"EARTHALUJAH": A Devotional Journey with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ and Finding Freedom
As Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping Choir would say during this summer's aborted “Love Earth Tour” by Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse: "EARTHALUJAH"!
Happy Sunday morning to all of our rustie grain friends. Here's a little something different than maybe your typical TW fare.
From "Rockin’ in the Free World" by Neil Young - Finding Biblical Freedom through Music |
Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” strikes a chord with many listeners, both musically and thematically.
The song’s passionate call for freedom and its socio-political commentary resonate deeply, echoing the timeless desire for true liberty—a theme equally profound in the Bible. But how can we connect the cry for freedom in Young’s lyrics to the biblical principles of liberation, love, and justice?
In "Rockin’ in the Free World," Neil Young highlights the struggles and disparities within society, asking listeners to reflect on what freedom truly means. The Bible also speaks extensively about freedom but in a way that transcends political and social realms.
Consider John 8:36 (NIV): "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Here, Jesus offers a profound freedom that surpasses any societal construct—a spiritual liberation through His sacrifice.
Full article @ Finding Freedom: A Devotional Journey with Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ and Biblical Promises | bgodinspired .
More on Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ @ Why It Works: Neil Young's “Rockin’ In the Free World".
(frame from "Rockin' In The Free World" music video)
Labels: analysis, lyrics, neil young, rockin in the free world, song
by thrasher@PermaLink: 8/04/2024 04:56:00 AM
14 comments
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14 Comments:
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There’s a difference between spiritual freedom, and physical freedom. Spiritual freedom is possible if one chooses to live it. But physical freedom is dependent upon others doing the same. Unfortunately this world isn’t conducive for this to ever happen, and sadly organized religion, and government seems to be the most common reasons why. Oppression from government and religious institutions has caused more misery throughout human history than anything else. Greed, hate, and ego continues to prevent true freedom from being possible, and I don’t see anything that will change that. Humanity has too many flaws for physical freedom to ever exist. But I wish it were possible.
Peace 🙏
the Bible offers very little or nothing with respect to human autonomy. Hence the deep criticism from early enlightenment thinkers such as Spinoza. the Bible offers a rule based ethics but we do not give the rules to ourselves (as developed by Kant). I greatly appreciate the myth and meanings of the Old Testament but no thanks on the concept of humanity therein. We have gone well beyond biblical moral and legal concepts. Consider the people in the US who want a theocracy? They are authoritarian and "rural" in their ideas of human community. Authority, paternalism, patriarchy, and bigotry abound. Honestly, I would choose Homer before the Bible as a moral guide. Neil's song relies on dialectic with the lack of freedom (especially with addiction). Insofar as there is a cliche lurking, it is religion as a drug, something that addresses human suffering in the real world (with a promise). Marx meant that religion, as the promise of another world, does address human suffering but is a gross failure for progress toward authentic freedom.
I do not always do so well on a blog so let me try to cut a bit deeper. Rule following is necessary but early in moral development. without following any theory, one might say, the rules should be internalized and then given justification (and not just "obeyed"). Be very careful with anyone who want obedience (even with a dog- when I bird hunted we used to say the dogs were "co-workers").
There is much to be said here about morality and freedom. Real freedom (?) might be the ability to determine the will on the basis of what one can justify as right (and as wrong). The discipline of the will is what matters. Sheer obedience is an external obedience and it is a form of enslavement. A community is free when it determines its own actions from rationally defensible principles, rules and dispositions.
I am quite willing to admit that the above account is horribly incomplete.
Now, consider the "freedom" mentioned in John. This is freedom from death and mortality, eternal this and that, which seems to have absolutely nothing to do with our actual circumstance as human beings. We do not make any progress for ourselves or others when we think of freedom in this way. In fact, it might do us serious damage as human maturity depends on a true recognition of mortality and finitude.
