Randomness…Christian Kid’s songs
There are two Christian kid’s songs that just drive me batty.
The first one, “Old Time Religion” (the Cedarmont Kid’s version that I hear a lot). The lines that really bug me are: “It was good for the prophet Daniel…it’s good enough for me” and “It was tried in the fiery furnace…it’s good enough for me”, “it was good for the Hebrew Children…it’s good enough for me”, and then “Paul and Silias”. Now there are a few verses that are fine (because they are generic…good for our mothers, etc.), but all of the aforementioned verses are talking about the religion being “good enough for them, it is good enough for me”, but for all of those people, the religion is Judaism, not Christianity. (of course, the verse about Paul can be argued, because he was following Christ, but at the time, Christianity was a Jewish Cult, not “Christianity”.) Not a problem if you are Jewish, but I see it all the time in Christian circles and it just makes me twitch in the utter stupidity of it.
The other one that bugs me is “Onward Christian Soldiers” because it seems so wrong to me to pair an institution meant for killing as many people as possible with Christianity, where Jesus calls us to LOVE our enemies, not kill them. I know am probably not in the majority on this one, because Pacifism is generally seen as a character flaw, but it still bugs me and makes me feel a little ill when I hear the song.
I always thought they were fighting Satan in Onward, Christian Soldiers. And I tell you what, for a peaceful guy Jesus could get seriously worked up when he encountered things that inspired his righteous anger. Remember the fig tree? And the moneylenders?
“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.”
A Side Note: In Catholic doctrine, the incarnate members of the Church – people currently living on Earth – are called the Church Militant. Not because they fight each other, but because they fight sin and Satan. Other members of the Church are the Church Triumphant (in Heaven) and the Church Suffering (in Purgatory.) All I know about Protestant and non-Catholic belief (which, admittedly, isn’t much) says that Catholics are the only Christians to believe in Purgatory.
That makes sense Fee, thank you for sharing it. I don’t remember hearing the second verse either (might have as much to do with me finding the fast forward by then though…lol), and it does explain it better in that verse.