What did John Lennon say that sparked controversy? Was the statement out of context or just misstated?

Answer 1

It was misstated. He was a bit appaled that kids were looking up to the Beatles and it felt it was wrong that the Beatles were more important than Jesus, as Jesus was a more important influence

Answer 2

I'm guessing you're talking about when he said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. He said that Christianity has come and will go. He didn't know which would go first, rock and roll, or Christianity. Sh*t hit the fan, so to speak. People burned Beatles records, but the bishop, or archbishop of Boston said that Lennon was probably right. The people, well, the ignorant people, still ranted and raved.

Answer 3

At one point in the '60's he remarked to a reporter that "we (the Beatles) are more popular than Jesus." I was a teenager then and I remember how wild the fans were for them -- much more than for any group or performer around today. He said afterwards that he only meant it as an exagerrated sense of amazement over how much in demand they were and how crazy the crowds were but some Christian people took offense at it, thinking he was mocking religion.

Even though Lennon was not all that crazy about "organized religion", he even said he thought it was sad that people seemed more enthused about a pop group than about spirituality.

Answer 4

As previously mentioned John Lennon's controverey was that he said. "The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ"

I'd like to make a comparison.... John Lennon..... Jesus Christ
*Walked the earth preaching a new phylosophy beyond religion.
*Preached, worked for peace on earth
*Persecuted by the government of the day..."US vs John Lennon.
*Murdered by the religion of the day....
(John Lennon was threatened by the KKK a proponant of christianity, Persecuted by christianity itself -things like their work to remove the playing of the song imagine on the radio. and not to forget that if you actually pay attention to the interviews of Mark David Chapman.... it's not the catcher and the rye that caused him to hate John lennon... he read it as a child and yet he was a Beatles fan and Lennon was his hero.. not until he got involved in chrisitianity and read the bible did the pressure to kill Lennon begin.)


Who's to say one was greater than the other?

At least to me John Lennon's actions and life are verifiable.


Regarding the hippie movement... John Lennon was one of the first hippies a movement of young people fighting the system peacefully trying to change the world... their biggest
actions was the peace movement through non violent protest. It's not like the hippies didn't or don't care it's just that too many incidences like berkeley college, (that's where there was a peace rally and the army was brought in, some hippies put flowers in the nozzled of the army guns and many unarmed protesters were shot dead)

Even today people who speak out against war are having trouble ex dixie chicks, susan surrandon

Answer 5

John Lennon said that the Beatles were more popular than God.

The context for his statement was based on his own personal view that on any given Sunday, more teens would attend a Beatle's concert than go to church, thus making them "more popular."

Answer 6

There were lots of things he said that sparked controversy, and he liked it that way. Part of being an artist is saying what you think, regardless of the sparks-or because of them.

He said "We're bigger than Jesus," and people all over took offense. I think he meant it as a statement of amazement, humor, and irreverence. It was like a lot of his statements.
Hippies mostly understood that he meant they were more POPULAR- rightly or wrongly so.
He had very little interest in religion, but had a spiritual message in a lot of his writing. He was also a heroin addict, so who knows.
Do you think they are bigger than Jesus? I thought so at the time, but now, I don't. Jesus' followers are generally more angry and organized. John's followers are too stoned to care.

Answer 7

As part of a longer statement, John Lenon said the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus." It went unnoticed in Great Britain but was printed out of context by a teen magazine in the USA and everybody went crazy. Lenon tried to apologize (if that's what "they" wanted) but nobody understood.

Answer 8

He was the writer of many of the Beatles songs, a group that started out playing in clubs and bars in the town of Liverpool, England. They were real and accessible at one time.

When they made it big, they freaked out and shared their freaky acid trips with the listeners, which turned many of them OFF.

Many people thought that life had higher purposes than laying around on a mattress in a hotel in NYC with a Jap wife and freaking out.

But many people after his assasination on the streets of NYC had the vision of seeing the ghost of John going around in his Sgt. Pepper uniform, which was embroidered and quite magnificent. He left his money to his dear wife Yoko from Japan.