This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of former Beatle, John Lennon, shot outside of his Manhattan apartment on December 8, 1980. Recently his wife, Yoko Ono, suggested that in memory of Lennon "the whole world" – meaning every radio station in every country – sing together at a given time the song "Imagine."

Ono presented this song as a good choice for an "international anthem." This was the best way, she suggested, really to do justice to the memory of Lennon and to let his legacy remain alive. Many television and radio stations indeed hooked into the idea, and so we were treated to scenes of gathered crowds burning memorial candles, people gently swaying together, singing strains of Lennon's catchy song "Imagine."

Yoko Ono's choice of this particular song is precise, because this selection indeed gives us the key to the philosophy of John Lennon. It was this very same philosophy which caused a rift between the Beatles themselves, especially between Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

We want to take a closer look at the lyrics of this song which conveys the gospel according to Lennon.

Imagine There's No Heaven⤒🔗

Let us look at the first verse of what Lennon expressed in his song "Imagine."

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.

John Lennon promoted, like Karl Marx, the "closed world" view of life. There is only today and what can be seen. The idea that "happiness" will be received in some afterlife, in a place called "heaven" was considered preposterous by Lennon.

The Christian religion is considered an opiate which robs people of their joy in the only life which counts, the life on this earth.

Whoever denies the existence of "heaven," will certainly do the same when it comes to "hell." There is no punishment to be expected for those who live and die in unbelief. The idea of a hell is only meant to frighten people into abandoning their rights in this world in the hope that eternal punishment can be avoided and eternal reward enjoyed.

If only people would stop striving for this heavenly reward and fearing hellish agony, they would be truly free to enjoy life today as it comes to them.

Lennon realized that the factor of religion is not easily set aside. But one has to start "imagining" (equals believing) in these things and sooner or later they will come about. Like Marx, Lennon was convinced of the inevitable success of his views, as is evident from the chorus,

You may call me a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
Someday all the world will join us
And the world will be one.

Nowhere is John Lennon's atheistic idealism more clearly evident than in this song. The sad thing is that many "churches," too, no longer teach the realities of heaven and hell, and so Lennon's song can strike a responsive chord in many hearts.

Imagine There's No Countries←⤒🔗

If Lennon saw as a first priority the dismantling of religion, the second point on the agenda was certainly the obliteration of all borders.

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.

Did not Marx believe that his philosophy would transcend all cultures and borders? Did he not call upon workers of all lands to unite in a global quest for equality?

Lennon apparently sees nationalism and especially religion as the cause of wars. If national identity and religious fervor are eliminated, there will be no more reason to fight and kill. So a form of idealistic internationalism is promoted which will remove the cause of strife among peoples, and so everyone will finally live in peace.

Indeed, a major cause of war is often nationalistic or religious fanaticism. But there are underlying causes which may not be overlooked, especially the depravity of man and his dissoluteness which must constantly be curbed.

Lennon's idealistic pacifism does not take into account the aggressive nature of man. Sometimes people have to give their life in battle so that others may live without fear in freedom.

William F. Buckley has made some wry comments on Lennon's lyrics in this respect,

… we certainly want to imagine a world in which everyone lives in peace, but, you see, that is only possible in a world in which people are willing to die for causes.

As far as there being no countries, Buckley notes, There have got to be reasons that affected even John Lennon to prefer one country over against another. I happen to know this to be the case, since a long time ago he asked me to help him get papers permitting him to live in the United States, rather than in Great Britain.

Imagine No Possessions←⤒🔗

Lennon's Marxist ideology really comes out in the last stanza of his song.

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.

Here we have the basic communist idea that all (class) struggle will cease when there is no private property but everything belongs to everyone (which means, in practice, to the state). Having communal possessions and banning all private property, will lead to a world where hunger is non-existent.

Lennon's lyrics sound almost pathetic after the collapse of the communist world where greed (corruption) and hunger (bread lines) were predominant. Lennon's views, which may have appealed to young intellectuals in the sixties, will certainly have no fascination for the present generation.

Even worse, Lennon's words sound rather cheap for a man who secluded himself in great wealth and clung to his privileges as one of the legendary Beatles.

Christ versus Lennon←⤒🔗

Was it not John Lennon who once claimed that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ? Well, it was Christ who taught us to expect the coming of the kingdom of heaven, the new heaven and the new earth. This was no opiate, for the same Christ spoke about social justice and personal charity. He also forbade covetousness and the taking of another's possessions.

Lennon is considered by many Beatles fans to be the great visionary creator of passionate, ambitious songs, but in fact Lennon's neo-Marxist vision was very limited to this world. He did not see by faith what the apostle John saw by vision in the book Revelation: the glorious coming of Christ who will end all wars and remove all greed and poverty, because He has taken away the cause of our misery and removes all its effects.

Lennon did not understand that the first and greatest change must take place within us before we can begin to better the world around us. This change is called regeneration. This betterment is called reformation. It's not something which happens to dreamers but is given to believers.

I hope that you did not wind up singing along with Yoko. Imagine, what nonsense … if you did.