I wrote a song. Feels right to post it here, on the eve of the 250th anniversary.

durangodawood · Jul 4, 2026

A2SG said:
No problem, Mr. Springsteen, your secret's safe with us.

-- A2SG, we won't tell anyone...

Im just the drummer. in a very not-famous band.

Fantine · Jul 4, 2026

ViaCrucis and durangodawood, may your words and musical skills bring you healing and encourage others on the right path. Thank you!

durangodawood · Jul 4, 2026

kinshasa19 said:
Major False Flag Event incoming this weekend/Monday.
Don't believe the MSM deception.
Trust your discernment, and know that God wins in the end.
Stay Frosty.

Can you make a point of returning here on Tuesday to tell us what it was?

High Fidelity · Jul 4, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
Before the thread is deleted and I get yelled at because the pro-Fascist fanboys falsely accuse me of flaming and goading:

Happy 4th of July to you and your family. Enjoy your hamburgers and sparkle toys.

And remember, they are "pro-first amendment" and "anti-cancel culture" and "anti-censorship".

This poster is proudly Antifa.

If this is your perception of fascism, I pray you never experience it in reality.

Chesterton · Jul 4, 2026

High Fidelity said:
If this is your perception of fascism, I pray you never experience it in reality.

I pray he does. It'd be educational for him...if he survives.

zippy2006 · Jul 4, 2026

GoldenBoy89 said:
Oh, should we instead be pinning everything on communists?

None of the above.

Servus · Jul 4, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
Before the thread is deleted and I get yelled at because the pro-Fascist fanboys falsely accuse me of flaming and goading:

Happy 4th of July to you and your family. Enjoy your hamburgers and sparkle toys.

And remember, they are "pro-first amendment" and "anti-cancel culture" and "anti-censorship".

This poster is proudly Antifa.

Are you going to go out protesting today?

Say it aint so · Jul 4, 2026

zippy2006 said:
The Fascists literally modeled themselves after the Romans, so your confusion here is actually pretty interesting. We might say:

Fascists = Romans

Rich Men = Sadducees

Antifa = Zealots/Pharisees

You are one of the Pharisees, who like Saul of Tarsus looks around and laments the evils of his countrymen, thinking that this evil stands in the way of his country's greatness. On the Fourth of July you stand up and call everyone to account for their evil racism, Nazism, avarice, et al., demonizing and castigating those you have identified as "the enemy." You leave the non-Jewish Fascists to the Zealots, who deal with them directly.

When Jesus came the Zealots and Pharisees initially thought, "Oh great, this guy is on our side! Jesus Christ is also Antifa." They turned out to be wrong as Jesus constantly dashed their expectations. So Saul, doing his Antifa-thing, had to start stoning Christians in order to cleanse the land (and Dylan writes about St. Stephen's martyrdom in his song, "Everybody Must Get Stoned"). On the road to Damascus Jesus calls him out of Antifa, and Paul ends up writing:

"For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

The poster had it right. Thinking of being antifascist in the time of Jesus, Jesus was Antifa. The fascists during Jesus's time and who he took exception with the most, were not the Romans. It was his own Jewish hierarchy; Pharisees etc. But what can one expect from a refugee.

zippy2006 · Jul 4, 2026

Say it aint so said:
The fascists during Jesus's time and who he took exception with the most, were not the Romans.

As I said, the fascists literally modeled themselves after the Romans. If your argument is that, "Whoever Jesus took exception with were fascists," then of course Jesus would have to be "Antifa." That follows in virtue of the fallacy of begging the question.

ViaCrucis · Jul 6, 2026

zippy2006 said:
The Fascists literally modeled themselves after the Romans, so your confusion here is actually pretty interesting. We might say:

Fascists = Romans

Rich Men = Sadducees

Antifa = Zealots/Pharisees

You are one of the Pharisees, who like Saul of Tarsus looks around and laments the evils of his countrymen, thinking that this evil stands in the way of his country's greatness. On the Fourth of July you stand up and call everyone to account for their evil racism, Nazism, avarice, et al., demonizing and castigating those you have identified as "the enemy." You leave the non-Jewish Fascists to the Zealots, who deal with them directly.

