A Perfect Circle: Judith Meaning
Song Released: 2000
Judith Lyrics
That I will never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you
Fuck your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this to you
Took all you had and
Left you this...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:*Sigh* Right off the bat, no one here should be commenting unless they've seen the aMOTION DVD in which MJK explains the lyrics to quite a few of APC's best songs.
Again, Sigh. You guys are killing me. This song is NOT Anti-God.
In the aMOTION Commentary, MJK explains first about Fundamentalists who are so focused on the fundamentals, that they cease to have compassion anymore.
He explains how his mother's health began to deteriorate, while her faith strengthened her... meanwhile the people from her church began to talk behind her back, and claim it was God punishing her.
Maynard then explains that the song goes on to say QUOTE "Fuck your god, but I'm not really saying fuck the ACTUAL God, but fuck YOUR god, you know, a god who would isolate people, punish, Genesis 1:1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and originally in the text, that word was "Yewah" or "Jehovah", which means light and love. We've kinda twisted it to be this guy with a beard, passing judgment, but it's not: in the beginning was the word, and the word was love, and light, infinite, unconditional, and without judgement."
He further explains how fundamentalist Christians tend to take love out of the equation, when they need to realize, and get back to what their God and faith is actually all about: LOVE.
SUMMARY
Maynard says "Fuck your God", your god of hate, judgement, and punishment, because his God, nay, the TRUE God, is a God of love and compassion, and his mother Judith knew this the whole time, and held on, even while her "friends" criticized her. Check out the story of Job, it's very similiar. Struggle, pain, and death aren't here on earth for God's enjoyment, they're here to make each of us stronger in our lives, and in our faith. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Regardless what MJK said later, and ignoring the impotent anger and cherry-picked bible snatches of the affronted Christian writers (we'll come to that later), the interpretation of the songs lyrics is fairly obvious. He's talking to his Mum, and his anger is directed at her and her blind faith in spite of her ailing health. He's infuriated that she clings to her faith and cannot understand why she can't see the fallacy behind her illusions (not my own opinion of religion by the way, just how I interpret the song). He demands her explanation and doesn't understand how Judith can accept what's happening within her faith:
"It's not like you killed someone...He did it all for you"
He condescends her faith with an atheist's smug knowledge "Oh so many many ways for me to show you how your dogma has abandoned you". I can relate to this. Anyone who pays any attention to scientific developments in the past say... 500 years or so can pick up at will myriad weapons to destroy the word of the Bible. MJK is no different and assumes his Mum doesn't know those arguments with all the arrogance of a child.
The song is not so much about religion but more about a Mother and Son. The Son is angry at the Mother for dying and picks weapons he believes will offend her, will cause emotional pain. This is quite typical, how many of us have deliberately pressed someone's buttons to cause an argument when we've had a bad day. Human nature is to share the misery. This is the primary behaviour, the religion thing is just secondary to the facts.
So... back to cherry picking bible snatches. You're quoting the bible out of context, please stop. If you're insistent on cherry picking, please do it correctly. Shut the book, open it at a random page and flip a coin on to the page. Whatever it says underneath type it. Look, I'll do it...
"the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day." Exodus 35:1-3
There goes the vicars. They all work on Sunday.
You see, you can't just cherry pick the good bits. By your own dogma, either its all a message or it's all made up. You can't pick and choose. That's a sin of arrogance. That's called knowing the mind of God. I thought the whole point of Christianity was to be humble before God.
Thank God(s) I'm a Pantheonistic Agnostic. I might believe in lots of Gods. Maybe. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:Maynard says on the commentary that this song is inspired by his mother and her struggle with her health. She continued to hold to her faith in Christ even as she became weaker and passed on. In his opinion, those that came to visit her were hypocrites because their words were empty.
He's challenging Evangelical Christianity's conception of a God who loves us yet would allow us to suffer and offer no recourse. -
Why have you forsaken me......faith was originally taught from Jesus hanging on a cross...,.capital punishment , that's what is the root of Christianity, it's messy sorry folks.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I sure hope whoever posted the top rated entry on this page has grown up a bit since posting- the whole entry is pure dogmatic garbage. Ironic isn't it?
