It is strange for me to write about the reactionary shock some believers experience in the face of this emergent and vitriolic version of belief. I wrote this song from the perspective of someone I trust to have a grasp of what religion is supposed to do to their lives. The song wails into the octaves instead of screaming, followed by a descent into acceptance, as they are surrounded by people who’ve twisted the message into something unrecognizable.

…

“Angry Snarl”

though they can’t spell the word sanctimonious

you smell it from a mile away

uninformed but seemingly never silent

they poison our world with certainty

you can’t reason with people like this

their ears are closed with heavenly glue

they have just one book to ban all the others

and it never means the same thing twice

they never hesitate to offer a judgmental opinion

as if we haven’t watched them go astray

they speak of god with angry lips

where mercy lies in a forgotten ditch

(chorus)

you can’t reason with people like this

yet you persist in measured reason

knowing it’s all in vain

they have the only answer to give

and that’s their only refrain

they speak of god with angry lips

wondering why we don’t feel safe

an afterlife of condemnation

is no way to live

Love, X

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