Just listened to this song.

It exemplifies a popular worldview, wherein you're not thinking for yourself until you deny what you've been taught and rethink reality. I've seen this worldview misused, but the idea is very valuable. I've heard several times from atheists or even Unitarians or agnostics, that phrase, "I started thinking for myself..." '..and realized that God and heaven and hell are man-made; that heaven is a way of life, and that hell is what you make of it.'

The lyrics surprised me because he introduces that sentiment by saying that he realizes this "meaning" when he sees people praying open-heartedly to God.

It strikes me initially as really twisted. However, I think it is potentially an important question for people to ask themselves: "am I thinking for myself". And even the writer of this song; is he thinking for himself? or is he just rebelling against his former way of thinking, because it was taught to him and not discovered by him.

So then we arrive here: why would your parents teach you something false? I suppose there are a few possible reasons:
-They were also deceived by their parents (this one doesn't really count, because it's recursive)
-They are "mindless" trend followers (at least moreso than you)
-They were tricked by someone else (who was greedy, because it's the only nonrecursive explanation. Good thing you saw through it)
-They experienced something anomalous to make them think it was true
-They just wanted to lie to you
-You misunderstood them.

Before I continue, I want to make a distinction between wisdom and intelligence. Wisdom is practical and experiential knowledge -- it's often gained via mistakes, yours or others, but requires acknowledgement of the mistake and an active decision to learn from the mistake. Intelligence is trade-related aptitude and can be more-or-less learned in school.

I'm gonna generalize that in the vast majority of families, parents (and older people in general) are more wise than younger people. Also, I'm going to generalize that until a certain amount of wisdom is gained, most people don't realize that they are not wise, and therefore don't realize that their parents are more wise than them.

Up next, let's know that adopting a religion is a big choice. It has never been a small one. That is, challenging religion is by no means a "new" idea. People have been skeptical of every religion ever always. Hence many wars. Therefore, the parents (or their parents, or their grandparents as the case may be) probably put lots of thought into their decision to adopt a religion.

Honestly, I'd also say that in most cases, a parent won't just lie to their kids about this kind of thing, and they won't talk in riddles about heaven to trick their kid. If a kid asks for an egg, will his dad give him a scorpion? No, no, parents -generally- want their kids to grow up to be healthy and successful.

So that said, I think it's more likely that they experienced something to make them think it is true. I'll admit, "more likely" doesn't really count for much; and the "you're not thinking for yourself" argument basically debunks everything I'll every say because my parents are Christian.

Well, I suppose the most important thing here is: if you're really gonna throw everything out (so you can "think for yourself") and rethink your worldview, then make sure you throw everything out -- even down to "Do I exist?" "Why/how would anything exist?" "Am I able to think?" and "What the hell, if anything, is going on if I can't think?" I say this because unless you're willing or able to dump everything, then you run the risk of assuming something important is true or false without proof that it is true or false.

If that statement is true, then a foundational principle of the song (mentioned in the first paragraph) is baseless -- because as soon as he starts thinking for himself he adopts a new pre-wrapped worldview.

The fact is, though, you really can't dump everything. Descartes tried, and kept a record, and he's probably the most successful example who didn't start by killing himself (quickest way to find out for sure).

I suppose a fan of the music might be saying: "you're missing the point of the song. It's just supposed to be encouraging". If the encouragement is based on lies then it's setting people up for disappointment when/if they find out the truth.

"And you came here with nothing, and you'll leave here with nothing, so retreat from the world of deceitfulness"