Anyhoo as fruitful as it might be to look at behind the scenes dvd's for insight, it is important to keep in mind the emotional context embedded in the music as a whole. That said, the emotional force behind this particular piece seems to be leaning towards a pretty forceful rejection of the same values that jmk's mother is supposed to personify. Seen in this way, the song is neither a rejection nor an endorsment of god or christianity, but instead a manifestation of an internal conflict within the author between on 1 side the sense of injustice regarding the condition of judith herself, and on the other reverence for her resoluteness in the face of what (to the author at least) would seem the best possible reason to abandon one's faith.
True, the reactions of the rest of the congregation may be a sticking point for jmk, and with good reason, but the lyrics are clearly not exhausted by reference to a backlash at the views and attitudes of people jmk in all likelihood doesnt see as significant anyway.
imo this song is about the relationship between a man and his mother- one that is strained by the philosophical differences between the two in the face of immense hardship and suffering; the lyrics therein represent a single emotional reaction to a complex and difficult situation. In short, I think the people who take this song to be anti-christian are much nearer the mark than the prat who posted the no1 answer to this song, as the subject matter revolves around 1 mans struggle to reconcile the age old problem of evil when it hits home in a very personal way, and the sort of feelings that may erupt when any of us are confronted with such a situation. -
I respect the amount of research everyone has invested to come up with an interpretation of this song. I must say that MJK is an artist and the lyrics are only part of the song. We must feel the music also because it is saying something as well. I do agree with one of the commentee's that MJK is spiritual, there is definitely evidence to support that. Feel the combination of the lyrics and the tone of the music and it is definitely a hopeless blasphemous song directly in the face of God of the bible or Jesus Christ Himself. I am a Christian but I do not take offense because I believe my God can handle these words from a confused screaming man on the planet Earth.
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I believe this song is about his mother who was ill and in pain for a very long time but never lost her faith. This is Maynards anger towards a God that would put someone, who truly believes and worships them, through so much pain!
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When you people realize that the thing that is stomping on your religion is the church itself, you'll realize what Is being said in this song. The majority of fundamental christians do not even understand their own teachings or that of Jesus(Yahushua) himself, who I should also note, along with john the baptist is a huge milestone in the origin of Buddhism today. Jesus did not ask you to worship him. He came as the same thing the so called satan came as "a light bearer" a "lucifer" in latin. He is someone who brought light to things, hence brought meaning or understanding to things. His purpose was to be a teacher; to be the "word" of god.
"satan" is not someone named lucifer.
Hell is not created until after revelation.
Those cast into this so called hell are only there for 1000 years apparently, not eternity. Eternity is a mistranslation from the bible that was supposed to be "eon" or "aeon" meaning world or "an indefinite amount of time." Utterly the opposite of eternity.
Finally all you fundamentals, let this be the biggest piece that will urge you to seek god yourselves instead of through some crappy medium. God gave you the ultimate means to find him. Within yourself.
The first statement of the bible is "in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth." The word god here, like thousands of other times in our modern old testament are deliberately used to hide the real words. that being "in the beginning ELOHIM created the heaven and the earth" God in origin means Elah in hebrew, meaning "object of worship" or in other words, and Idol. Elohim is the plural of Elah. Therefore, our position here is the result of multiple creators, not one.
The ONE god you're all talking about is the collectivity that is our reality. He is everything at once and therefore connects to all at once. This one god whom jesus came talking about, calling him "YHWH" or "Yahweh". that which unites all. Jesus believes in no religion. Jesus believed in spirituality for his beliefs surpassed religion.
Bits of his teachings exist in all teachings. So wtf are we fighting about then?
If satan did anything, he created the gaps in belief we call "religion." Divide and conquer is a famous statement for a reason.
