<\/p>\n
Sigh. Where to begin.<\/p>\n
I just wasted 34 minutes on a very perplexing video. The madness began with a Facebook post where two of my “friends” proclaimed the vid would “open my eyes, change my life, and rock my soul.” I saw Comfort’s name and, well, morbid curiosity overcame common sense.<\/p>\n
Near as I can tell, Genius is an interesting attempt to rewrite history, make John Lennon a christian (not a real one, but a kinda\/sorta-christian for a while), an anti-evolutionist, and a (likely) current hell-dweller.<\/p>\n
Ironically, this video (which available for free!) coincides with the soon to be release of Comfort’s book, “The Beatles, God and the Bible.”<\/p>\n
The vid follows Comfort’s pattern of shocking people over how sinful they are. He engages in “street evangelism,” peppering people with leading questions, allowing them to admit they’re liars and cheats. As usual, he also finds a very dramatic person who doesn’t believe in gods.<\/p>\n
I was struck by how, towards the end of the video, Comfort himself sounded pretty dramatic as he yelled at his interviewees; a very interesting juxtaposition, indeed. But I digress. Let’s talk about the vid, eh? I’ll hot link the source of each quote at the beginning since I dug into a few sources for this post.<\/p>\n
The video was created as part of Comfort\u2019s work <\/a>on his new \u201cThe Beatles, God and the Bible\u201d book project, and along the way, lays out a likely meaning behind the mystic words in Lennon\u2019s \u201cImagine,\u201d which these days is played each New Year\u2019s Eve before the crystal ball drops in New York\u2019s Times Square.<\/p>\n
The \u201cGenius\u201d project is in the style of \u201c180,\u201d the video project that showed people reversing their position on abortion, from positive support to total opposition, in just a matter of minutes when Comfort confronts them with the truth about the procedure.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This article claims that Comfort knows what Lennon really meant in his song, “Imagine.”<\/p>\n
Comfort explains that even though many believe Lennon\u2019s \u201cImagine\u201d lyrics reveal a total disbelief in faith and God, that may not be the case.<\/p>\n
Those lyrics being: \u201cImagine there\u2019s no heaven, It\u2019s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people, Living for today\u2026 Imagine there\u2019s no countries, It isn\u2019t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
That came from the same mind of Lennon who once said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.<\/p>\n
But Comfort notes that Lennon\u2019s own explanation of the lyrics were that, \u201cIt is the concept of positive prayer. If you could imagine a world peace with no denominations or religion \u2026 not without religion but without this my-god-is-bigger-than-your-god thing\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’m pleased that Comfort knows more about Lennon’s work than… say… the people who knew him.<\/p>\n
The Christian Post<\/a> calls the video “chilling.”<\/p>\n
Referring to the hypothetical questions he asks people on the streets of Huntington Beach, Calif., and other cities, Comfort adds, “It’s chilling because it reveals what people will do for money. There are ordinary people out there who would kill you. All they need is the right money and the belief that they won’t get caught.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I see a bit of a problem here. Saying “I’d kill someone for 10 million” (with a snicker on your face) is quite different than actually killing someone. I see a disconnect. Plus, what that line of questioning has to do with Lennon, I never figured out. It appears to be a vehicle to… well:<\/p>\n
While gaining much attention for the movie with discussion about Lennon, the film primarily features discussion about sin and God. Comfort’s evangelistic style includes helping people realize that they are sinners “like everybody else” and they need the grace of God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah. That.<\/p>\n
Comfort claims to “reveal the Real John Lennon<\/a>” at last.<\/p>\n
Ken Mansfield, who was a member of the Beatles inner sanctum for years and was on top of the Apple building in London as the Fab Four played for the last time, said, \u201c\u2018Genius\u2019 will open your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he knew the real John Lennon, and \u201cThat\u2019s who we have portrayed in \u2018Genius\u2019 \u2013 the real John Lennon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comfort said, \u201cIt has twists and turns that you don\u2019t expect. \u2018Genius\u2019 shows another unheard of side of John Lennon and that will certainly \u2018open your eyes,\u2019 as Ken Mansfield so aptly said.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But that’s what I don’t get. I watched it. My eyes don’t feel open. In fact, I can’t help but wonder how Comfort knows Lennon better than his friends, family, wife, children… how can he do this to the Lennon estate, especially when at least some of the information appears to be incorrect and\/or incomplete. In fact, the vid feels quite lean on the Lennon information (thankfully) and heavy on the proselytizing.<\/p>\n