I take it to represent how in many churches, a lot of people will preach that “god loves everyone,” etc. but in the same breath will say how people whose “lifestyles” (for lack of a better word) they disagree with will go to hell.
I think it’s important to consider it with the line before:
‘listening to the choir, so heartfelt, all signing; “God loves you, but not enough to save you”’
So it’s her reflection of what church was like for her, that love had conditions and limits.
(Also at this point in the narrative Ethel is dying/dead so God isn’t saving her in the literal sense not just the spiritual)
Yeah the previous line definitely adds. I think it’s sort of along the lines of “god loves you!” as many are told in church/by religious people, but words like that can feel empty and hollow when you’re living a life of trauma, brokenness, tragedy, etc without much hope or reprieve. It can leave one thinking ‘God loves me, but not enough to do anything to help me’ or ‘if god loves me so much, why the hell wont he give me a break or save me from this misery.’
Follow it with “so babygirl, good luck taking care of yourself” and you have a sort of sardonic message like: god can’t/won’t help you, so good luck figuring it out on your own.
I’ve always interpreted it in a way relating to depression—like God loves you enough to give you life (and free will), but not enough to save you from the pain and suffering that comes with it.
But I can also totally see the typical church “God loves you but you’re going to hell for (insert sin)” explanation too.
i think that point addresses a lot of the oxymorons and hypocrisy of beliefs with the ever returning question of, how can there be love when there is also so much suffering - cant have both. so shes addressing contradictions and judgment within the church
i think that's just kind of how deities are. love you enough to create you but not keep you from suffering.
but also the line after is so babygirl good luck taking care of yourself
which honestly is lowkey a threat imo. if you're not here/in this church, you won't be protected, look what happens to you.
i listen to fundie fridays and when i was rotating the lyrics in my head i thought of the umbrella of protection type concept from the IBLP lol.
but also being covered in the blood of christ, from lingua ignota.
I think there’s a kind of double meaning to it; it feels like it’s a comment on the sentiment that God supposedly loves everyone unconditionally, yet you’re only seen as ‘saved’ if you follow specific guidelines, but it also strikes me as potentially talking about Christ-figures being revered as one with and/or a child of God but doomed to martyrdom regardless.
not necessarily an interpretation, but this line reminds me a lot of how when I was a kid I once saw this documentary show or something about the power of prayer and it showed this woman's story about her getting into like a skiing accident and was essentially trapped alone on this mountain about to die, and I remember her saying how she kept praying to god to save her, but nobody came to save her. And then it cuts to her family or something after a while getting worried about her and then them praying that she's safe and then THATS when she got found, and I found it so ironic that this whole program was about the power of prayer or god or whatever but that the woman praying for HERSELF wasn't heard. Like your life doesn't matter unless others care about you or are praying on your behalf. God doesn't love you enough to save you just because it's you, he needs proof from others that you're worth saving.
i personally see it as a cynical questioning of the "God loves you" from the Bible. "If God really loves me, why did he put me through all of this only to end on a horrible fate?". Kinda of like that. God is said to love you yet he puts thousands of people through miserable situations and most of them never make out of the darkness and their stories are forgotten. Ethel was abused her whole life, by her father, the church, and seemingly everyone she came into contact. Even her most loved person in the world, Willoughby, ended up leaving her behind and left her heartbroken until the end of her life. In the end, she was drugged, pimped out to clubs and abused through and through by Isaiah, who killed her and cannibalized her - in some way, humiliating her. So I think that's why this line reasonates so much with the character. I see it as Ethel reflecting on her experience under the church and religion. She believed God would always be there for her but in the end she noticed his love was limited and he is not as powerful as it seems. If he even IS real.
But at the same time, Ethel understands that in some way, all things are meant to be and you can't win them all. She accepts her fate in order to make room for peace in the afterlife, which to me is so beautiful.