Praising jesus will NOT save you. Jesus does not seek to have his ego humored by the likes of us. He doesn't seek to be rewarded or held high for as he put it "we are all as his brothers and sisters." His reward would be us listening to what he taught.
Nor are the majority of us getting sent to some place that hasn't even been created yet according to the bible. That place is created for whoever the adversary of the overall plan is. Hence why the word "satan" is used. Satan simply means "adversary" not "Evil king of demons and bad things n shiz" The "satan" is seperation and the force that is seperation. That being fear. Love brings things together, fear spreads things apart.
And the church has been creating the worship of jesus along with FEAR TACTICS in order to control. You people need to get your facts straight in the bible. Realize its been translated so many times by assholes that to get the real meaning out of any of it you have to dig into the meaning of every word. The old testament revolves around the Elohim or the "idols" though it has been made to look like all this has been done by one god only when really that one god is the force behind all consciousness itself.
All of you who defend this corrupted belief are keeping it alive. The bible's original message is fine. I have nothing against it, It provides many truths that can be confirmed by that in other beliefs as well as sciences. But the literal and therefore retarded interpretation being made FOR you instead of BY you is destroying it.
the bible is SYMBOLISM. Stop taking everything in it so literally. Eve didnt eat an apple. The apple represented the womb, where the seed is. SEX.
It doesn't matter what you believe anyway. When we die we all enter the third plain for just a time... if we allow ourselves too that is. Within this plain of illusion, our "salvation" or heaven will be portrayed to us however we see fit. If you expect jesus when you die, that's prolly what you'll see. If you expect nothingness; just black and unconscious, then that's what you'll get. A coma.
Life after death is proven by new understanding of physics and the quantum world accompanied by the experiment carried out by a man who actually proved it... in his afterlife which by the way, turns out to just be a life in between embodied lives. There are heavens, there are underworlds, and everything in between. What is interesting... is that we actually have much more choice in the matter than we think.
This man was Fredrick Myers.
For those interested in such a topic
http://www.trans4mind.com/spiritual/myers1.html -
your dumb ass the song is fucking awesome.
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The song is mocking and being sarcastic towards the Christian faith. Even though he stated on the Amotion DVD, that the song was not about my God, it was about some other god, as my God would not allow such a thing to happen to his Mom. So should i assume that the Christ he is talking about in the song, is not the Christ that had died for us?? I mean, i have heard the words of the song, many a times, and still arrive at the same conclusion, that this song is meant to chastise the God of Heaven and of Earth. contrary to what many of us may or may not believe, as i know a vast amount are APC fans. You in yourselves, know that what is being said is towards My God. So the world of denial and ignorance in which we live in, we need to open up our eyes and elevate ourselves from this madness.
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Very simply put Judith was a very devout christian woman. Wickedness in all of us can not see the reasons as to why some are aflicted with tragic trials, however the faithful understands that these trials in this world are compounded when your eyes are opened. The trials are to have one turn away from the Faith and abandon searching for truths and rely on our own wit.
Several thousand years ago genesis was written about a ball of earth hurling in space yet our wit clearly wasn't ready til we discovered the land we walk on was not flat. Today, we have astro physicists that have now stated that all the stars turned "ON" simultaneously and can not account to as how or why. One day our wit will hopefully catch up.
Maynard is a blessing in his own religous ways, the wit of man corrupts and the Book allows those to seek the truth... but only when our light turns on which is not by our own seeking but that of One who allows it. The ones who shout out have something to be heard and those in the light can interpret in being wise like a serpent but harmless as a lamb will allow the truth to ring as clear as bells or silently ignore ignorance. Maynard is doing his job, dividing those and allowing for discussion. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The Lyrics are pretty clear to me, he is mad at God for letting his mom suffer and die, and at the false comforters who accused his mother of deserving her suffering.
However I wish he and all would take their Bible off the dusty shelf and READ IT!!!!!
Because if you did for one you would know that the scripture "in the beginning was the word," was not Genesis 1:1 but John 1:1.