Neil Young's struggle is, in. my view, always best understood as existential. Neil struggles with death, mortality and finitude in the ways of art: he marks time and questions with visions and ideas. He places us in familiar troubles that are richly human. Rockin in the Free World is a way to grasp our limits and possibly get beyond some of them (addiction, abject moral failure, etc).
The moral and spiritual infant in us scorns the addict and wants to deport the immigrant. And all the while we know that we could be the addict, and we could be the immigrant. This seems consistent with what Jesus preached (insofar as we know anything about Jesus). Note that the ideas have support and are not based on obedience but empathy.
This is a pretty shallow post. No offense to anyone who finds great comfort in reading the Bible, but this sort of random stringing together of a few clips from Neil Young lyrics with various biblical passages is just not very interesting. And then you reach the end and realize why it's so shallow -- the text was almost certainly created using ChatGPT. The creator of this Music ans Sripture GPT invities you to connect any song lyric to the Bible. Blah. There are definitely some potential good uses of AI. This ain't one of them.
@ Dan - we appreciate your being here and sharing on a Sunday morning. The difference in being religious and being spiritual is huge.
Blessings and peace.
@ Abner - it is challenging to write on this subject. Sometimes words fail because there are no words.
@ KM - good catch on AI. Probably shouldn't have published after all. But seems like a good time to be engaged in acknowledging higher powers and our divine sovereignty.
There is truly only one issue which matters: Freedom.
I'm sure we all have strong ideas about what freedom means. To advocate for a principle or objective without clearly defining it, though, is hazardous. It's easy for people to rationalize all kinds of actions under the banner of a grand (but vague) notion. On the other hand, the impetus to specify and label can nudge us down pedantic rabbit holes. Which suggests my second point: the limitations of logos.
The Gospel of John begins with the famous passage: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God..." But as thrasher expressed it, sometimes there are no words. If words have a limited capacity to convey meaning, it follows that you can't necessarily rely on any single book for answers to ultimate questions.
Sticking with the example of Christianity (for the sake of argument), the Bible has a complex textual history. Regardless of whether one believes it's divinely inspired, the works that make up the Bible have gone through so many human intermediaries (i.e. translators, scribes) over such a span of time, one needs to at least be thoughtful in assessing meanings.
Although it's certainly not my field, I can imagine a theological argument: if the divine logos (or word of God ) is a sufficient foundation for human spiritual consciousness, why the need for the word to be "made flesh"? With an emphasis on atonement and salvation, the significance of incarnation, of the divine taking a bodily form, is sometimes overlooked. "By their works shall ye know them" seems to place significance on embodying and enacting divine virtues. (Be the rain, live the change.)
And can these virtues only be embodied in a human? Vishnu (Krishna) had dozens of avatars: man, fish, boar, tortoise, etc. I'd much rather raise questions here than give answers, but I do think it's important to move beyond literalistic assumptions in this territory.
@ Meta Rocker - good to see you weigh in on this topic.
kind of thought you might take a nibble here.
really just wanted to get this kind of view out there on a Sunday morning. Hoping something good might come. Maybe a break from the bad news beat?
as the shift moves along, we sense more folks looking for -- not necessarily the right answers -- but realizing they've been asking the wrong questions.
we only wish to spark dialog amongst readers to help move towards the better place. Freedom however you wish to define.
Regarding Freedom -- the concept, not the album -- it seems to be a universal sovereign right. Like you're pro-slavery or anti-slavery. There is no middle ground on the subject.
we see no hazard here.
Interesting that you bring up logos? Not sure you've ventured there before?
So is there ambiguity around morality, logos, freedom? We think not.
but we're always searching for higher ground, questioning and seeking.
namaste
To rephrase my point as a question, when you and I talk about freedom, are we both thinking of the same thing? How do we know? I'm not too interested here in speculating on the almighty, which is why I was initially reluctant to weigh in. I'm interested in the effects these beliefs have within the material (free) world.