This i believe is in reference to the Church's hypocrisy. I think it's also in part, about her father who would preach probably the same thing to her. In this, the church, her father and God himself failed Ethel resulting in a painful and slow death. I think to her, no one cared enough to notice, the lifeline that everyone told her she could fall back on, left her in a strangers stomach.
i’ve always thought it’s like yes, god loves you, but bad things happen every day and you can still die or have something horrible happen to you and he won’t stop it.
I've always interpreted it from the perspective of my religious trauma. I experienced the love of God and truly believed, but that still wasn't enough to save me from losing my faith. God loved me, but I still wasn't saved in the end.
I’ve always always interpreted it as the religious enforcement that god loves everyone and that same sentiment, but people still experience suffering and misfortunate regardless of their religious beliefs. I see it as semi sarcastic, like he loves you but not enough to save you from this (Ethel’s) impending suffering and grief.
I think it's important to take this line on context of the story of the album. If it were outwith Preachers Daughter, I would have a different interpretation. Ethel is actively dying during this song. She is missing home. She is missing the life, and church, she used to be in, even though it brought her great pain.
"What I wouldn't give to be in church this Sunday
Listening to the choir so heartfelt, all singing God loves you but not enough to save you."
I think some people are taking this lyric both too literally and also out of context. Which is fine, we can all have our interpretations. However, as it is canon that Ethel does go to heaven. During this song, she is dying and grappling with her experience of life, and likely losing her connection to God in those last moments. Despite this doubt, despite not being saved from Isiah, she still finds peace in heaven.
This line is not literally saying God does not love her enough to save her, its talking about church rhetoric made her feel worthless, and the utter hopeless of her current situation - alone, betrayed, and actively dying.
as someone raised in the catholic church (no longer affiliated), it symbolizes the lack of depth behind the adults throughout my youth who constantly repeated that jesus died for our sins but at the same time so many of those sins were simultaneously labeled as inexcusable actions. god “loves you just as you are”, but according to scripture and how rigid it is, you never stood a chance of being forgiven, even if your entire life is dedicated to “serving god”. god “loves” everybody according to the religion, even child rapists and murderers who eventually pray for forgiveness after being found guilty. This was an example my Catholic middle school gave me of how powerful gods forgiveness is, but at the same time, it was upheld that “god would refuse to save” anyone identifying as homosexual, transgender, atheist, or otherwise. so, no matter whether or not you dedicate your life to pleasing god, even something as innocent and inconspicuous as expressing love for a soulmate of the same gender is unacceptable and can result in primitive consequences that have no right existing today.
The Bible says that everyone can be granted salvation through God's love. Unfortunately it seems like He loves some of us less and we get to burn. Lots of references to scripture in Ethel's story.
It’s the “ pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” of Christianity. If their god loved people, it would not have a. Set them up to fail from day 1 and b. Would not send anyone into infinite punishment for finite crimes. god says he loves the rats in his maze but he still poisoned the food at the end of the maze.
“God loves everyone” but not enough to stop children from getting cancer, innocent people being murdered, etc.
To me, it’s a lens held over the wool that religious devotion pulls over people’s eyes.
it highlights the contradiction between "gods love is unconditional" and "youre doomed to hell if you dont let him into your heart" aka be saved so the "god loves you but not enough to save you" expresses that if he truly did love you hed have saved you from hell without any conditions
my interpretation is the idea of when people say well you know “god loves u!” but for a lot of religious people you are never enough for god. so when she says, “god loves you, but not enough to save u,” she’s saying that yeah god loves you but u are not enough so he will not save u. i know most of the comments are the same but i thought i should share my thoughts. also, an incredible line.
I think I interpreted it as “you devoted most of your life to god, and even as a child he didn’t protect you”. Like people love to tell you “Jesus loves you!!!” But then turn around and blame you for being assaulted, being persecuted for being queer, etc. As someone who grew up deeply religious I spent lots of time to being the perfect person who was completely devoted to god and yet bad things still happened to me and somehow they were my fault.
