John Lennon’s Imagine is ‘heart-chilling’, says bishop in Christmas homily

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Belshazzar said:
Doin DiMucci, a practicing Catholic and good friend of Lennon, once said that “Imagine” was his worst song. "Just imagine, he said, “the Chilean miners stuck in that pit years back, arms 'round each other, singing 'imagine there’s no heaven…” Unfortunately, it was the song that embodied that generation perfectly.
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Ugh. I always hated that song. And I’d hate to face death with thatAs my anthem. I’ll take Abide With Me" any day, if if "it’s not in the hymnal.’:D**
 
I think Lennon had issues with Jesus because He would always be the more popular one.

Seriously.
 
At my daughter’s Catholic high school chorus concert, they not only sang this song, but the theme of the concert was “Imagine”. The choral director is Catholic…not sure what he was thinking having the class not only sing that song, but to have it as the theme of their choir.

I had spoken to my brother (a huge Beatles fan) and asked his thoughts on it. In his opinion, the song does not belong in a Catholic high school setting (I agree with him). He put the song in perspective for me given the Catholic-Protestant tensions at the time - especially in Northern Ireland. He doesn’t care for the song either…not sure how a Chrisitan can like the song to be honest. It just doesn’t sit well for me.
 
Neil Young and Ci Lo (or whatever his name is) have both sung the song but revise the lyrics where Lennon says “and no religion too”<— so it is not offensive. One can do a web search of “John Lennon Nuns” and one sees he was a bit mischievous as a lad.

Musically, I think he was a genius, he was a bit mixed-up, used drugs, perhaps a bit tortured, he had some issues.
 
In the 1990’s movie Forrest Gump, there was a scene where Forrest Gump was being interviewed about his ping-pong trip to Red China. As John Lennon was being interviewed simultaneously, Lennon basically asked Gump questions about Red China that followed the lyrics to “Imagine.” Gump answered these questions in a rather depressing manner.

That scene sums up my feelings about that song.
 
I agree with the Bishop. Imagine is one of the worst most annoying songs that has ever been released.😃
 
SeanF1989 said:
Imagine no possessions…while I sing on this grand piano. :rolleyes:
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I’m not a big Lennon fan, or lover of the song -

When an old Liverpool friend saw the wealth he’d accumulated in New York and teased him with the lyrics to Imagine, “remember ‘no possessions’, John, ‘it’s easy if you try’”, the former Beatle’s reply was characteristically, jokingly self-mocking: “It was only a bloody song.”
 
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”
~John Lennon March 1966

‘Imagine’ (co-written by Yoko Ono)
recorded in 1971

“My life with the Beatles had become a trap… I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn’t said that the Beatles were ‘bigger than Jesus’ and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus.”
~John Lennon March 1978

“With “Imagine,” we’re saying, “Can you imagine a world without countries or religions?” It’s the same message over and over. And it’s positive.”
[On Bob Dylan becoming a born-again Christian]
“I don’t like to comment on it. For whatever reason he’s doing it, it is personal for him and he needs to do it. But the whole religion business suffers from the “Onward, Christian Soldiers” bit. There’s too much talk about soldiers and marching and converting. I’m not pushing Buddhism, because I’m no more a Buddhist than I am a Christian, but there’s one thing I admire about the religion: There’s no proselytizing.”
“But nobody’s perfect, etc., etc. Whether it’s Janov or Erhardt or Maharishi or a Beatle. That doesn’t take away from their message. It’s like learning how to swim. The swimming is fine. But forget about the teacher. If the Beatles had a message, it was that. With the Beatles, the records are the point, not the Beatles as individuals. You don’t need the package, just as you don’t need the Christian package or the Marxist package to get the message. People always got the image I was an anti-Christ or antireligion. I’m not. I’m a most religious fellow. I was brought up a Christian and I only now understand some of the things that Christ was saying in those parables. Because people got hooked on the teacher and missed the message.”
~John Lennon September 8-28, 1980 (the year of his death)

In my ignorant and reckless youth I tuned-in to the music and not the lyrics. Once my faith matured, this became irrational and inadmissible.
The utopian ‘Imagine’ song disguised as union is faithless—more rotten fruit of heresy.
 
Tis not the season for Imagine.

Tis the season for Happy Xmas (War is Over).
 
Stylteralmaldo said:
At my daughter’s Catholic high school chorus concert, they not only sang this song, but the theme of the concert was “Imagine”. The choral director is Catholic…not sure what he was thinking having the class not only sing that song, but to have it as the theme of their choir.

I had spoken to my brother (a huge Beatles fan) and asked his thoughts on it. In his opinion, the song does not belong in a Catholic high school setting (I agree with him). He put the song in perspective for me given the Catholic-Protestant tensions at the time - especially in Northern Ireland. He doesn’t care for the song either…not sure how a Chrisitan can like the song to be honest. It just doesn’t sit well for me.
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Well, it was probably there as song of an Irish descendent. A bad reason of course.
I was so disappointed to see that Lennon was such a cynic, and anti-faith, along with his famous remark about fame and Jesus, etc.
Truly tarnished a great talent.
Being murdered on Dec. 8th didn’t help. Not that we’re superstitious, but that made my mama cry. She was praying for him. Very sad.
 
saintjohnxxiii said:
What do you mean?
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This was way back in the 70s and 80s when I saw nothing in the crucifix but the glorification of evil. The atonement for sin needing to entail such pain and suffering just seemed counter intuitive to me back then. Today I view it in a much different light; I see myself “hanging” with Christ, enduring some of His passion by carrying my cross in this miserable and corrupt world.
 
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