When Jesus came the Zealots and Pharisees initially thought, "Oh great, this guy is on our side! Jesus Christ is also Antifa." They turned out to be wrong as Jesus constantly dashed their expectations. So Saul, doing his Antifa-thing, had to start stoning Christians in order to cleanse the land (and Dylan writes about St. Stephen's martyrdom in his song, "Everybody Must Get Stoned"). On the road to Damascus Jesus calls him out of Antifa, and Paul ends up writing:

"For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

The problem with you analogy is that, for one, it conflates the Zealots and Pharisees as though they were the same thing. They weren't. The Pharisees were certainly not fans of the Roman occupation. But they weren't the same thing. As you might recall from the Gospels, it was a secret coalition of Pharisees and Sadducees (who would never ordinarily work together) who offered Jesus up to the Romans. You may also, recall, that Jesus' rebukes toward the Pharisees had to do with self-righteousness and hypocrisy. According to the Synoptic Gospels, the straw that seemed to break the camel's back was His political protest at the Temple, calling out the religious corruption at the Temple, knocking over the money changers tables and chasing the animals out from the Temple grounds--disrupting the abuse toward the poor. Which led to the act of conspiracy which had Jesus arrested and handed over to Pilate.

And the whole reason Jesus was crucified was, from the Roman POV, political. You don't crucify a common criminal--you crucify people who you wanted to make an example of. Which is why the formal charge posted was "King of the Jews"--intended not only to mock Jesus, but to make the Jewish people, to remind them, "This is what we do to your so-called "kings"".

Jesus was, of course, a revolutionary. He just wasn't a revolutionary of the Maccabean variety--because the kingdom He preached was a different sort of kingdom. It's why He was never going to march into Jerusalem with an army to overthrow Pilate--let alone march into Rome and dethrone Caesar. But pretending that what He was saying and doing wasn't revolutionary would be refusing to have eyes to see and ears to hear.

The foundation of the Christian faith is the declaration that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and Lord. The Romans didn't care about people having their own religious ideas. They did, however, care about people being subservient to Caesar. They may have, at least for a time, tolerated Judaism because it was old (though tolerate is doing a lot of heavy lifting, considering the cruelties of Rome toward the Jews); Christians however were going around preaching a Gospel about a kingdom and a King. They were saying "Jesus is Lord". They were going into cities and saying "your gods are fake". So when the Roman establishment persecuted Christians, what were the formal charges brought against them? What was St. Polycarp charged of? He was accused of being an "atheist" and "tempting" others to be the same. Christians were called "haters of mankind" because we didn't bow down and offer incense to Caesar or his image, we refused to partake in the state cult, we refused to participate in war. St. Hippolytus in his Apostolic Tradition wrote that a man who refused to throw off his military belt couldn't even be baptized. Tertullian wrote that a Christian shouldn't even be a magistrate. Now, just to be clear, I'm not saying Christians can't participate in politics--but let's be clear about what the ancient witness of the fathers was here.

In this analogy: The Zealots weren't Antifa--the Zealots were nationalist rebels. The Pharisees weren't Antifa, the Pharisees are the religious teachers and preachers who are more interested in looking righteous than acting righteous.

The closest thing to "Antifa" we're going to find, using this analogy, is the Christian Church. Who refused to bow and worship Caesar, who gave aid to widows and orphans, who insisted on the biblical teaching of justice for the poor. Who refused xenophobic and ethnocentric ideas--by insisting that people, regardless of social status, gender, or ethnic background were part of a universal brotherhood of mankind created in God's image, who, in Adam had fallen; and in Christ were redeemed--and lived out that peace by coming together, eating together, praying together, and living together.