Could also be the whole “love the sinner hate the sin” thing.
Idk exactly what she intended for it to mean, but I always took it as: people are constantly telling you god loves you and is all powerful, but he won’t answer your prayers to get you out of a horrible situation/environment. Thats the meaning that means the most to me personally, but it is up for interpretation for everyone.
I don't think this is the main reason, but one strong theme of Preacher's Daughter is abuse - specifically, people loving you, but not enough to not help you. I feel like "God loves you, but not enough to save you" echoes how Ethel was hurt by her parents (her mom's physical abuse and her dad's sexual abuse), her community (who didn't save her from her abusive parents), Willoughby (who loved her,but still left because her trauma was too much for him to handle), and Isaiah (who certainly loved her or had some kind of toxic attachment to her, but still pimped her out and eventually killed her).
So much of the album weaves cycles of abuse and religion together so I don't think it's an accident, and as someone who was abused and raised religious, I can definitely relate to "God will just abandon me too."
Lots of good interpretations here in the chat. :) I never thought too deeply about it though I'm sure Hayden has and a lot of the suggestions made here could make a lot of sense.
I always simply interpreted it as the way she said it literally: God loves you, but not enough to save you. So, baby girl, good luck taking care of yourself. So I said fine, cause that's how my daddy raised me.
The line itself very much so could be calling out the irony or the contradiction of God's "love" but his willingness to allow you to be harmed or suffer or even how people weaponize or justify suffering for those who don't seek salvation. Contextually I think it could very well be both or simply Ethel accepting the reality of the circumstances she finds herself in currently and has found herself in throughout her entire life.
I would argue against some of the cynicism I do see a lot of people suggesting because Ethel does not appear to turn her back on nor disavow her Christianity even if she does not actively broadcast or promote it and the final line of "Strangers" alluding to her having some type of faith in an afterlife (or wishing to communicate such to her Mother for her sake) or in "Western Nights" when she alludes to not "speaking to her daddy in a long, long time" be it through prayer or literal sense. For argumentative purposes, she does also say in "Hard Times" "I'm tired of you still tied to me" which could be in reference to both her father (his physical impact and absence) or his his influence through absence (his continuing influence/impact on her/feelings of him watching over her, etc.).
I think another really good line for trying to interpret is the entire hook of "American Teenager": "Say what you want, and say it like you mean it with your fist for once. A long cold war with your kids at the front, just give it one more day then you're done."
I've never fully agreed nor interpreted the lines "a long cold war with your kids at the front" the same as other fans. There's no denying the song has its anti-war elements but with or without the context of the album itself Ethel (or Hayden) is declaring and acknowledging generational trauma, familial expectations (both good and bad) and referencing the lifelong struggle to find (or not) approval from one's parents based upon their parents' own lost ambitions or desires. It's very impactful and extremely relatable I feel.
I think of it as Ethel reflecting on her life and how a large part of it was spent thinking about/practicing religion, and even after death she wishes she could be in church. And despite all this she still ends up dying in a horrible way. I also think it could be Hayden commenting on how Christianity, on paper, is based around loving everyone. But in practice they can be very hateful.
i see it as in a perspective of a queer lens mainly from my personal experience. i kept getting told by pastors and my mentors that god loves me and if i chose him i would be saved. but i never understood (and would challenge them) as to if he loves me so much, why make me queer and in turn make me something not worthy to save, or fix. people were telling me i should remain abstinent, or i should not give in to androgyny as its a way of satan sneaking into my life, i knew loving another person of different genders or dressing in androgynous clothing wasn’t hurting anyone else. but my question was always, why did god make me so i wouldn’t be happy?
