John Lennon's Imagine is an evil song?

Question

I can't believe people think this song is good. It talks about getting rid of religion. How could that possibly be a good thing? You need religion as a moral compass. Think about all the good that has come from religion.

John Lennon was nothing but an overdrugged self-righteous moron.

Agree?

Answer 1

PEOPLE STILL FIGHTING ABOUT RELIGION!!!!
DID YOU MISS THAT??????
WHERE DID YOU SEE THE GOODS THAT COMING FROM THAT????

Answer 2

I have to say that I don't agree with you that the song is evil. I may have to agree that he was over-drugged.. at least that was the appearance I got.. but that was also later in his life (which was horribly cut short).

I haven't really looked at the words to the song closely in a long time, but when I hear the line "Imagine no religion".. etc.. I think of the idea of everyone being in agreement.. Of peace in the world.. I think of a place with no fighting.. especially fighting based on religion.. which an awful lot is..

I am a Christian.. and I do totally believe that giving ones life to God is good and so on.. BUT I don't agree that a person must be religious to be moral.. and there are a lot of religious people who are immoral as well..

Anyway.. I think it's a great point that the song tries to make.. Peace in the world.

Answer 3

I completely DISAGREE!!! John Lennon was a great man, and his song Imagine is a great song. I even did a report on it. John Lennon did many things regarding human and animal rights. He was not an overdrugged self righteous man. And to add, religion IS one of the biggest causes of many wars and conflicts in this world. That is the point he was making. To get rid of religion, is to get rid of a lot of conflict. (maybe not all, but some.)

Answer 4

The song never mentioned getting rid of religion, it asked people to IMAGINE there wasn't any.

People don't NEED religion as a moral compass, lots of people I know have never set foot in any kind of house of worship and they set moral examples most others couldn't match.

As for "all the good that has come from religion"....how about "ethnic cleansing" and the holocaust, and the Spanish inquisition, the war between protestants and catholics in Ireland, the war between the Jews and Arabs, and even the civil war in Iraq between 2 different factions of the same religion?

For all the good religion has brought into the world, it's been at least equalled by the destruction, hatred, persecution, alienation and oppression it's also created.

I suggest you go back and listen to the song again, with open eyes, open ears, and an open mind.

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

He talks about people sharing the world, living as one, living life in peace. Religion and politics have never achieved that. Maybe everyone should listen to the song before they go out and do something on behalf of their god or their country. If everyone thought about helping others instead of arguing about what interpretation of God is right, we'd all be better off.

I grew up without a defined religion, but I had faith in God, As an adult I searched for more meaning in my life and became baptised as a Christian. As my journey through Christianity progressed my faith in God and the teachings of Jesus strengthened but my faith in churches and religion wained. I truly believe that Christianity is as far from what Jesus intended as one can get.

The oppression of women, the persecution and murder of Jews and Muslims, the murder of non Christians, and even the case of the Franciscan monks falling victim to the Dominican monks during the Inquisition scream out how his teachings and his message have been corrupted and perverted for the sake of a horrible cluster of men living in Rome.

Some scholarly reading on the history of the catholic church might open your eyes to a new interpretation of evil, and perhaps change your opinion about a brilliant song that just asked people to open their minds.

Answer 5

I do not need religion as a moral compass. I have common sense and know right from wrong. Many religions create conflict, divides people, judges people, etc. all unskillful actions that cause disharmony. I'm sure he was referring to the problems that religions have caused that he would like to be rid of. So if your religion does none of these harmful things then I suppose you could assume that Lennon was all those rude and judgemental things you called him.

Answer 6

John Lennon was a brilliant but troubled soul.His father abandoned he and his mother.Then his mother abandoned him to an aunt.She came back into his life at 14 then was hit by a car and was killed.He never got over it.You could see why he would think there was no personal God.His partner ,Paul McCartney also lost his mother as a teen.They went on searches for truth but always went the wrong way(LSD,pot,Indian meditation etc) John went on to heroin for a while(Yoko didn't help the situation).To him the essence of PEACE was just a total "cessation of againstness" so to speak.No money,no countries,no oil to fight over,no religious wars.See,he wasn't against a belief in God but the wars religions caused. Was he right? No.But I hope God had mercy and grace on him anyway.
The last several years of his life he was clean except for tobacco and a vegetarian.

Answer 7

Good that has come from religion? Religion didn't cure any diseases. Religion is to blame for Crusades and Jihads. Until the last stone, of the last church, falls on the last priest, we won't be free from religion.

Oh, by the way, John Lennon was in the Beatles and wrote many beautiful songs.

Answer 8

If you really take the time to listed to this song you'll find that Lennon was talking about the kind of "religion" that wages Crusades, denigrates people who are "different," considers those who are different as "outsiders," and the like. He never said get rid of "spirituality" or "faith." Religion and "faith" are two very different things.

And Lennon was a forward thinking genius the likes of which we will not see again for a very long time . . .

Answer 9

When has religion ever brought peace? Read up on the history of any religion, and you will see that it is filled with war, bigotry, hatred, intolerance, and greed. So how is it a bad thing to imagine no religion, and no idiots killing each other over whose god is better? Moral compass? Since when? What morals have religious people given us that they don't consistently break themselves at every opportunity? I also find it amusing that so many Christians abhor the lyrics, "Imagine no religion," because it they find it offensive to Christianity--then they go on to insist that "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship with God!" What a bunch of hypocrites. But isn't that normal for them?

Answer 10

You don't know anything about world history if you think that so much good has come from religion.
One does not need religion for a moral compass. Common sense and selflessness is all that is needed for morality.
You are a sad ignorant person.
As far as endorsing communism... It sounds good on paper but just does not work. Besides I like having my own stuff.

John Lennon was about peace.

Answer 11

LOL, morals don't come from religion.

Think about it--do you take every single word of the Bible (substitute your favorite holy book here) literally? Probably not. So how do you know which parts you should take literally and which you shouldn't?

Answer: by using the morality you ALREADY HAD before you ever cracked open a Bible! Here's what Dawkins had to say about people like you:

"Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That's not morality, that's just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap inside your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base thought." --Richard Dawkins