We ought to come up with a better way to bring in the new year than singing John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which asks us to imagine what our country would be like if we could jettison the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bible.
Once again this New Year’s Eve, if you were tuned in to the lovefest in Times Square, the country was serenaded to the intoxicating melody and lyrics of John Lennon’s song, “Imagine.” What an inspiring sight and sound as the multitudes swayed arm in arm, joining the lead singer in what has become a traditional national anthem heralding the new year.
“Imagine there’s no heaven; it’s easy if you try. No hell below us; above us only sky.” Also no religion, no countries, no possessions, etc. Ah yes, an atheist’s and communist’s paradise on earth. And just as Karl Marx assured us, the end result, if we someday join in the dream, “the world will live as one.”
But we don’t need our imagination to see what Lennon’s dream would bring. We just have to observe the history of the twentieth century, and look to Bolshevik Russia and the Stalinist Soviet Union; to Mao’s China and to other lesser imitators and imaginers to see the result: hundreds of millions of fellow citizens slaughtered, starved and imprisoned.
John Lennon and his ideological, mindless groupies are asking us to imagine what our country would be like if we could jettison the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, not to mention the Bible, which repeatedly says, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” We would have to delete Thomas Jefferson’s references to the “Creator” and to banish the notion of any rights endowed by the Creator. There would be no assured right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, by which term James Madison and the founding fathers understood to mean owning property that others could not steal and that the government could not confiscate. And in Lennon’s Utopia freedom of religion would only be allowed to be practiced in the privacy of one’s mind.
Truth be told, we have already gone too far down the road to Lennon’s dream world, and it’s time to make a U-turn before we suffer the consequences of other nations and peoples, many of whom have decided to turn back. In Russia, Vladimir Putin now extols Alexander Solzhenitsyn, not Vladimir Lenin, as a national hero, and sees to it that all Russian newborns are baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church, a sort of progressive national exorcism. And at present trends China will have more professing Christians than any nation on Earth. Perhaps they know something we don’t about the imaginary world of John Lennon.
Graffiti on a wall once proclaimed “God is dead. —Nietzsche” to which someone later inscribed, “Nietzsche is dead. —God.” Today, of the fellow who once proclaimed that he and the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ, it can be said, “Lennon (and Lenin) is dead. —God.” The fool is gone, but many other fools follow in his Utopian imagination.
We ought to come up with a better way to bring in the new year than by indulging in intoxicants and vain imaginings… not to mention by inviting the wrath and judgment of the Almighty upon our country.
This essay wad first published here in January 2017.
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The featured image, uploaded by Marko Kafé, is a street art picture of John Lennon on the John Lennon wall in Prague. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Some take a different view of Lennon and the Beatles, such as Ray Comfort; I think like most people John, Paul, George, and Ringo have each tried to find something larger than themselves and have held different views at different times particularly as one ages. Sinner that I am I’ll refrain from judgment. To your point though, there is however only One that will make the world one and the lion to lay down with the lamb.
amen
Thanks for clarifying. What a pathetic song!
“Imagine” is one of the most awful songs of the last century.
A while back I had some sport with this song, which I posted on a friend’s conservative blog, which I’ll post below.
DECONSTRUCTING JOHN LENNON’S IMAGINE
After the Beatles broke up, the four lads each went their separate ways and began working on solo projects. McCartney, of course, formed a new band, Wings, and his most successful song was probably “Live And Let Die”, which became the theme song for a James Bond movie of the same name. Then there was John Lennon, whose biggest hit, “Imagine”, seemed to veer in the complete opposite direction. On the surface, it sounded like a paean to peace, love, and, well, whatever. Mostly I’m guessing Lennon was high as a kite when he wrote that song, probably envisioning some sort of hippie paradise where all you did all day long was smoke pot and (presumably) have casual sex with random strangers, where words like “Duty” and “Responsibility” simply don’t exist and no one has to bother with such mundane things as having a job or raising children. Of course, if you actually examine the lyrics and take them literally, you get a rather different picture, indeed, something that sounds more like a nightmare. Anyway, without further ado, let’s dissect the lyrics, line by line:
“Imagine there’s no heaven”
Yes, let’s. Or, let’s rather not. According to Mister Peace and Love, we end our short travail on this Earthly Orb at the bottom of a dirt hole, in a pine box turning into rot and worm food. Such a lovely vision for humanity! Gone, of course, is the Christian promise of Eternal Life, a promise wondrous beyond imagination, tossed in the garbage can by Mr. Lennon for reasons utterly unfathomable to any rational human.
“Imagine all the people living for today”
And no plans for tomorrow, no future to look forward to. It’s the “Hippie Paradise” thing again, sitting around in a marijuana haze, one day blurring into the next.
