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Religion

Charles Tyler
Language: English


Charles Tyler

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

"I wrote this song while I was travelling in China a while ago - I had the melody before I left and a couple of ideas - wrote the lyrics on the road and recorded it about a week after I got back.. on 21 July 2007.

Perhaps being in China - one country where religion is decidedly on the back foot - had something to do with the way the song came out. It is refreshing, after travelling in many parts of the world where religion dominates society, to walk through streets full of people who see the world essentially as it is - without the weird distortions that religious views impose. China may have its problems, but at least women have equal rights for the most part and can walk around freely in tee shirts if they want - and I don't feel threatened there that if I upset someone's religious feelings they might kill me!

As you may notice the lyric was influenced by reading Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God is not great - How religion poisons everything). Really what I have tried to do is capture the essence of these books in three short verses....

Another author whose writings fit with the theme of the song is Sam Harris (The end of faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason) although I hadn't heard of him when I wrote this song.

For the record, although I do not believe in the God of the Torah, the Bible and the Koran - the personal God watching and judging us - I am deep down a bit of a mystic... and my kind of mysticism gets along fine with science. Something is happening here after all... and we are part of it."
The land is just the land
Like the sea is just the sea
No land is ever promised
No land is ever holy
These are just words people say
Just thoughts that lead them astray
These are just myths of history
Just ignorance and stupidity.

Religion poisons everything
Religion is the original sin
The pedophile priest
The suicide bomber
The plane into the tower,
The daughter killed for honour.

And a child is just a child
Not a Muslim or a Jew
Not a Shiite or a Sunni
Not a Christian or a Hindu
These are just labels we sell
To those still innocent and free
When they are much too young to tell
Reality from fantasy.

Religion is the great mistake
Religion is the trust we break
The poison in the playground
The suspicion of the other
The faith school and madrassa
Brother killing brother.

And a book is just a book
Just words upon a page
There is no holy scripture
All writing is man made
There is no afterlife to fear
No God to which we have to bow
The simple rule for living here
Is just kindness in the here and now.

Religion paralyzes minds
Religion is the past that binds
The idiot evangelists
Disputing evolution
The Crusade and the Jihad
And the final solution

Religion poisons everything
Religion is the original sin.

Contributed by giorgio - 2010/1/26 - 09:05




Language: French

Version française – RELIGION – Lucien Lane – 2010
Chanson australienne – Religion – Charles Tyler – 2007
RELIGION

La terre est juste la terre
Comme la mer est juste la mer
Aucune terre n'est jamais promise
Aucune terre n'est jamais sacrée
Ce sont seulement des mots que disent les gens
Juste des pensées qui les égarent
Ce sont juste des mythes de l'histoire
Juste ignorance et stupidité

La religion empoisonne tout
La religion est le péché originel
Les prêtres pédophiles
Les attentats-suicides
L'avion dans la tour
La fille qu'on tue pour l'honneur.

Et un enfant est juste un enfant
Pas un musulman ou un juif
Pas un chiite ou un sunnite
Pas un chrétien ou un hindou
Ce sont juste des étiquettes qu'on attribue
À ceux qui encore innocents et libres
Quand ils sont trop jeunes pour départager
La réalité de l'invention.

La religion est une grande erreur.
La religion est la confiance brisée
Le poison dans la cour
L'aire du soupçon
L'école de la foi et la madrassa
Le frère qui tue le frère

Et un livre est juste un livre
Juste des mots sur une page
Il n'y a pas d'écritures saintes
Tout écrit est de main d'homme
Il n'y a pas d'après-vie à craindre
Aucun Dieu à révérer
La règle simple pour vivre ici
Est juste la bonté ici et maintenant.

La religion paralyse les pensées
La religion est le passé qui lie
Les évangélistes idiots
Contestant l'évolution
Les croisades, le Jihad
Et la solution finale.

La religion empoisonne tout
La religion est le péché originel.

Contributed by Lucien Lane - 2010/1/27 - 16:58




Language: Italian

Versione Italiana
LA RELIGIONE

Una terra è solo una terra
come il mare è solo il mare
Non c'è una terra promessa
Non c'è una terra santa
Sono solo parole che si dicono,
pensieri che fuorviano
solo "miti" del passato,
solo ignoranza e stupidità.

La religione che tutto inquina,
la religione è il peccato originale,
il prete pedofilo,
l'attentatore suicida,
gli aeroplani nelle Torri,
la figlia uccisa per onore.

E un bambino è soltanto un bambino,
non un musulmano o un ebreo,
non uno sciita o un sannita,
non un cristiano o un indù
Sono solo marchi che rifiliamo
a chi è ancora innocente e libero,
troppo giovane per distinguere
la realtà dalla fantasia.

La religione è il grande errore
il credito da interrompere,
il veleno nel refettorio,
la paura dell'altro,
la scuola di fede e la Mandrassa,
il fratello che uccide il fratello.

E un libro è soltanto un libro
solo parole in una pagina,
non ci sono "sacre scritture",
è tutto stato fatto dall'uomo.
Non c'è un aldilà da temere,
né un Dio a cui inchinarsi
La semplice regola per andare avanti
in questo mondo è la buona creanza.

La religione paralizza le menti,
è il passato che ti incatena,
i predicatori idioti
che contestano l'evoluzione,
le Crociate e la Jihad
e la soluzione finale.

La religione che inquina tutto,
la religione è il peccato originale.

Contributed by giorgio - 2010/1/27 - 19:41


There will always be enough religion to incite war, but never enough religion to build tolerance.

Sean T.Watkins - 2010/11/8 - 10:48




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