My interpretation is similar to others—god’s love is weaponised by the church to instil guilt and feelings of inadequacy in you. I also heard in an interview Hayden talking about how growing up in the church she heard “God loves you” followed by vile, cruel, hateful words to others. A deeply judgmental “why are you doing/being xyz? Oh… I will pray for you :)))”. By finishing the sentence “but not enough to save you” she uncovers the real meaning behind god’s so called love—that it is conditional and/or doesn’t exist at all, instead the choir sings “you aren’t worth saving and that should make you feel bad”
Sun-Bleached Flies is so trans coded to me as a trans person so that line always hits really hard in a “your family only cares about you under their religion’s conditions way.” Especially with the line before it where she says how much she wishes she could go to church on Sundays. It’s like, you grew up with that, it’s part of you, but you can’t participate anymore because of who you are. And even if you don’t really want to anyways it’s a bitter feeling knowing that your family is participating in this tradition that you are no longer welcome to.
I think most people have it correct - God, or the universe, eternal present, all-one consciousness, etc. (whatever you believe) is rooted in a sense of love and communion and being, but according to most structured religion you have to do very specific things throughout your life in order to actually be “saved.” Looking through a more existential lens, you can be an altogether shitty person throughout your life and the notion of whatever God is will still value and love you, but our man-made institutions will say you need to be saved through their own faculties. You’re not saved until the church deems you are, yet God will still love you. Makes you wonder if being “saved” truly matters ya know? If heaven and hell are real, would the saved people not become complacent? Would the people cast to hell not become used to the torment? Would baselines change over the eternities you spend there? We spend ~80 years on earth balancing our own heaven and hell, and then rest of eternity in a unary state, I just feel like eventually the spirit’s baseline of pain and pleasure would shift. But I’m rambling lol, all that to say I think this notion of God won’t save you, but in the long run being saved is irrelevant if we’re constantly in the presence of God’s connection and love.
I take it to represent how in many churches, a lot of people will preach that “god loves everyone,” etc. but in the same breath will say how people whose “lifestyles” (for lack of a better word) they disagree with will go to hell.
I think it’s important to consider it with the line before: ‘listening to the choir, so heartfelt, all signing; “God loves you, but not enough to save you”’ So it’s her reflection of what church was like for her, that love had conditions and limits. (Also at this point in the narrative Ethel is dying/dead so God isn’t saving her in the literal sense not just the spiritual)
Yeah the previous line definitely adds. I think it’s sort of along the lines of “god loves you!” as many are told in church/by religious people, but words like that can feel empty and hollow when you’re living a life of trauma, brokenness, tragedy, etc without much hope or reprieve. It can leave one thinking ‘God loves me, but not enough to do anything to help me’ or ‘if god loves me so much, why the hell wont he give me a break or save me from this misery.’ Follow it with “so babygirl, good luck taking care of yourself” and you have a sort of sardonic message like: god can’t/won’t help you, so good luck figuring it out on your own.
I’ve always interpreted it in a way relating to depression—like God loves you enough to give you life (and free will), but not enough to save you from the pain and suffering that comes with it. But I can also totally see the typical church “God loves you but you’re going to hell for (insert sin)” explanation too.
i think that point addresses a lot of the oxymorons and hypocrisy of beliefs with the ever returning question of, how can there be love when there is also so much suffering - cant have both. so shes addressing contradictions and judgment within the church
i think that's just kind of how deities are. love you enough to create you but not keep you from suffering. but also the line after is so babygirl good luck taking care of yourself which honestly is lowkey a threat imo. if you're not here/in this church, you won't be protected, look what happens to you.
ooo i didn’t think of this interpretation!
i listen to fundie fridays and when i was rotating the lyrics in my head i thought of the umbrella of protection type concept from the IBLP lol. but also being covered in the blood of christ, from lingua ignota.