“Nothing to kill or die for”
And gone with it all sense of honor and justice. Sometimes bad men need killing, and sometimes good men have to die for a just cause.
“And no religion too”
Which appears to be the central theme of the song. Hooray for atheism, a Godless ideology that basically says be as selfish and rotten as you like, since there is no one above you to judge your behavior or to pass on an objective sense of morality and law. Indeed, get rid of the Laws of God and we will, by necessity, live by the Laws of Darwin. A world where, to cite a line from the 2nd Mad Max movie, only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage, can survive.
“Imagine all the people living life in peace
Probably the least offensive line from this song, yet it is an ideal preached by a man you reject, Christ.
“And the world will be as one”
One, what, exactly? A Borg-like existence where the Collective is all that matters, all individuality and differences wiped out, in which humans are reduced to the level of termites?
“Imagine no possessions”
Well, there goes science and technology, and pretty much all of human civilization. No possessions? Really, John? You want to have no homes for shelter, clothes for warmth, even such basics as flush toilets and toilet paper? You want to freeze in winter, fry in summer, and go to the bathroom in the street? Reduce us to the level of cave men, or, worse yet, apes in the jungle? Because having possessions means having things, things as simple as a pair of shoes or as complex as a Space Shuttle. Making things, improving things, inventing things, that’s a big part of what makes us human, and separates us from the animals.
“I wonder if you can”
I can imagine a lot of things, but living like beasts isn’t one of them.
“No need for greed or hunger”
See reference to the “Mad Max” world listed above.
“A Brotherhood of man”
Back to the Borg-like existence.
“Imagine all the people sharing all the world”
And in Lennon’s Mad Max future, there won’t be much sharing, since rifle bullets and gasoline will be more valuable than gold.
And there you have it. At best a piece of mindless twaddle, an example of Bongwater Philosophy 101, and at worst a recipe for a God deprived and thus meaning deprived animal universe in which we either hive together in a collective like insects or else revert to the classic jungle rule of Survival of the Fittest where cunning, treachery, and pure predator skill win the day.
One of the greatest songs of all time
What’s great about a song that celebrates atheism?
No it isn’t. It’s sentimental claptrap that’s musically and lyrically insipid.
I remember 30 years ago at Catholic Sixth Form College in England.
Regardless of what other subjects we did, we had one lesson of RE a week with our “Tutor Group”, and every week one of the group was required to prepare a talk to lead the lesson.
Thirty years must seem an awful long time for me to remember what we did in our one RE lesson a week. And I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever of what I did my talk on.
But I have always remembered one lesson. The member of the group responsible this particular week based his on his admiration for Lennon and “Imagine” and of course we had to listen to this.
I think though the main reason why I remember is that the person leading that particular lesson had no doubt that when he left college he was going to train to become a Priest. And yet he was promoting this atheist song.
At the time, I had no idea why he might think this an appropriate song for a future Priest and an RE lesson. Nor did I understand why his plan was to become a Jesuit Priest.
Great song for the post-truth era.
I find most of the songs I enjoyed in younger days are much better, and still enjoyable, if I completely ignore the words & their meaning… however, the best ironic use of this song is at the end of The Killing Fields” where it is played soulfully (Lennon, words & all) at the end of the movie, the camera panning across the Red Cross camp caring for the detritus of the Khmer Rouge…I have obviously spent far too much time thinking about this, but it MUST have been ironic, else it betrays the rest of the movie.
New Year’s 2018 has came and went and New York City performed this pernicious song yet again. Pathetic.
Looks like it May be time to update this article for the current COVID-19 pandemic. This song is now making a huge come back among celebrities and would-be vocalist worldwide.
There is more than one way to interpret this song? Yes you can interpret it literally but I personally take the song more metaphorically. He talks about stripping away all of the things that make us different like religion and nationality to show that we are all human. Of course you can’t just throw out religion and countries, but that’s not the way many people see the song. From my view anyway the song reminds people that everyone deep down are people just like them.
I hated this unrealistic Kum Bah Ya song when it came out. It has not gotten better over time.
If you remove God, heaven and hell, then you also remove accountability, responsibility, redemption and justice. I wouldn’t want to live in a world with such naive people who believe everyone, all people – would make nice. The naive would most assuredly be taken advantage of and would usher in destruction for the rest of us. As long as people desire power, fame, wealth and control, there cannot be a utopia, a heaven on earth.
I just looked it up. When John Lennon left this world, he left behind $25,000,000. If he actually believed his own lyrics (“Imagine…. no possessions”), then he would have given most of his money away when he was alive. Unless like Marxist leaders, he meant no possessions for the peons – the regular people – none of note. To quote the book Animal Farm, All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
You sir are correct. I wish more Lutherans including these milk toast pastors would get strong and wake up. Thanks. God bless.
