Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Abe Greenwald at Commentary alerts me to the news that pop star Cee Lo Green sang John Lennon's "Imagine" on NBC's New Year's Eve program. Except that he changed the famously atheistic lyric to a more multi-culti one. Instead of "nothing to kill or die for/and no religion too,” Green sang “nothing to kill or die for/and all religion’s true.” Greenwald says that if you ever want to know what left-liberals are thinking, "just listen to how they tweak this dystopian dirge to reflect resentments and sensitivities du jour. In January 2011, multiculturalism trumps atheism. Stay tuned for updates."
I love it. Green apparently was just trying to say something in favor of believing whatever you want to. Greenwald points out that the cultures that permit this are also those that value possessions, heaven, hell, countries, ideals to live or die for and all the other stuff condemned by Lennon. Or as he says, "It turns out that eschewing traditional Western institutions is incompatible with religious freedom."
He goes on:
That Lennon’s original was ever embraced as a harmless expression of goodwill and brotherly love has always been baffling. Four decades of elementary school graduation ceremonies have seen little kids across America sing “Imagine no possessions,” and “no heaven” as if the four decades prior didn’t revolve around the global threat posed by the state-owned and godless Soviet Union. Kids (and adults) sang, “Imagine all the people living for today” right up until the West that ignored tomorrow went broke. The song, if you take it seriously, is a three-minute blueprint for civilizational collapse.
The thing about this multi-culti update is that I think that the average person can see the dangers of enforced atheism much more easily than they can see the threat posed to Western institutions by multi-culturalism. It almost makes me long for the Lennon original. I do find it charming, I must admit, that the left has its own sacred hymns that can't be altered without charges of blasphemy.
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Comments :
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
It is nihilism with a happy face.
Sep '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
See Robert Lux's fine post on the member feed.
Jun '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
C'mon Molly, you need to learn to and all that crap.
Jun '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Ooops, for some reason my "COEXIST" bumper sticker didn't appear in the previous post.
Anyway, COEXIST is the motto of our age. What it means, I have no clue.
Jun '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
By the way, my niece had "Imagine" piped in over a boom box as she processed up the aisle at her wedding a couple of months ago. I'm afraid my "Oh Good God" sigh was audible over the din.
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Colin B Lane: Ooops, for some reason my "COEXIST" bumper sticker didn't appear in the previous post.
Anyway, COEXIST is the motto of our age. What it means, I have no clue. · Jan 4 at 8:10am
One of my friends at church has a COEXIST bumper sticker except that instead of the typical one, it's spelled out of gun manufacturer logos.
Jun '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
It is indeed. The left attempts to eliminate all value systems making everything equal, like a fraction with a denominator of zero, the very definition of meaninglessness.
Aug '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
One of my friends at church has a COEXIST bumper sticker except that instead of the typical one, it's spelled out of gun manufacturer logos. · Jan 4 at 8:18am
I nominate that for "Awesome Thing of the Week."
Feb '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
COEXIST: The priceless Mark Steyn:
I found myself behind a car in Vermont, in the US, the other day; it had a one-word bumper sticker with the injunction "COEXIST". It's one of those sentiments beloved of Western progressives, one designed principally to flatter their sense of moral superiority. The C was the Islamic crescent, the O was the hippie peace sign, the X was the Star of David and the T was the Christian cross. Very nice, hard to argue with. But the reality is, it's the first of those symbols that has a problem with coexistence. Take the crescent out of the equation and you wouldn't need a bumper sticker at all. Indeed, coexistence is what the Islamists are at war with; or, if you prefer, pluralism, the idea that different groups can rub along together within the same general neighbourhood... [in world trouble spots it's] Muslims v Jews in Palestine, Muslims v Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims v Christians in Nigeria, Muslims v Buddhists in southern Thailand, Muslims v (your team here). Whatever one's views of the merits on a case by case basis, the ubiquitousness of one team is a fact.
Aug '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Whoa. As soon as I'd read this post, a string of John Lennon songs played on my iPod.
Spooky.
May '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
John Lennon's "Imagine" is an example of the cultural power of music. Many people think the lyrics are ridiculous but listen to the song anyway, because the melody is catchy. While some can tune out the lyrics entirely, most are forced to hear them to some degree while enjoying the music.