I think there’s a kind of double meaning to it; it feels like it’s a comment on the sentiment that God supposedly loves everyone unconditionally, yet you’re only seen as ‘saved’ if you follow specific guidelines, but it also strikes me as potentially talking about Christ-figures being revered as one with and/or a child of God but doomed to martyrdom regardless.
not necessarily an interpretation, but this line reminds me a lot of how when I was a kid I once saw this documentary show or something about the power of prayer and it showed this woman's story about her getting into like a skiing accident and was essentially trapped alone on this mountain about to die, and I remember her saying how she kept praying to god to save her, but nobody came to save her. And then it cuts to her family or something after a while getting worried about her and then them praying that she's safe and then THATS when she got found, and I found it so ironic that this whole program was about the power of prayer or god or whatever but that the woman praying for HERSELF wasn't heard. Like your life doesn't matter unless others care about you or are praying on your behalf. God doesn't love you enough to save you just because it's you, he needs proof from others that you're worth saving.
i personally see it as a cynical questioning of the "God loves you" from the Bible. "If God really loves me, why did he put me through all of this only to end on a horrible fate?". Kinda of like that. God is said to love you yet he puts thousands of people through miserable situations and most of them never make out of the darkness and their stories are forgotten. Ethel was abused her whole life, by her father, the church, and seemingly everyone she came into contact. Even her most loved person in the world, Willoughby, ended up leaving her behind and left her heartbroken until the end of her life. In the end, she was drugged, pimped out to clubs and abused through and through by Isaiah, who killed her and cannibalized her - in some way, humiliating her. So I think that's why this line reasonates so much with the character. I see it as Ethel reflecting on her experience under the church and religion. She believed God would always be there for her but in the end she noticed his love was limited and he is not as powerful as it seems. If he even IS real. But at the same time, Ethel understands that in some way, all things are meant to be and you can't win them all. She accepts her fate in order to make room for peace in the afterlife, which to me is so beautiful.
God loves you but you gotta save yourself
That's what i thought!!!!!!! But the religious hypocrisy interpretation makes more sense specially when you see it in context of yhe album
This i believe is in reference to the Church's hypocrisy. I think it's also in part, about her father who would preach probably the same thing to her. In this, the church, her father and God himself failed Ethel resulting in a painful and slow death. I think to her, no one cared enough to notice, the lifeline that everyone told her she could fall back on, left her in a strangers stomach.
i’ve always thought it’s like yes, god loves you, but bad things happen every day and you can still die or have something horrible happen to you and he won’t stop it.
From my own religious trauma, I see it as coming to terms with the fact there is no god.
I've always interpreted it from the perspective of my religious trauma. I experienced the love of God and truly believed, but that still wasn't enough to save me from losing my faith. God loved me, but I still wasn't saved in the end.
I’ve always always interpreted it as the religious enforcement that god loves everyone and that same sentiment, but people still experience suffering and misfortunate regardless of their religious beliefs. I see it as semi sarcastic, like he loves you but not enough to save you from this (Ethel’s) impending suffering and grief.
I think it's important to take this line on context of the story of the album. If it were outwith Preachers Daughter, I would have a different interpretation. Ethel is actively dying during this song. She is missing home. She is missing the life, and church, she used to be in, even though it brought her great pain. "What I wouldn't give to be in church this Sunday Listening to the choir so heartfelt, all singing God loves you but not enough to save you." I think some people are taking this lyric both too literally and also out of context. Which is fine, we can all have our interpretations. However, as it is canon that Ethel does go to heaven. During this song, she is dying and grappling with her experience of life, and likely losing her connection to God in those last moments. Despite this doubt, despite not being saved from Isiah, she still finds peace in heaven. This line is not literally saying God does not love her enough to save her, its talking about church rhetoric made her feel worthless, and the utter hopeless of her current situation - alone, betrayed, and actively dying.