Certainly a more truthful ‘Imagine e’ song would be Bart Millard’s ‘I can Only Imagine’..Looking forward to that day because my earthbound mind can’t even imagine what it will be like but definitely knows what Lennon’s worldly ‘Imagine’ produces..Come Lord Jesus!
In my worn volume of The Norton Anthology of English Literature Vol. II, copyright, 1968 (I found this in a long forgotten used book section of a now defunct department store in New Bedford, Massachusetts over 20 years ago–its mate, Vol. I was nowhere to be found) the first author whose work is reprinted is Robert Burns. At the end of his introduction to Burns, the editor writes: “Burns is not only the national poet of Scotland but also a song writer for all English-speaking people. Everywhere in the world on New Year’s Eve when, helped by drink and the reminder of their bondage to time, men indulge their instinct of a common humanity, they join hands and sing a song of Burns.” I was unaware that “Imagine” had become a “traditional national anthem heralding the New Year”. To paraphrase one beloved “Catholic gentleman who live on wine” (I’ve known a couple) who was opining on the value of a royal pint compared to a mere half liter of beer–I’ll stick with Burns and “Auld Lang Syne”, thank you very much.
In regard to the Nietzsche graffito and its rejoinder, I remember them very well from the early 1970’s. I also recall that there was a third lesser-known quote in the sequence: “God is Nietzsche…Dead”
Happy New Year to all.
In fairness I think a lot of people who sing it don’t pay attention to the lyrics. They just see it as some kind of “let’s all get along” song with a pleasant lullaby melody. To be honest that’s kind of how I saw it for many years until I actually paid attention to the lyrics. (And though I think he was a radically overrated guy it can said not all his songs are offensive. “Watching the Wheels” was maybe an advocacy for men to be house-husbands, but the song itself just sounds like a guy leaving the rat-race to be a more present and active father. I guess that could still be feminist, but a man valuing his child over fame and fortune feels like a perfectly fine story even if you’re fairly traditionalistic. And Beautiful Boy’s sentiment that “life is what happens when you’re making other plans” could, even if not by intent, almost fit a Pro-Life sentiment about the value of unexpected babies.)
Back to “Imagine” in the original Quantum Leap Sam Beckett sung it as his “favorite song” but the show was generally fairly respectful of religion and Sam clearly believed in God. (Although the show did hedge to avoid “offense” stating he could be being leaped by “Fate, God, or Time.”)
Weirdly my Mom thought “Imagine” was a warning against the kind of society it imagined.
But yeah the song itself, what it actually is, is pretty messed up. And some things I’ve read indicate it’s not clear Lennon himself even believed what he was saying in the song was desirable let along possible.
We have never needed to “Imagine” the outcome of this song. As Chesterton (or Cammaerts wrote in his study of Chesterton) stated: “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing. They then become capable of believing in anything.”
Amen and hallelujah Reverend! Well argued and reasoned.
A whiny, dreary, insipid song; enervating, boring, plodding, musically repetitive. I hated it when it first was released (50?) years ago, and it hasn’t gotten any better.
A college roomate was always playing it on his record player. It inspired him to become a stoner and complete apathetic dropout. Don’t know if he’s still alive. I don’t have his phone number and he can’t bestir himself to answer letters.
Imagine there’s no “Imagine”. The world would be a better place.
“Imagine there’s no “Imagine”. The world would be a better place.”
Gosh I love that. Best thing I’ve read today!
I was absolutely gobsmacked when the vocal group Pentatonix chose to end their otherwise enjoyable TV Christmas special with “Imagine.” This was after they had sung such standards as “Joy to the World” and “Carol of the Bells.”
I cannot stand the song and it’s reassuring that I’m not alone.
My favorite line is “I hope some day you may join us” which is the same verse as “the world will be as one”. I always wondered if maybe he meant joining him and his cohorts on the upper west side. Plenty of room, I’ve heard and of course, very, very nice. I’d be ok with that.
I’m joining this conversation a bit late. Greetings to you Reverend Stelzer. I’m an ex-Long Islander, was baptized and raised up in the faith at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Patchogue, live in North Carolina now. I stumbled on this site by accident. I was searching for Steely Dan’s rebuttal song to John Lennon, which I found. The song is Only A Fool Would Say That. It is quite humorous, especially if you understand they were poking fun at “Imagine” and John Lennon. I was reading the comments here and I have to say so much has changed in terms of physics and our understanding. New Teleological arguments from Physics, a new argument for God for Quantum Mechanics, not to mention Cosmological Arguments from logic and Physics have truly put the nail in the coffin of Atheism. May the US Constitution be restored and honored and our love for Jesus Christ be strengthened. The US is in turmoil now but I believe there is the light and power of God on the horizon to rescue us (in a temporal sense), I fully understand that Christ conquered death for those who put their faith in Him.