Imagine hating ‘Imagine’

UC Irvine professor Jon Wiener penned an interesting op-ed in the Los Angeles Times today. He explores the fact that John Lennon's most celebrated song "Imagine" has had (and evidently still has) its share of harsh critics. (Lennon was murdered this day in 1980, hence the piece.)

He writes:

The problems start with the opening line: "Imagine there's no heaven." Christians have condemned those words as blasphemous. And then there are these lines: "Imagine there's no countries/It isn't hard to do/nothing to kill or die for." They were attacked as unpatriotic.

Wow. It is hard to “imagine” anybody disliking this passive, dreamy ode to peace. The critics (whom I’d call lunatics) cited by Wiener remind me of that old saw about Puritanism: “The fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun.” These people really, truly need to get a life – and leave Lennon, and the rest of us, alone.

“Imagine” by John Lennon:

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one