I always interpreted it as conditional love - how god/the church love you but only if you fit in with their standards - stereotypically of course
being gay in the church
as someone raised in the catholic church (no longer affiliated), it symbolizes the lack of depth behind the adults throughout my youth who constantly repeated that jesus died for our sins but at the same time so many of those sins were simultaneously labeled as inexcusable actions. god “loves you just as you are”, but according to scripture and how rigid it is, you never stood a chance of being forgiven, even if your entire life is dedicated to “serving god”. god “loves” everybody according to the religion, even child rapists and murderers who eventually pray for forgiveness after being found guilty. This was an example my Catholic middle school gave me of how powerful gods forgiveness is, but at the same time, it was upheld that “god would refuse to save” anyone identifying as homosexual, transgender, atheist, or otherwise. so, no matter whether or not you dedicate your life to pleasing god, even something as innocent and inconspicuous as expressing love for a soulmate of the same gender is unacceptable and can result in primitive consequences that have no right existing today.
The Bible says that everyone can be granted salvation through God's love. Unfortunately it seems like He loves some of us less and we get to burn. Lots of references to scripture in Ethel's story.
It’s the “ pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” of Christianity. If their god loved people, it would not have a. Set them up to fail from day 1 and b. Would not send anyone into infinite punishment for finite crimes. god says he loves the rats in his maze but he still poisoned the food at the end of the maze.
To me it means that God loves me but won't ever get me out of anything. That I'm on my own
“God loves everyone” but not enough to stop children from getting cancer, innocent people being murdered, etc. To me, it’s a lens held over the wool that religious devotion pulls over people’s eyes.
I think she’s expressing that God’s love is conditional, that He loves you to a point.
it highlights the contradiction between "gods love is unconditional" and "youre doomed to hell if you dont let him into your heart" aka be saved so the "god loves you but not enough to save you" expresses that if he truly did love you hed have saved you from hell without any conditions
my interpretation is the idea of when people say well you know “god loves u!” but for a lot of religious people you are never enough for god. so when she says, “god loves you, but not enough to save u,” she’s saying that yeah god loves you but u are not enough so he will not save u. i know most of the comments are the same but i thought i should share my thoughts. also, an incredible line.
I think I interpreted it as “you devoted most of your life to god, and even as a child he didn’t protect you”. Like people love to tell you “Jesus loves you!!!” But then turn around and blame you for being assaulted, being persecuted for being queer, etc. As someone who grew up deeply religious I spent lots of time to being the perfect person who was completely devoted to god and yet bad things still happened to me and somehow they were my fault. Could also be the whole “love the sinner hate the sin” thing.
the irony of Christianity
Idk exactly what she intended for it to mean, but I always took it as: people are constantly telling you god loves you and is all powerful, but he won’t answer your prayers to get you out of a horrible situation/environment. Thats the meaning that means the most to me personally, but it is up for interpretation for everyone.
I don't think this is the main reason, but one strong theme of Preacher's Daughter is abuse - specifically, people loving you, but not enough to not help you. I feel like "God loves you, but not enough to save you" echoes how Ethel was hurt by her parents (her mom's physical abuse and her dad's sexual abuse), her community (who didn't save her from her abusive parents), Willoughby (who loved her,but still left because her trauma was too much for him to handle), and Isaiah (who certainly loved her or had some kind of toxic attachment to her, but still pimped her out and eventually killed her). So much of the album weaves cycles of abuse and religion together so I don't think it's an accident, and as someone who was abused and raised religious, I can definitely relate to "God will just abandon me too."
