is my religion
I'll take you to the temple tonight
All my days I've been searching, to find out what this life is worth
through the books and bibles of time I've made up my mind
I don't condemn, I don't convert, this is a calling have you heard
bring all the lovers to the fold, cause no one is gonna lose their soul
Love is my religion, Love is my religion, Love is my religion
hey you can take it or leave it, and you don't have to believe it
I don't want to fight, hey let's go fly a kite
there's nothing that we can't cure, and I'll keep you in my arms for sure
so don't let nobody stop us, free spirits have to soar
with you I share the gift, the gift that we now know oh oh oh
( Chorus )
Well I'm done searching now, I found out what this life is worth
not in the books that I find, but by searching my mind
I don't condemn, I don't convert
this is the calling have you heard, bring all the lovers to the fold
no one is gonna lose their soul
Green Day: Jesus of Suburbia
[Part 1]
I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of Suburbia
From the bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me
Get my television fix sitting on my crucifix
The living room or my private womb
While the moms and brats are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane
To keep me insane and doing someone else's cocaine
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me
[Part 2: City Of The Damned]
At the center of the Earth
In the parking lot
Of the 7-11 where I was taught
The motto was just a lie
It says home is where your heart is
But what a shame
Cause everyone's heart
Doesn't beat the same
It's beating out of time
City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care
I read the graffiti
In the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess
It didn't say much
But it only confirmed that
The center of the earth
Is the end of the world
And I could really care less
City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care
[Part 3: I don't care]
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care
Everyone is so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled but never saved
From the cradle to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the middle east
We are the stories and disciples
Of the Jesus of suburbia
Land of make believe
That don't believe in me
Land of make believe
And I don't believe
And I don't care!
I don't care! [x4]
[Part 4: Dearly beloved]
Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse
[Part 5: Tales of another broken home]
To live and not to breathe
Is to die In tragedy
To run, to run away
To find what you believe
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run
I run away
To the light of masochist
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time
I don't feel any shame
I won't apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain
When you've been victimized
Tales from another broken home
You're leaving...
Screeching Weasel: The Science of Myth
If you've ever question beliefs that you hold you're not alone
but you oughtta realize that every myth is a metaphor
in the case of christianity and judaism there exist the belief
that spiritual matters are enslaved to history
the buddhists believe that the functional aspects override the myth
while other religions use the literal core to build foundations with
see half the world sees the myth as fact while it's seen as a lie by the other half
and the simple truth is that it's none of that
and somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
somehow we get by without ever learning
science and religion are not mutually exclusive
in fact for better understanding we take the facts of science and apply them
and if both factors keep evolving then we continue getting information
but closing off possibilities makes it hard to see the bigger picture
consider the case of the women whose faith helped her make it through
when she was raped and cut up left for dead in a trunk her beliefs held true
it doesn't matter if it's real or not cause some things are better left without a doubt
and if it works then it gets the job done somehow no matter what the world keeps turning
MDC: Church and State
Nationalism in school
Perpetrating their rule
Lying textbooks rant
Their patriotic slant
“Your country's great”
cry the church and state
“All that've died
Were on God's side”
President and pope
Your pride and hope
Families build
Christian ethic instilled
The biblical truth?
Faith not proof!
Wield a sword
Walk with the lord
Be a man
Protect your land
Hear your call
Martyrs all
Your life's lost
Nailed to a cross
Dead on foreign soil
For your God
(And their oil)
Flobots: Superhero
We believed in love when love wasn’t an option?She wanted to give birth?I wanted adoption?After days and days of conversation?We decided to go with fertilization?Then came baby showers and Lamaze classes?2AM phonecalls 1 Minute contractions?But then they whisked me away like Brigadoon?No domestic partners in the delivery room
But if I was a superhero I would break free?Wouldn’t need anyone to come and save me?And you couldn’t make me feel like I’m crazy?I would see my baby
If I was a superhero I would break free?And I wouldn’t be imprisoned where ever you take me?I would change everyone who’s trying to change me?I would see my baby
Life in an occupied land is hard?We pushed harder?Soon to be a mom?Him to be a father?Boys with guns at the checkpoint in Rafah?Wouldn’t let me pass?When I said “I need a doctor!”?I don’t know the source of the passport errors?Or how four hours produced a miscarriage?But when it come to populations to disparage?Gaza is on the list right below gay marriage
There’s something on my heart?There’s someone on my mind?I never would have thought?That I could be so angry?But please give me the patience?Please give me the patience
Invincible: People Not Places
Prepare for take off?Touch down Ben-Gurion?Strict search make sure nobody enters with bombs?Blue white flags?For the Birthright Tour I’m on?Never mention three villages the airport is on?Recent history buried?But it speaks through the sand?All Jews: Law of Return?I don’t seem to understand?"A land without a people for people without a land"??But I see a man standing with a key and a deed in his hand?First stop: museum of the Holocaust?Walkin outside–in the distance–saw a ghost throwing a Molotov?Houses burnt with kerosene?Mass graves?Couldn’t bare the scene?It wasn’t a pogrom–it was the ruins of Deir Yassin?Next stop: shopping at the Kenyon Malcha?Built it on the back of the town Al-Malha?Wishing we could call it its name?Uphauled by the change?And now a mall full of chains?Is all that remains
HOOK:?My Ima misses people not places?Has she seen the towns with names in Arabic the Hebrew replaces??The policies are evil and racist, deceitful and heinous?You’ll never be a peaceful state with legal displacement
Remember the names of our cities before you came and replaced it?Remember and tell me how am I supposed not to miss a nation living within us??[Translated from Arabic]
