Recipe For Hate By Bad Religion
by Lana Fleischli
I’ve been listening to the band Bad Religion, specifically the song “American Jesus,” since I was in fourth grade. Honestly, I just really liked the song, and I wasn’t reading into the political implications all too much. The thing that I’m learning about music is that there is so much meaning in it. In the past, I listened to music thinking that it was just about the different things that the writer was feeling in that moment, without much of a theme. The thing about Bad Religion’s Recipe For Hate is that there’s a theme throughout; it is more than a singular experience.
“American Jesus” is a really fun song, but I never fully processed what the lyrics were saying. I always thought that it was weird that the song was called, “American Jesus,” and that the band is called Bad Religion. My mom used to manage them, and after six years of listening to this song, I asked her, “Are they religious?” Her answer: “No!” Which makes sense for the band name and the song.
The last song “Stealth” was what brought it together for me. The band plays music over a recording of George W. Bush saying, “This weekend, I will spend over 800 million dollars on drugs. First, I will continue pushing narcotics for all low income people not now covered, and soon after that, we can get rid of each and everyone of them. And I'm doing what I think is right, and they will certainly deserve it.” Is it just me, or does it sound like he is saying that he wants to give low-income people drugs, while continuing the war on drugs, and then “get rid” of them? First of all, have you seen the movie 13th? The movie talks a lot about targeting inner-city, lower-income people, specifically during the war on drugs. The “war on drugs” was when the government began targeting drug use, but was really only going after people of color. It is a major reason for why our prisons are overflowed with people of minority groups.
Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but it seems like Recipe For Hate is discussing politics, religion, and all of their nuances. “Don’t Pray on Me” conveys the idea that all of the “greats” that we are supposed to look up to didn’t do much. He touches on the idea that if Jesus is magical, then why are people starving? Why are people dying? It’s a question to consider. I’m not very religious, so I tend to question everything when it comes to beliefs (I’ll be honest, this part is difficult for me to write. Religion is a touchy subject, as are politics.) For those that believe in a god or gods, what’s the reason for so many dying, or being locked up? If there is a higher power (doesn’t have to be a white guy sitting on a cloud, just any power), why is it letting this happen?
Then there is my favorite song on the album, “American Jesus,” where both ideas come together: politics and religion. It’s the idea of how America is supposedly “the best.” He is describing an Eurocentric point of view. If you grew up in western culture, you have it in some way or another. It’s the colonist point of view. I have it, and am trying to unlearn it, but it’s there. The reason I make this statement is because Graffin sings about how he doesn't “need to be a global citizen because [he’s] blessed by nationality.” It’s all sarcasm; he is saying the point of view of someone who thinks that America is the most powerful and most correct nation. Any other culture or country that does things differently is incorrect. The song ends with the repeating of “One nation, under God. One nation, under God…” To me, that is like what we have been getting drilled into us from day one. The idea that America, for some reason, has God (which is incredibly particular to one religion, by the way) on its side. I don’t know about you, but to me that just sounds like a superiority complex.
I’m gonna go even further by saying that God is used to make us feel like the shit that this country has done is justified because, hey, at the end of the day, we are “One nation, under God”, right?! No! I think that the idea behind this album is to provoke us, and make us think about how we view the world. Maybe even about who we vote into office, and to think about if we actually understand what they are telling us (because how was what Bush said in that speech okay?). This album is from 1993, and not much has changed. Recipe For Hate willingly pushes back against things that we just accept for no reason.