I enjoyed reading Hunter's guide to interpreting his song. Having been to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and seen the Liberty bell, I got the references, and am surprised that the professor did not. I did not get all the references, but those I got.
It is a very odd fact, but true, that the Liberty Bell was never actually rung at any significant event in American history. Last week my older son asked me why we have as one of our great national symbols a crappy bell that cracked the first time it was rung, and had no other significance. My only explanation is that it's neat looking, so it has taken on a symbolic life completely independent of its actual life.
The difference between the interpretation you linked and the explanation Haqihana gave - I hope I can say this without offending Haqi - is that your source was looking at the Book of Revelations as if it was intended to be a general guide for living, while Haqi is looking at it as if it is literal prediction of future events.
Not being a prophet, I can't say which is correct, but I am bemused by the idea that so many people these days think that it's coming true even as we speak. Not to be blasphemous, but simply to observe as a historian, we hear similar apocalyptic predictions coming from people in the Taliban, who predict that Allah will destroy America.
This isn't new, either. In the South before the Civil War, many Christian ministers justified slavery based on the Bible, including the Book of Revelations, and predicted that the struggle between North and South would bring on the end times.
There's probably a good history journal article in this.
Oooo, alternative explanation - people who have good jobs in established churches would rather think that the Book of Revelations is symbolic, while people who need to bring in the worshipers get bigger audiences by scaring them into thinking that it's happening now and they need all the salvation they can get. Couldn't be true, could it? |