At the Wailing Wall I’m rollin a wish?Then stick it in between the hole in the bricks?I’m feelin more than melancholy?This used to be the Moroccan quarter?Until we stopped em short and?Now their grandkids is the ones that’s throwing rocks at borders?I aint one to play and I don’t pray often?So I’m AWOL'n?While you making native sons?Feel like a stranger in they own land like James Baldwin?This aint about a Qur'an or a synagogue or Mosque or Torah?The colonizer break it into acres and dunums?Erasing the culture?Changed Haifa to Chaifa?Changed Yaffa to Yaffo?The old city left to haunt?Hummus pronounced chumoos, we ate in a restaurant?Next hit the discotheque?Yes we on the list of guests?Palestinians cant get in?Its blatant disrespect?Cops stop em for speakin they language?Its dangerous?To repeat it when?With history we disconnect
HOOK
200 year old olive trees?Uprooted the groves?To build a wall?Now their future enclosed?Settlements spreading like cancer and toxic sewage polluted the roads?Now full of checkpoints?I superimpose the truth and it shows?Village ruins overgrown with planted trees?Who’d have thought the "desert blooms" and Tu Bishvat?I cant believe?This aint environmental?Disguising lies, extincting lives like manatees?Callin it a transfer? Please–?More like a catastrophe!?Birthright tours recruiting em, confuse em into moving in?Claim its only names and words but denying the root of them?Power been abusing it?Our past never excusing them?60 years since 48 and 40 since Jerusalem?My boy Shadi wanted to visit it so badly?He lied he’s diabetic to see it for five seconds?One Nine Four ruled the courts in the case?Mom, you can’t disconnect a people from the importance of place
And now, a few songs by Bad Religion:
American Jesus
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
thats 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 farmers 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
God's Love
Striking at mental apparitions
Like a drunk on a vacant street
Silently beset by the hands of time
Indelicate in its fury
An aberrant crack as skeletons yield
To unrelenting gravity
While viruses prowl for helpless victims
Who succumb rapidly
In a careless creation
When there’s no “above”
There’s no justice
Just a cause and a cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure
And what I’m frightened of
Is that they call it “God’s love”
Twisted torment, make-believe
There’s a truth and we all submit
“Believe my eyes,” my brain complies
To all that they interpret
[Chorus]
I know there’s no reason for alarm
But who needs perspective when it comes to pain and harm
We can change our minds; there’s a better prize
But first you’ve got to…
[Chorus]
They call it God’s love
My pain is God’s love
Sinister Rouge
Innocents burned,
alive at the stake
Tortured and dumped
In nameless graves
Centuries wane
Authority died
Scattering seeds of ancient lies
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Child molesters
And Jesuits
Holding secret conference
Underneath the pontiff’s nose
And only God will ever know
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Give us this day
Our daily bread
Your legacy
We'll not forget
Lick the wounds
Cleanse the land
The modern world
Rejects your hand
Sinister rouge
Coming back for more
To even the score
Sinister rouge
The nightmare comes in sinister rouge
God Song
and did those feet in ancient times trod on america's pastuers of
green? and did that anthropocentric god wane with their thoughts and
beliefs all unseen? i don't think so, he's up there with the others
laying low, vying with those who you've traded your life to to bless
your soul, and have they told you how to think, cleansed your mind of
sepsis and automony? or have you escaped scrutiny, and regaled
yourself with depravity? now we all see, "religion is just synthetic
frippery, unnecessary in our expanding global cultural efficiency" and
don't you fear this impasse we have built to our future? ever so near,
and oh so austere
Live Again - The Fall Of Man
The road is narrow, the horizon wide
And to say what’s waiting on the other side
Is so rewarding and the ultimate prize
But what good is something if you can’t have it until you die?
Desperate, tenacious, clinging like a grain of sand
Watching its foundation wash away (wash away)
Drunk with the assertions they know they can’t defend
Confident that they might…live again
Live again, live again
Would you give it all up to live again?
Live again, live again
Would you give it all up to live again?
Temptation? Revelation? You decide
Torture shows its colors often in disguise
Progress and purpose help us realize
We pass along a brighter faith even though it must be blind
Voice Of God Is Government
Neighbors, no one loves you like he loves you,
And no one cares like he cares.
Neighbors, let us join today in the holy love of God and money,
Because neighbors, no one loves you like He loves you.
And what better way to show your love than to dig deep into your pockets.
Dig real deep, until it hurts. Alleviate your guilt,
Free yourself once again, because he gave to you, brothers and sisters.
Please give a 10, 25, or 50 dollar tax-deductible donation,
And I assure you your modest pledge will be used to censor TV and radio,
Ban questionable books, and contribute to many other Godly services.
No longer will young Christian Americans hedonistically indulge
In masochistic submission to rhythmic music, for with your monetary support,
There is no end to what we can achieve in this country.
The voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
The voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
Can't you see what we believe in, all our thoughts, all our reasons,
Pursuit of life and liberty and happiness we cannot see?
Speak of truth with a mighty voice, but politics are your real choice.
Hire men to change the law, protect and serve with one small flaw.
Voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
Voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
If we shun God and Jesus Christ, religious love is sacrifice.
Love for God is shown in cash, the love they send is mailbox trash.
With every pamphlet we receive, more money asked for Godly needs.
Build a million dollar church, with money spent on God's research.
Voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
Voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
On late night TV, God can heal, a certain force you cannot feel.
Love for money in God's name, religion's now a TV game!
Build a million dollar church, with money spent on God's research.
Build a million dollar church, with money spent on God's research.
Voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
Voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!
Yeah!
Voice of God is government. The voice of God is government.
Voice of God is government. In God we trust, sinners repent!