And you would find out that God is not a cruel puppet show master as it were. But he is a God of Love and his name is Jehovah. You would also realize that there is going to be a resurrection of both righteous and unrighteous people Acts 24:15. All wicked people who do wicked things like molest children will be annihilated Psalms 145:20.
He will not tolerate injustice forever.
2 Peter 2:4-10
"He will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning outcry or pain be anymore
-Rev 21:3,4
"The lame one will climb up just as a stag does" Isaiah 35:6
"All those in memorial Tombs will....come out"-John 5:28,29
"The eyes of the blind ones will be opened"
-Isaiah 35:5
"No resident will say I am sick"
-Isaiah 33:24
But things have to take place first in order for God to rid the world of Satan.
"This Good news will be preached in all the inhabit earth for a witness to all the nations and then the end will come"
-Matthew 24:14
False religions do not encourage people to read the Bible instead they try to stick to the traditions of men. Look for the ones that are following the Bible and are doing just as Jesus taught us to do. Love one another, forgive one another, and preach about God's kingdom that will end mankind's suffering. It is not Jehovah God who is causing suffering it is Satan the Devil
"The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." Yes God does allow wickedness for right now but promises to Bless those you are faithful to him till the end and they will live forever in on a paradise earth just has he purposed it to be in the beginning before Adam and Eve sinned.
Isaiah 55:11"my word will not return to me without results"
Ps 37:29 "The Righteous themselves will possess the earth and will reside forever upon it" -
Pretty simple...imo he isn't mad at god but pretty much telling all of his mothers friends "fuck your god". Why would he punish his mother when he died for our sins...why live life as a bible thumper or whatever you would call it to end up in the same situation as his mother. She held her faith even when she was bad off and it still happened.
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Ok you know it funny how people alway blame God when things Go Wrong And Not Give Credit To Satan the real reason life sucks on earth. Yes This song is about his mom and her strong fatih even at the end.Ive always said the greatest trick the devil pulled off was making mortal man belive he did exsist. read the book of Job Satan ask God if he could do thatto Job so he could prove that job was only fatihful to god because god was good to job in life and money and that is why Job Worshipped him and not his strong his fatith
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This is a powerfully attention-grabbing, passionate song. I, as a devout Christian who obviously listens to non-Christian-specific music would offer up the following:
I have (had...;( a great aunt who suffered a stroke and then another, resorting to life as an 8 year old in her head and debilitated enough to live out her remaining years in an assisted living home, passing away before reaching 70. She was a 'good person' and certainly didn't 'kill anyone' but I don't know if she was or wasn't a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life so I have no idea where she ended up, eternally speaking.
Despite being a 'good person' she ate rare, red meat, white bread and general comfort foods that certainly add to the possibility of strokes occurring. I say that because I've seen this situation, to some extent, take place. Certainly not my mother (I can hardly imagine the pain, sadness and anger I'd feel if I witnessed my mom undergo such a turn as Judith did and I could possibly even question my faith but just as Job (and Judith) did, I would never, ever turn my back on my Savior, nor would I toward others in there place.
My grandmother (great aunt's sister) passed away on New Year's Eve in her sleep...completely unexpected and newly chosen faith in Christ as her Savior. Very, very shocking & hard to deal with. On one hand, she died peacefully, suddenly & I believe she's spending eternity in heaven. On the other, it leaves us wide-eyed and jaw dropped suddenly coping with a mother/grandmother that's simply no longer there...no warning whatsoever.
The bottom line to me in stating all this personal relative information is this: life is hard. Life even sucks. But it certainly isn't all bad, or we'd all kill ourselves. Think about it. We as weak minded, feable humans all want to cast blame on someone and Satan does an excellent job throughout all of humanity of getting many of us to blame God (THE God, father of mankind and Christ Jesus himself) so that many are fooled into believing the lie he presents on their "left shoulder," so easily influencing people (especially folks in tough situations/predicaments) and taking the finger off of him (Satan) and trying to redirect that pointed finger at our Creator.
This song is an obvious example of what many of us go through and face.
