Bad Religion -- "New Dark Ages"

"New Dark Ages" comes from Bad Religion's latest album: "New Maps of Hell." It has a very "end times" feel.

The lyrics represent a mixture of biblical themes:

"Now come ye children one and all -
let's heed Ezekiel's call,

And bide until the word is good and ripe
and get plucked clean out of sight

The world will be erased
our kin will be
Immaculate ejaculate in space
Before the kind of king's love,
he'll snatch us
From above,
brothers help me sing it"


I looked up something about being "plucked out of sight" or "waiting until the word is ripe" in Ezekiel and could not find anything (please let me know if you know specifically what part of Ezekiel Greg Gaffin was referring to). This is a general theme throughout the Bible in any case, especially in the New Testament. Ezekiel certainly called God's people to obey God right now until God brings balances everything out again. Ezekiel speaks with an obvious sense of urgency about now being the time to heed God's Spirit and align ourselves with His priorities.


"Yeah can you hear the call in our rambling land susurrations,
That can expand beyond all hope of light and plunge us into unrelenting night

A pall on truth and reason,
It feels like hunting season
So avoid those lines of sight and we'll set this right

Welcome to the new dark ages
I hope you're living right
These are the new dark ages
And the world might end tonight"

It is appropriate to think and live as though these are the end times. Compared to eternity our lives are close to ending from the moment we are born.

Now is the time to choose a side: either for or against God. Everyone can be divided into one of two camps: Those who propagate truth and reason according to God (who invented truth and reason) versus those who invent their own truth and reason.

There already is a battle for truth, whether or not you care to acknowledge it. You already have chosen to believe either truth or lies.


"Because we're animals - with golden rules
Who... who can't be moved by rational views"

This speaks to the prevalent thought of our times. People would like to think of themselves as animals and yet something more than animals at the same time.

Evolutionary theory says we are only another species of animal as evidenced by our survival instincts. Yet we admire people who neglect their own needs to take care of others.

Science preaches that we are floating around without purpose; we are accidental clouds of atoms and molecules. At the same time, mainstream thinkers want people to think rationally. But what is our motivation for living rationally if we are nothing but moistened piles of dust destined to turn back into dead, dry piles of dust? People cannot follow the The Golden Rule unless they know why they should do so. God build us with eternal purpose. When we know our purpose from God's point of view we'll be better equipped to follow The Golden Rule.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ezekiel 31: 1-4

I think that'll help.

Pat R said...

hmmm, i'm not seeing it.

Anonymous said...

I think I got the number wrong.

It's this passage:

The word of the Lord came to me: "son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the sheherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not bough back the strays or searched for the lost. You hve ruled them harshly and brutally.

Greg Graffin is using Ezekiel's call as a metaphor for American's not calling out their president.

Sorry about the confusion.