Hearing statements repeatedly doesn't force one to believe them. But it's like interacting with people of opposing views constantly. It's stressful and tiring. If the influence is not countered by supportive views, there is a temptation to move toward the opposition to become more comfortable.
People seek truth in lyrics and literature in any case. But they also seek truth in lyrics so that they can enjoy pleasing melodies more fully.
Anyway, I once heard a seminary student playing "Imagine" on the piano. Music can accomplish what politicians, priests and parents wish they could accomplish in their speeches and lectures: music can get people to listen (and truly consider) contrary views, even repeatedly.
Jun '11
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Colin B Lane: Ooops, for some reason my "COEXIST" bumper sticker didn't appear in the previous post.
Anyway, COEXIST is the motto of our age. What it means, I have no clue. · Jan 4 at 8:10am
One of my friends at church has a COEXIST bumper sticker except that instead of the typical one, it's spelled out of gun manufacturer logos. · Jan 4 at 8:18am
Sounds like my kind of parish. And I'm betting they don't sing "Imagine" during Mass (something I have heard done on more than one occasion).
Aug '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
An even better example of this could be Rage Against The Machine. I love listening to their stuff. Virtually every young conservative I know loves listening to their stuff. And yet, we all loathe the lyrics. Loathe.
My theory is that these sorts of extreme examples serve as a cautionary tale, reminding us that evil politics can be draped in appealing wrapping.
Maybe, the reason I can look past the band's idiotic politics is because the idiotic politics is so front-and-centre in the lyrics. You hear the political message, you consider it, you reject it, you move on.
It's more difficult when artists try to be more subtle at hiding their politics in their lyrics.
Edited on Jan 4 at 9:51amJun '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
I thought that song was a satire....
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Atheism has always trumped multiculturalism. Positing the nonexistence of heaven or hell is rational and modern and sensible, the default position of any intelligent mind, and thus stands atop the blathering hop polloi with their sky-gods. Multiculturalism is just a way of diminishing Western exceptionalism, with the added benefit of auto-flattery for being Tolerant, global-minded, and nonjudgmental.
Little events like this reveal the progressive hierarchy. Gay issues trump African-American issues, but feminist issues trump gay issues, or so it seems sometimes.
Aug '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
I find it wonderfully ironic that someone who was trying to sing a song in a manner that promoted tolerance, ended up facing the backlash of the intolerant advocates of "Tolerance."
While Cee-Lo's adaptation of the song was a kind of soft expression of the nihilism that is modern Multi-Culturalism, all this discussion has done something that the Lennon version never did.
It has actually prompted me to really imagine a world where "all religions are true." This thought experiment might just form the basis of my next D&D 4e campaign. It most certainly wouldn't be a world free of strife, but it would be an exciting place to be. It also happens to be the world of Harry Dresden and the Iron Druid book series. In those series(es?), all the gods of history are alive and well and muck with our lives.
For you Gaiman-hipsters, the Dresden books pre-date American Gods.
Heck, this might just be what I need to kickstart a "Hero, Demigod, God" Storyteller system campaign.
Aug '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Nerdyness aside...
The cult of Multi-Culturalism is a dire threat to the Western Tradition, even more so because it is a corruption and inversion of the principles underlying the Tradition itself.
One can be tolerant of, and accepting of, the beliefs of others without requiring those beliefs to be true on any level.
As a devout Catholic, the way I view Protestant religions is very different from the way my ancestors did during the 30 Years War. I disagree with them on several theological points, but I don't think it is anything to use to fuel the flames of discontent during a war.
I also think that a society that allows the free practice of religion, is a better one than one which enforces one particular faith and suppresses others.
May '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
James Lileks:
Little events like this reveal the progressive hierarchy. Gay issues trump African-American issues, but feminist issues trump gay issues, or so it seems sometimes.
Women trump gays? No way. The only category that trumps gays is Muslims.
liberal politicians > Muslims > gays > blacks > women
Humza should run for office. A Muslim Republican would drive liberals batty.
May '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Multiculturalism is nothing more than giving up. It's the result of believing the world is too complicated to make meaningful distinctions. Alternatively, it's abandoning truth for the sake of avoiding conflict.
Multiculturalism is cowardice.
Edited on Jan 4 at 10:31amAug '10
Re: Imagine No Multi-Culturalism
Use the Pathfinder system, and I would be so there.