Re-read your New Testament.

Pommer · Jul 6, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
According to the Synoptic Gospels, the straw that seemed to break the camel's back was His political protest at the Temple, calling out the religious corruption at the Temple, knocking over the money changers tables and chasing the animals out from the Temple grounds--disrupting the abuse toward the poor. Which led to the act of conspiracy which had Jesus arrested and handed over to Pilate.

I recall that the British evangelist Malcolm Smith did a wonderful job in his exposition of this Temple story.

ViaCrucis said:
And the whole reason Jesus was crucified was, from the Roman POV, political. You don't crucify a common criminal--you crucify people who you wanted to make an example of. Which is why the formal charge posted was "King of the Jews"--intended not only to mock Jesus, but to make the Jewish people, to remind them, "This is what we do to your so-called "kings"".

Jesus’ execution mates belie your point. Romans killed “troublemakers”, by the thousands, if needs be.

ViaCrucis said:
Jesus was, of course, a revolutionary. He just wasn't a revolutionary of the Maccabean variety--because the kingdom He preached was a different sort of kingdom. It's why He was never going to march into Jerusalem with an army to overthrow Pilate--let alone march into Rome and dethrone Caesar. But pretending that what He was saying and doing wasn't revolutionary would be refusing to have eyes to see and ears to hear.

The foundation of the Christian faith is the declaration that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and Lord. The Romans didn't care about people having their own religious ideas. They did, however, care about people being subservient to Caesar. They may have, at least for a time, tolerated Judaism because it was old (though tolerate is doing a lot of heavy lifting, considering the cruelties of Rome toward the Jews); Christians however were going around preaching a Gospel about a kingdom and a King. They were saying "Jesus is Lord". They were going into cities and saying "your gods are fake". So when the Roman establishment persecuted Christians, what were the formal charges brought against them? What was St. Polycarp charged of? He was accused of being an "atheist" and "tempting" others to be the same. Christians were called "haters of mankind" because we didn't bow down and offer incense to Caesar or his image, we refused to partake in the state cult, we refused to participate in war. St. Hippolytus in his Apostolic Tradition wrote that a man who refused to throw off his military belt couldn't even be baptized. Tertullian wrote that a Christian shouldn't even be a magistrate. Now, just to be clear, I'm not saying Christians can't participate in politics--but let's be clear about what the ancient witness of the fathers was here.

The Romans had a tradition of being polytheists; monotheism was a whacky idea for them. They couldn’t quite “get” the Jews.

zippy2006 · Jul 6, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
The problem with you analogy is that, for one, it conflates the Zealots and Pharisees as though they were the same thing. They weren't.

Yep, and that's why I said, "You leave the non-Jewish fascists to the Zealots," thus indicating the difference.

ViaCrucis said:
According to the Synoptic Gospels, the straw that seemed to break the camel's back was His political protest at the Temple, calling out the religious corruption at the Temple, knocking over the money changers tables and chasing the animals out from the Temple grounds--disrupting the abuse toward the poor. Which led to the act of conspiracy which had Jesus arrested and handed over to Pilate.

So what is your claim? That Jesus was crucified for being an anti-Jewish political activist? If you say that Jesus was "Antifa," then who do you say were the fascists?

ViaCrucis said:
Jesus was, of course, a revolutionary.

What does this have to do with your claim that "Jesus was Antifa"?

ViaCrucis said:
They did, however, care about people being subservient to Caesar.

"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's..." Jesus was killed by the Jews, not by the Romans. The Romans were just the instrument that had to be used given the circumstances.

ViaCrucis said:
They were going into cities and saying "your gods are fake".

No, this is Protestant revisionism. The early Christians saw the Romans gods as demonic powers, not as "fake."

ViaCrucis said:
Christians were called "haters of mankind" because we didn't bow down and offer incense to Caesar or his image

And neither did Jews. Christians were not allowed the Jewish exemptions because the Jews persecuted them. The early Christians did not see themselves as a non-Jewish sect. In their eyes they deserved the same religious exemptions that the Jews received.

