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Rapture Bell

Charles Tyler
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Charles Tyler

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[2007]
Lyrics and Music by Charles C. Tyler
Album: Charles Tyler

"This 3rd song is a satire on evangelical Christians.
One of three songs that I have written around the Middle-East conflict. This one focuses on the mad people who are actually hoping for the troubles in the region to escalate into a "final conflict" prior to the "Rapture" and the "Second Coming" of Jesus Christ. These are people who obviously don't have much grip on reality. It would be OK if they were just harmless nutters - but this particular wacky belief is potentially very dangerous.

These are people who call themselves Christians but who actually hope for Armageddon and for millions to die. They expect to escape death themselves and selfishly hope to be 'saved' by their faith. In my view these people are even more evil - if that is possible - than suicide bombers who actually have far more limited objectives. And most of these people live in the USA. Because of the importance of the religious right to the Republican party they even have some influence on US Government policy. I find this a pretty terrifying thought.

In relation to this, if you haven't seen it please take the time to read the speech made by Bill Moyers when he accepted his Global Environmental Citizen Award last year. A key quote:

"The delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress."

Precisely. It is a real cause for concern when such nonsense as belief in 'The Rapture' infects the seat of power. Here is a link to the full text:

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/20666/

And here is a longer extract:

"They are the people who believe the bible is literally true - one-third of the American electorate, if a recent Gallup poll is accurate. In this past election several million good and decent citizens went to the polls believing in the rapture index. That's right � the rapture index. Google it and you will find that the best-selling books in America today are the 12 volumes of the left-behind series written by the Christian fundamentalist and religious right warrior, Timothy LaHaye.

These true believers subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the 19th century by a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them into a narrative that has captivated the imagination of millions of Americans.

Its outline is rather simple, if bizarre - once Israel has occupied the rest of its "biblical lands," legions of the anti-Christ will attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon.

As the Jews who have not been converted are burned, the Messiah will return for the rapture. True believers will be lifted out of their clothes and transported to heaven, where, seated next to the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents suffer plagues of boils, sores, locusts, and frogs during the several years of tribulation that follow.

I'm not making this up. I've read the literature. I've reported on these people, following some of them from Texas to the West Bank. They are sincere, serious and polite as they tell you they feel called to help bring the rapture on as fulfilment of biblical prophecy. That's why they have declared solidarity with Israel and the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and volunteers. It's why the invasion of Iraq for them was a warm-up act, predicted in the Book of Revelation where four angels "which are bound in the great river Euphrates will be released to slay the third part of man."

A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed as an essential conflagration on the road to redemption. The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144 - just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of God will return, the righteous will enter Heaven and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire."
Well I'm a true believer
And I'm going to be saved
When all of you wicked sinners
Are headed for the grave.
I'm going up to Heaven
And you're going down to hell
I'm getting my reward
When they ring that Rapture Bell.

Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Yes, I'm going up to Heaven
And you're going down to hell
I'll be sitting pretty
Looking down from up above
And you'll be covered in boils and sores
Crawling in the mud! -Ha Ha!

Now we're running out of oil
And the rivers are almost dry
And a host of folks are starving
You can hear the children cry
But when the last clean air's polluted
And the last tree is felled
Jesus Christ will come on down
And ring the Rapture Bell.

Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
When the last clean air's polluted
And the last tree is felled
I'll be lifted up to heaven
Going to sit at God's right hand
And whatever happens to the rest of you guys
I couldn't give a damn!

Now we've got to stop these people
Making peace in the Middle East
That's where me and my cousin Ahmed
Have got something in common at least
We've got to stir up the Israelis
And the Arab folks as well
When the final battle starts
That's when we'll hear the Rapture Bell.

Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
We've got to stir up the Israelis
And the Arab folks as well
It's written in Revelation
It even names the battle place
Yes I'm headin' for Armageddon
With a smile on my face!

So come on all you Christians
And get with the agenda
If you want to make a perfect world
You've got to put it through the blender
No, I can't wait to hear the cries
And smell the fires of hell
When the earth is finally burning
I'm gonna hear that Rapture Bell.

Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
No I can't wait to hear the cries
And smell the fires of hell
I'm a follower of Jesus
And God is on my side
I'll be riding up to paradise
While all you fools get fried.

Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
Rapture Bell! Rapture Bell!
No I can't wait to hear the cries
And smell the fires of hell!
I'm a follower of Jesus
And God is on my side
I'll be riding up to paradise
While all you fools get fried!

inviata da giorgio - 27/1/2010 - 12:36




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