History Main / ReligionRantSong

Type 1 is the GodIsEvil / RageAgainstTheHeavens song. It consists of attacks on a deity that ''is'' actually believed in (usually by at least some recognizable group) and objected to. A subset of these are angry versions of HaveYouSeenMyGod, or demands that the deity explain what they think they're playing at, and/or whether they're really what they say they are. Parodies that are a TakeThat at a deity itself also land here.

* ''TheSimpsons''' "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lt2f2qZfwo&feature=related Everybody Hates Ned Flanders]]" song comes close to this, with at least a few moments of overlap. Since Ned is basically [[GoodSamaritan the nicest person in town]] ([[CharacterDerailment usually]]), this is PlayedForLaughs. (Note that Flanders is singing ''himself'' at one point.)

* {{Loudness}}'s "Racing The Wind" is an angry type 1.

* Sam Philips [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYU6m3-4zIo "I need love"]] (non-atheist type 2: "I need God, not the political church", later covered by Sixpence None The Richer)

* Heresy by NineInchNails is definitely this with lyrics like [[GodIsEvil His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering, and pain/Demands devotion, atrocities done in his name]] and a rousing chorus of "Your God is dead, and no one cares." Whether the song represents Trent Reznor's actual feelings or those of the album's "main character" is debatable, but the song's internal meaning is clear.

* "Shallow Be Thy Game" by RedHotChiliPeppers is a take that at organized religion in general, but mainly the Catholic church. It's a non-atheist example though, as it does contain the lyric "Your hell is something scary, I prefer a loving God".

* FranzFerdinand gives us the interesting example of "The Fallen", which is actually told from the viewpoint of {{Jesus}}. As [[TheFaceOfTheBand Alex Kapranos]] (who read Theology at the University of Glasgow for a year) would have it, JesusWasWayCool, and were he alive to day, would be hanging with the poor and downtrodden, and not the self-declared Christians drinking champagne and riding in limousines. (In other words, [[FriedrichNietzsche the last Christian died on the Cross]], and [[MahatmaGandhi Christ is so unlike the Christians]]).

* "Dreadnaught" by MachinaeSupremacy's lyrics boil down to "GodIsEvil and he wants your nation to TakeOverTheWorld."

* Public Image Limited: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUXWvRPQSAg&feature=related "Religion I"]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TW6w_AbVqo "Religion II"]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgRQP4Fa-o&feature=related "Annalisa"]] (type 2). The two former are inspired by Lydon's anger at the handling of his mother's request for last rites. The latter is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneliese_Michel based on a true story]] that also inspired TheExorcismOfEmilyRose, which takes a rather [[PerspectiveFlip different view]] of the incident than Lydon.

* {{Metallica}}'s "The God That Failed" is a combination of Type 1 and Type 2, with the lyrics and song material inspired by James Hetfield's anguish about the circumstances surrounding the death of his mother, who refused medical treatment of her cancer and solely relied on the belief that God would heal her.

!Type3:

* LeonardBernstein again: "God Said" is more of a Type 2 example, as is "Hallelujah."

* JohnLennon's "Imagine" is about as non-angry a Type 1 example as you can get, as it's mainly a song about peace, with religion and the wars fought over it being a primary obstacle to that peace.