I've read Job. I've read the gospels. I have not read the entire Bible (sadly) and am certainly not one to 'thump it' My Christ is my savior, a real, living person who walked in my shoes but without fault or sin and died for me. That's the relationship I have. No religion needed. I HATE RELIGION! And in stating that I CERTAINLY do not in any way blame Maynard for feeling the same hatred. Especially toward the religious practices of the ones who may have cast down their judgment they had no right to pass on his own mother, suffering in her flawed, earthly body that doesn't belong to her but her faith grew stronger despite all that. Just like Paul, who once did kill Christians as Saul, only to be blinded on the Damascus road and die as a martyr in Rome, a Roman citizen who believed himself to be lesser than those who cast judgment on him he didn't deserve. Just like Job, who lost everything, even his own family and a wife who left him, covered in all forms of sickness and left with nothing to prove to Satan that he doesn't win against anyone who maintains their faith even in the hardest of times. Job was restored everything he lost, two-fold and was heavily rewarded for his faith.
I hate hypocritical thinking and believe that the lyrics of this song reflect some of that but also step 'overboard' into straight-up bashing Christianity. I mean, c'mon he says essentially 'f### Christ.' How can that be misinterpreted? I think the emotive DVD, he's sort of trying to cover up his blasting in these lyrics by blasting others (sinful and certainly not a Godly/Christian thing to do to anyone, ever) instead of blasting God, and for that matter his own mother's faith.
At the same time, I understand where he came from and what he got off his chest by doing this and have done the same thing. That's why I need Christ so badly...because I'm just as flawed and sinful without him as anyone else. It's only through Him that I find a relationship with THE God, not the god who passes judgment by 'throwing strokes' at people and steps back and says, "see, look what I can do to even the best of people." That's NOT my God. That's NOT my Savior.
It's easy to blame the ones we don't know, fear or don't think will end with any repremand as we blast away, acting like victims rather than finding the good that arises out of this little thing we all call life.
The good of this? Despite Judith's drawn-out death, like that of my great aunt's (and for that matter, my grandfather who was a 3-shot a day insulin dependent diabetic for 25+ years and lost his leg before dying 2 years later) she was placed on this earth not to be remembered for her suffering but for birthing children that her legacy would live on through her son, Maynard (Jimmy) and that her faith would be recognized not like those who may have turned their back on her but like that of Christ's. Even as he hung there, his side stabbed by a spear, dying for sins, although himself free from any sin, having the power to take himself off that cross and slay everyone who so much as looked at him, he instead held to his faith to the point of death to free men and women, just like you and me.
I hope Maynard knows this, and he very well may. I would like to think this song is a 'venting' song and not put too much more weight into it than that. His word choices are very strong and seem to try to justify different levels of sin, as if there's a separation in the eyes of God, who clearly states in His Word that all sin is sin...from mental judgment to little white lies to murder and suicide. It's all sin in His eyes.
When moments similar to this arise in your life, before you seek to point the finger at someone, somebody, some being, think about your choice, however emotional the experience may be and ask yourself, "am I being lied to about who caused this? How do I KNOW that what I'm pointing my finger at is the right person/being to blame?" You may find an answer far different than your mindless finger will show you on its own ;)
Don't be fooled by the one who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. Otherwise, he wins every time. But I AM will always be, perfect in love, life, light and truth throughout all eternity. Search it out for yourself. You will be given more than you can bear (another huge misnomer...the Word says you will not be tempted beyond what you can turn away from) because in those moments where life is crushing down on you or delivering a surprising blow, you are forced to question what you believe, either confirming what is already there to better build up your spiritual strength or leading you to make a choice that may lead to a better life, both on this earth and in Eternity...but you must choose to believe that for yourself. God never forces himself on anyone, not in this life or in death but will allow us to encounter trials so as to prove himself as the flawless Creator who deeply loves you, whether you realize it or not.
Thanks for getting through this lengthy interpretation and may you find blessings both in this tough life and in life with Him in eternity.
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