ViaCrucis said:
In this analogy: The Zealots weren't Antifa--the Zealots were nationalist rebels. The Pharisees weren't Antifa, the Pharisees are the religious teachers and preachers who are more interested in looking righteous than acting righteous.

No, as I said from the beginning, when you lay the problems of the country at the feet of internal "enemies" you are playing the Pharisee card. It is the same card Paul played when he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. The Pharisaic position was that the communal failure to follow the law had led to the Roman occupation, and therefore the Pharisaic target was the Jew who was not practicing correctly. Like your own position, the Pharisaic position was, "Our country is in shambles because our countrymen are acting immorally, and therefore the finger needs to be pointed at them."

ViaCrucis said:
The closest thing to "Antifa" we're going to find, using this analogy, is the Christian Church.

You're a shill without an argument.

ViaCrucis · Jul 8, 2026

zippy2006 said:
You're a shill without an argument.

I might be a lot of things. A shill without an argument isn't one of them.

In all of our debates of recent note--you offer nothing of meaningful rebuttal. You merely clutch at pearls.

zippy2006 · Jul 9, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
I might be a lot of things. A shill without an argument isn't one of them.

In all of our debates of recent note--you offer nothing of meaningful rebuttal. You merely clutch at pearls.

I have literally been giving you arguments left and right. Your virtue-signaling threads have been crashing and burning, one after another. Here all you seem to want to do is say "Jesus is Antifa" to try to provoke people. This is childish.

ViaCrucis · Jul 11, 2026

zippy2006 said:
I have literally been giving you arguments left and right. Your virtue-signaling threads have been crashing and burning, one after another. Here all you seem to want to do is say "Jesus is Antifa" to try to provoke people. This is childish.

Your disapproval of the things I say hardly constitutes "crashing and burning".

No, you have not been offering arguments. At best you've provided ad hominem arguments. Your accusation of Manichaeanism from earlier, an ad hominem that you didn't even try to defend; your attempt to paint the Zealots/Pharisees as the 1st century equivelant to Antifa was certainly an attempt--but as I pointed out, a fundamental misreading of history.

Saying Jesus is Antifa, while certainly intended to provoke, is hardly me being a provocateur. The sentiment is made with full seriousness.

There is no reconciling Jesus Christ with fascism. Jesus Christ, and by extension Christianity, is inherently anti-fascist. A Fascist-friendly form of Christianity is not Christianity, but a religion of antichrist.

Saying that shouldn't even be controversial.

If I had said these things only a decade ago, nothing in what I'm saying would have even batted an eye.

Why, now, in 2026, is it controversial to speak out against Fascism?

zippy2006 · Jul 11, 2026

ViaCrucis said:
Why, now, in 2026, is it controversial to speak out against Fascism?

You are the mirror image of the conservative Christian who has sacrificed their religion on the altar of politics.

ViaCrucis · Jul 12, 2026

zippy2006 said:
You are the mirror image of the conservative Christian who has sacrificed their religion on the altar of politics.

Oh, so you can acknowledge that some Christians have sacrificed their religion on the altar of politics?

But you choose to have a one-sided grudge against me because...

*checks notes*

I think tyranny and racism are bad.

ViaCrucis · Sunday at 1:19 AM

Apparently I'm selling out.

