This is the seventeenth installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please leave the name the song in the comment section or send me an email.
Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Religion Evolves by Baba Brinkman, a rap artist from Canada.
I don’t know what heaven is, I just know what heaven isn’t
It isn’t a position in the VIP section
Where you sit forever, flicking your pleasure switches
It isn’t just an incentive to pick the best religion
Like a raffle ticket – forget the metaphysics
Anyone who threatens you with invisible gimmicks
Is just trying to sell you some gibberish
So what about a heaven that we actually get to live in?
One that’s not just a place in the clouds, please
I’m not stupid, this ain’t Jesus Walks music
And if you really believe Jesus talks to you
Then you should read The God Delusion
Schizophrenia’s obviously got you losin’ it
So relax and move in to a new paradigm
A place where you’re no longer aware of time
It’s called the present, and it’s a true paradise
Plus it’s right there in front of your eyes
What a surprise
Some float away on a dream
They can’t wait to believe in
Some find their heaven right here
In a place they can dream into being
Imagine this isn’t a dress rehearsal, imagine
There’s one life to live, and yes, it’s terminal
And religion isn’t really the source of our personal
Morals, it’s just how we make them feel more personal
And less like a vicious circle, but the purpose
Is more horizontal and less vertical
More about co-existence than a test of virtue
And heaven is just a world less hurtful
Where respect is universal, instead of seasonal
International instead of inter-regional
A real pessimist would say “inconceivable”
But I see it as a symbol of the best in people
A utopian dream, but not just a metaphor
An image of a world where there isn’t war
Not a hidden reward behind a mystery door
But a principle that’s really worth living for
And if you think it’s the afterlife, you’re misinformed
It’s time to wake up and shake off the melatonin
Go ahead and live in the moment and smell the roses
And experience the infinite present unfolding
Just direct some of your efforts and mental focus
Into the collective magnum opus of helping the hopeless
And then just watch as the entrance to heaven opens
So slowly that we hardly even notice it
Some float away on a dream
They can’t wait to believe in
Some find their heaven right here
In a place they can dream into being
If this is all we get
It’s not a test for what comes next
And in this moment
We can get our heaven on and
Make a joyful sound
With everyone around
And leave this place just a little better
Than we found it
As soon as we stop waiting for the
End to just descend and take us
Where we’ve always been we’ll find our
Heaven in this present tense
If you’re waiting to be born
Again my friend
Why pretend it’s not within
We’ll find our heaven in this present tense