Religious zealots are so quick to say this is why he got what was coming to him, but in reality, what kind of job was the church doing back then, when the Beatles were seemingly more popular than the church?
2006-07-03 15:42:56 · 22 answers · asked by Jeff B 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Of course it was his opinion...
2006-07-03 16:05:27 · update #1
this can of worms opens from the inside... i.e. the church indicted itself in all of this...
2006-07-03 17:54:31 · update #2
Only if you think so. And, unfortunately, many churches did, and burned Beatles albums.
But Lennon did not like the superstar attention. He himself would never faun over the famous. His comment was an indictment of what he felt was an absurd level of public adulation. It would have been better understood had he said, "Don't you find it ridiculous that we're more popular than Jesus?"
He himself later said it wasn't an indictment of religion.
2006-07-03 16:27:38 · answer #1 · answered by ALLEN F 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First of all, I'm not sure they were more popular.
Secondly, I was a bit young in the 60's and 70's, but I still remember them. So much of what was talked about was considered "deep" and "groovy" and "existential". Heck....the reality was nobody even knew what existential even meant. So much of what was said then was absolute B.S. crap. Really. People didn't want to admit that they didn't understand something so it was just labeled as "deep" and supposedly had all this meaning. Dylan was the perfect example. Dylan denied being deep, but everyone was in such a rush to show how cool he was....that he was so deep he didn't even acknowledge that he was deep. Wow, that's deep! (uh, that was sarcasm there) The reality is, Dylan was just being Dylan and that's all he ever claimed. It's really just that simple.
Secondly, you're too young to remember "back then", apparently. Lennon was shot in 1980. His career was pretty much all washed up long before then. He was only shot for notoriety, that was popular in 1980, remember Hinckley?
It's funny you mention this. Think of the audience and the demographics, man. It's all baby boomers. Blame them. They came along in the 50's as spoiled little brats with no living knowledge of the depression or the war. As young adults, they infested our culture with drugs, sex, and rock and roll. They became the liberals and the democrats and the free spirits. Then they settled down and had kids. These were the materialistic kids they brought up in the '80s, buying them all the crap that launched Wal-Mart, that bastion of the American economy (cough). Now, the old farts, the baby boomers, have all turned into the Right wing, Bush-supporting Jesus freaks that we have all come to know and love (ahem). Their "make love not war" bumper stickers have been replaced with "W...'04"
Think about it, man....the argument you're raising originates from the same dang people, and you're probably not old enough to have any personal knowledge of it yourself. Don't trust anyone over 30, man........
2006-07-03 22:56:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lennon was a young man at the time of this statement and he may or may not have been an atheist (he certainly was later in life); but no, he wasn't condemning religion, just bragging a little about the undeniable phenomenon of the Beatles, especially as compared to the churches that lost a lot of their congregations and prestige during the 60s/70s.
2006-07-03 22:49:43 · answer #3 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
John Lennon stated an opinion ,not a fact.I'm from Missouri, you got to "show me".Show me some facts about the attendance of churches for that time verses the attendace of the Beatles concerts.Did Lennon know what was in everybody's heart?Maybe there were alot of people wjo were reading their Bibles on a daily basis.
2006-07-03 22:48:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it was an indictment of the culture. And there was truth in his statement. But, Hitler was more popular than Jesus in Germany as well. Jesus was never that popular, but that wasn't His goal. Wide is the road that leads to destruction and many are on it, narrow is the road to Heaven, and few tread on it.
2006-07-03 22:48:19 · answer #5 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The church was backing away....
Secluding itself under the leaderships that were claiming, "It's better to be small and clean...."
Now a whole generation and a half later....we are trying to pick up the pieces. Only this time? It is going to take a great move of God, which I believe, in His Loving Faithfulness, will happen VERY SOON!
2006-07-03 22:46:49 · answer #6 · answered by montanacowgirlwannabee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was more an indictment of what is wrong with people that the Beatles supplant Jesus as a cultural phenomenon and a source of redemption.
2006-07-03 22:44:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I think it was a statement of arrogance by John Lennon. If you listen to the song "Imagine" by Lennon, he was very anti-Christian, and very anti-religious. This does not mean the church was failing, which it may have been, but his lyrics tell what was in his heart, and with Lennon, he was never a friend of Christ.
2006-07-03 22:47:18 · answer #8 · answered by stick man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When he made that statement,he meant they were as known or more known than Jesus Christ.What he said was blew up by the press.They were more worshiped then Jesus,don't you agree?If we all acted about Jesus like people acted about the Beatles how do you think our world would be right now?â¥
2006-07-03 22:49:16 · answer #9 · answered by bamahotT 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think he was really trying to put down the church, I think he was meaning it more in a way of now they're so popular that they practically have people worshiping them like gods [i.e. the jesus remark]
2006-07-03 22:44:55 · answer #10 · answered by JAYM33 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