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The Phantom Menace

from Religion Is Nonsense by Active Minds

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    10" mini-LP, with fold-out sleeve and 10"x10" printed fabric backpatch.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Religion Is Nonsense via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      £6.50 GBP

     

about

The world I grew up in was, in many ways, very different to the one we live in today. Yes, we’ve had many technological and cultural changes, but the most striking difference is the fact that the Cold War is over.
It is hard for younger generations to imagine the sort of fear, ignorance and paranoia that Western propaganda instilled in the population about the people from the so-called “Communist Bloc” countries. The nuclear arms race was justified in so many people’s eyes because they believed that the very nature of ordinary people living in those countries had been twisted, to the extent that they couldn’t be trusted not to simply seek the destruction of the world if the opportunity arose. It’s impossible to rationally explain to a younger generation that in the 1970’s people in Britain generally believed that their counterparts in Eastern Europe spent their days thinking about how to annihilate us.
Or maybe it’s not impossible? Because isn’t that how so much current thinking about the Muslim world is generally framed – that our differences are so fundamental, and the things we have in common so fleeting, that we can never be reconciled to live in peace together on the same planet?
I didn’t believe in that analysis growing up in the ‘70’s, and I don’t believe in it now. Despite our differences of beliefs, or our cultural propaganda, most people are looking for similar things in life. Political or religious extremists do not properly represent the thinking of the societies and cultures that they come from, and we shouldn’t judge the values of ordinary people by self-appointed fanatical leaders – whether they be jihadists or right-wing bigots who want us to fear anybody who looks different to us.

lyrics

When I was growing up we were taught to fear the unknown –
That half the world had values very different from our own.
The West feared the East, and always assumed the worst.
Whatever we believed they must think the reverse.
Across the divide, a similar story unfurled –
That of millions of people intent on destroying the world.

Now much of the Iron Curtain has been pulled aside.
We can speak to the people that our rulers had wanted to hide,
And we see that the difference was never so great –
We have similar dreams and can simply relate.
A menace which always seemed to hang in the air
Turned out to be a phantom – it was never really there.

But now once again we are afraid,
And some find political capital to be made
By turning that fear into anger and hate
Against innocent people with enough on their plate.
But a handful of fanatics do not represent
The mass of the people and their sentiments.
We all need to learn tolerance and respect –
It’s what we should give and, in turn, expect.

Why can’t we see that most people seek the same thing –
A peaceful life and the security that it will bring?
To live a life not dominated by fear.
To have comfort, and laughter, and our loved ones near.
There is more that unites us than that holds us apart –
If we realise this it will be a start.

credits

from Religion Is Nonsense, released February 1, 2019

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