And the King will say to those on his left
"Truly, I never knew you"

Praising God with a venomous tongue
Thanking themselves for what they've done
The Walls of Jericho will come crumbling down
As the Judgment Day crushes all to the ground

Adorn themselves with counterfeit grace
Cheap faith, blowing smoke, always save face
White-washed tombs and den of thieves
Vipers in the grass, set fire to the leaves

They are all enraged because it's all the rage
Because the neighbor they see isn't like them
Ever-longing for an imaginary golden age
So they pick up their swords and they all condemn

They kicked out the Cross
They kicked out the Book
They spit on the face of the Son of Man
They don't give a *DARN* about Him

They kick down the poor
They kick down the weak
They spit on the face of the Son of God
They don't give a *DARN* about Him

The teachers don't teach what they don't know
The preacher-man preaches "you reap what you sow"
Say a prayer, get a ticket, none of this matters
Find your peace in Mammon, the Gospel is in tatters

Chanting the name of the Antichrist
Choosing Barabbas as they crucify
They are the ones who are telling lies
How will they stand on the Day they can't deny?

They are all enraged because it's all the rage
Because the neighbor they see isn't like them
Ever-longing for an imaginary golden age
So they pick up their swords and they all condemn

They kicked out the Cross
They kicked out the Book
They spit on the face of the Son of Man
They don't give a *DARN* about Him!

They kick down the poor
They kick down the weak
They spit on the face of the Son of God
They don't give a *DARN* about Him!

I was hungry, did you feed Me?
I was thirsty, did you quench Me?
I was naked, did you clothe Me?
I was lonely, did you meet Me?
I was broken, did you tend Me?
I was sick, did you treat Me?
I was no one, did you love Me?

I saw the naked and the poor
I could have gave even more
Didn't see Who it was
I was selfish just because

Did I see Him on the street
A homeless woman needs to eat
I didn't stop to wash her feet

Brokered lies, broken ties
Systems and the vice
Sin is sinking in
Do I even know it's Him?

They are all enraged because it's all the rage
Because the neighbor they see isn't like them
Ever-longing for an imaginary golden age
So they pick up their swords and they all condemn

They kicked out the Cross
They kicked out the Book
They spit on the face of the Son of Man
They don't give a *DARN* about Him!

They kick down the poor
They kick down the weak
They spit on the face of the Son of God
They don't give a *DARN* about Him!

CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN · Sunday at 2:26 PM

ViaCrucis said:
When I was a boy, I stood tall and proud
Hand on my heart singin' the anthem loud
But I grew up through the storm and fire
Saw others blamed while the rich conspired

Heard ol' Bush blame the Muslims much
Needed a war, no peace could touch
Churches raised the banner of hate
Their thirst for blood they couldn't sate

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the racists scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the fascists scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I saw 'em rally 'round a man
He ain't God, just authoritarian
They sing his name, they kneel, and pray
To a tyrant they must obey

Send the thugs out into the street
To rob, to kill, to crush, defeat
What's happened to this land I love
Liberty dies--just "because"

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the Nazis scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I'm here standin'
Out here bleedin'
Proud and ashamed
Of the red, white, and blue

This song is very true.

RileyG · Wednesday at 8:52 PM

ViaCrucis said:
When I was a boy, I stood tall and proud
Hand on my heart singin' the anthem loud
But I grew up through the storm and fire
Saw others blamed while the rich conspired

Heard ol' Bush blame the Muslims much
Needed a war, no peace could touch
Churches raised the banner of hate
Their thirst for blood they couldn't sate

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the racists scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the fascists scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I saw 'em rally 'round a man
He ain't God, just authoritarian
They sing his name, they kneel, and pray
To a tyrant they must obey

Send the thugs out into the street
To rob, to kill, to crush, defeat
What's happened to this land I love
Liberty dies--just "because"

If the flag's meant to wave for the brave and free
Then why do the rich men plot against me?
If the flag's meant to wave for the land I love
Then why do the Nazis scheme and shove?

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I believed the things they told me to
The dream of America so proud and true
But I can't hear the bombs in the air
Freedom dies 'cause they just don't care

I'm here standin'
Out here bleedin'
Proud and ashamed
Of the red, white, and blue

(If it's ok to ask?) Do you have a background or degree in music or English literature or writing?

Peace!

I wrote a song. Feels right to post it here, on the eve of the 250th anniversary.

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