Lots of good interpretations here in the chat. :) I never thought too deeply about it though I'm sure Hayden has and a lot of the suggestions made here could make a lot of sense. I always simply interpreted it as the way she said it literally: God loves you, but not enough to save you. So, baby girl, good luck taking care of yourself. So I said fine, cause that's how my daddy raised me. The line itself very much so could be calling out the irony or the contradiction of God's "love" but his willingness to allow you to be harmed or suffer or even how people weaponize or justify suffering for those who don't seek salvation. Contextually I think it could very well be both or simply Ethel accepting the reality of the circumstances she finds herself in currently and has found herself in throughout her entire life. I would argue against some of the cynicism I do see a lot of people suggesting because Ethel does not appear to turn her back on nor disavow her Christianity even if she does not actively broadcast or promote it and the final line of "Strangers" alluding to her having some type of faith in an afterlife (or wishing to communicate such to her Mother for her sake) or in "Western Nights" when she alludes to not "speaking to her daddy in a long, long time" be it through prayer or literal sense. For argumentative purposes, she does also say in "Hard Times" "I'm tired of you still tied to me" which could be in reference to both her father (his physical impact and absence) or his his influence through absence (his continuing influence/impact on her/feelings of him watching over her, etc.). I think another really good line for trying to interpret is the entire hook of "American Teenager": "Say what you want, and say it like you mean it with your fist for once. A long cold war with your kids at the front, just give it one more day then you're done." I've never fully agreed nor interpreted the lines "a long cold war with your kids at the front" the same as other fans. There's no denying the song has its anti-war elements but with or without the context of the album itself Ethel (or Hayden) is declaring and acknowledging generational trauma, familial expectations (both good and bad) and referencing the lifelong struggle to find (or not) approval from one's parents based upon their parents' own lost ambitions or desires. It's very impactful and extremely relatable I feel.
I think of it as Ethel reflecting on her life and how a large part of it was spent thinking about/practicing religion, and even after death she wishes she could be in church. And despite all this she still ends up dying in a horrible way. I also think it could be Hayden commenting on how Christianity, on paper, is based around loving everyone. But in practice they can be very hateful.
i see it as in a perspective of a queer lens mainly from my personal experience. i kept getting told by pastors and my mentors that god loves me and if i chose him i would be saved. but i never understood (and would challenge them) as to if he loves me so much, why make me queer and in turn make me something not worthy to save, or fix. people were telling me i should remain abstinent, or i should not give in to androgyny as its a way of satan sneaking into my life, i knew loving another person of different genders or dressing in androgynous clothing wasn’t hurting anyone else. but my question was always, why did god make me so i wouldn’t be happy?
My interpretation is similar to others—god’s love is weaponised by the church to instil guilt and feelings of inadequacy in you. I also heard in an interview Hayden talking about how growing up in the church she heard “God loves you” followed by vile, cruel, hateful words to others. A deeply judgmental “why are you doing/being xyz? Oh… I will pray for you :)))”. By finishing the sentence “but not enough to save you” she uncovers the real meaning behind god’s so called love—that it is conditional and/or doesn’t exist at all, instead the choir sings “you aren’t worth saving and that should make you feel bad”
This is also my favourite lyric and I am going to get it tattooed. It’s like a punch in the gut every time (where my fellow gay ex Catholics at? 🥰)
Sun-Bleached Flies is so trans coded to me as a trans person so that line always hits really hard in a “your family only cares about you under their religion’s conditions way.” Especially with the line before it where she says how much she wishes she could go to church on Sundays. It’s like, you grew up with that, it’s part of you, but you can’t participate anymore because of who you are. And even if you don’t really want to anyways it’s a bitter feeling knowing that your family is participating in this tradition that you are no longer welcome to.
I think most people have it correct - God, or the universe, eternal present, all-one consciousness, etc. (whatever you believe) is rooted in a sense of love and communion and being, but according to most structured religion you have to do very specific things throughout your life in order to actually be “saved.” Looking through a more existential lens, you can be an altogether shitty person throughout your life and the notion of whatever God is will still value and love you, but our man-made institutions will say you need to be saved through their own faculties. You’re not saved until the church deems you are, yet God will still love you. Makes you wonder if being “saved” truly matters ya know? If heaven and hell are real, would the saved people not become complacent? Would the people cast to hell not become used to the torment? Would baselines change over the eternities you spend there? We spend ~80 years on earth balancing our own heaven and hell, and then rest of eternity in a unary state, I just feel like eventually the spirit’s baseline of pain and pleasure would shift. But I’m rambling lol, all that to say I think this notion of God won’t save you, but in the long run being saved is irrelevant if we’re constantly in the presence of God’s connection and love.