Dear God...

[touchofgrey]

You guys remember this song/video by XTC?

Click to view

[ LinkI was listening to it tonight after it randomly popped into my head and really thought about what the song is saying. I've always loved the harsh bluntness of the song (especially that part near the end that should be turned up to eleven), nothing to do with my religious beliefs, but the emotion, but

Comments

[just_laura]

He does address the song TO God, which implies enough belief to hassle God about these grievances. Also, I didn't see anywhere where he alluded to any mythos other than the Christian one, and parts of the song (including what you quoted) seem to be alerting God to what humans are attributing to him rather than blaming him for it--so you could say he doesn't believe in that mythos and the problems its caused, rather than not believing in God.
Was I close?

[touchofgrey]

Yeah, the addressing it TO God was what made me start down that thought process, especially since the song starts out rather politely and just gets angrier, which, well, is kind of what starts happening when you start really letting it all out

[idonotlikepeas]

I'm not sure if this embed will work, but if it does, have a listen to this one:

Are you out there Tonight

E: Oh, it came out as a plain link. Har har.

[idonotlikepeas]

I'd read it as "I won't believe in a God that can allow things like this to happen", which is a common enough sentiment. It's a little more nuanced than "I do/do not believe in God", though.

What he seems to me to be saying is "If you're up there, why the fuck are you not fixing these things? Since you're not, I have to assume you're not there." It indicates a willingness to believe if someone can just explain, or if things can change.

[touchofgrey]

That was pretty much my take. (See my other comment for the longer explanation.)

[fluffstravels]

I had actually never heard this song before until you mentioned it. It's interesting; it's hard to interpret what all of the people in the trees mean....