Given my instinctive cautiousness about theology, I probably wouldn't have mentioned logos if the article hadn't quoted John. The connection almost suggested itself. My thought process was conceptual or theoretical. I wouldn't want anyone to over-generalize from this specific context.
Additionally, regarding the "bad news beat"... this is a stressful time to be human, but if anything, I've started to feel a little more optimistic in recent days. It's tentative, measured, and hopefully not premature. Read what you will into that.
I genuinely appreciate being here and getting to connect with others. It’s always interesting and valuable to hear different perspectives on things. I’m always impressed with just how articulate some of the comments are, and I always gain important insights from them. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and perspectives.
Peace🙏
Dan, from past comments I know you appreciate both Neil Young and George Harrison. NY sings about rocking in the free world. GH had a song and album titled Living in the Material World (which is admittedly a mouthful for a rock record). I see both views, but I haven’t necessarily reconciled them. How free can a material world be?
Art comes partly from a need to override simple dualism (material vs. spiritual). Music can bridge the tangible and the intangible a third term or middle way (medium) bringing together opposites.
Thanks Dan. Likewise, we're honored to have such a vibrant comment community in these times.
"If "free will" is mistranslation and the correct translation is "freedom of choice", then it may be that "freedom of choice" does not refer to "free will", so why mix them in the first place. It may simply mean that God gave us choice to do bad thing or to follow Scripture."
--Emcamp Inline
Once a wise man was asked to explain the difference between religion and spirituality.
His response was profound:
▪️ Religion is not just one, there are many.
▪️ Spirituality is one.
▪️ Religion is for those who sleep.
▪️ Spirituality is for those who are awake.
▪️ Religion is for those who need someone to tell them what to do and who want guidance.
▪️ Spirituality is for those who pay attention to their inner voice.
▪️ Religion has dogmatic rules.
▪️ Spirituality calls us to discuss everything, question everything.
▪️ Religion threatens and scares.
▪️ Spirituality gives inner peace.
▪️ Religion talks about sin and guilt.
▪️ Spirituality says “learn from your mistake”.
▪️ Religion suppresses everything that is wrong.
▪️ Spirituality overcomes everything, it brings you closer to the truth!
▪️ Religion is about God; It is not God.
▪️ Spirituality is everything and therefore it is in God.
▪️ Religion is inventing.
▪️Spirituality is finding.
▪️ Religion doesn’t tolerate any questions.
▪️Spirituality will question everything.
▪️ Religion is humanity.
This is an organization whose rules are made by men.
▪️ Spirituality is divine, without human rules.
▪️ Religion is the cause of division.
▪️Spirituality unites.
▪️ Religion seeks you to believe.
▪️ The spirituality you have to seek it to believe.
▪️ Religion follows the concepts of the holy book.
▪️ Spirituality looks for a holiday in all books.
▪️ Religion feeds fear.
▪️ Spirituality feeds trust and faith.
▪️ Religion lives in thoughts.
▪️ Spirituality lives in inner consciousness.
▪️ Religion is dealing with the performance of rituals.
▪️ Spirituality is related to the inner self.
▪️ Religion feeds the ego.
▪️ Spirituality forces you to go beyond.
▪️ Religion makes us disconnect from the world to follow God.
▪️ Spirituality makes us live in God, without giving up our existing life.
▪️ Religion is a cult.
▪️ Spirituality is an inner meditation.
▪️ Religion fills us with dreams of glory in paradise.
▪️ Spirituality makes us live in earthly glory and paradise.
▪️ Religion lives in the past and in the future.
▪️ Spirituality is living in the present.
▪️ Religion creates monasteries in our memory.
▪️ Spirituality frees our consciousness.
▪️ Religion makes us believe in eternal life.
▪️ Spirituality makes us aware of eternal life.
▪️ Religion promises life after death.
▪️ Spirituality means finding God inside us in our present life before we die
We are not human beings who are going through a mental experience.
-We are spiritual beings going through the human experience.
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