October, 9th is John Lennon’s birthday. Imagine what he would be doing if he were alive today. How vocal would he be about his atheism?
In 1966, John Lennon famously stated that the Beatles were, “more popular than Jesus.” At the time, he didn’t think it was a big deal. He was simply stating an observation. But Christian leaders in the United States were outraged and some religious leaders even advocated burning his records.
Lennon would cause outrage again within the Christian community in 1970 when he released his song, “God.” In the song, Lennon lists a bunch of things he doesn’t believe in. One of them is Jesus. His message in the song is that God is a concept and if there is anything that could be considered a god, it would be ourselves.
However, the song which John Lennon was most recognized for was “Imagine.” The song criticizes religion right from the start:
“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...”
He later stated that it was an "anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic [song], but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."
Imagine if John Lennon were alive today, there would no doubt be many causes which he would be active in but I do wonder with the rise of vocal atheism in America if he would be just as vocal now as he was then. Perhaps he would be even more vocal about his atheism since religion plays such a large and destructive role in the issues he was passionate about.
John Lennon is certainly missed within the community of reason. Some say he was just a dreamer, but he wasn’t the only one.
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