Jesus, Reagan and John Lennon -- Secrets kept from us.

[diamond]

Jesus, Reagan and John Lennon -- What Secrets Has Yoko Ono Been Keeping From Us?

You'd think someone as smart as Yoko Ono who lived through Watergate would have learned the most important lesson the scandal taught all of us: the coverup is always worse than the crime. But, if several reports are to be believed, she didn't and has for years been keeping secrets from all of us about her late husband.

First, thanks to rock biographer Steve Turner in his book "The Gospel According To The Beatles," we learned several years back that Lennon was a fan of TV preachers like Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham.

Acording to Turner, none of this sat well with Ono who vigorously opposed Lennon's interest in Christianity:

"Over the following months he baffled those close to him by constantly praising "the Lord," writing Christian songs with titles like "Talking with Jesus" and "Amen" (the Lord's Prayer set to music), and trying to convert nonbelievers. He also called the prayer line of "The 700 Club," Pat Robertson's program.

The change in his life perturbed Yoko, who tried to talk him out of it. She reminded him of what he'd said about his vulnerability to strong religious leaders because of his emotionally deprived background. She knew that if the press found out about it they would have a field day with another John and Jesus story.

John became antagonistic toward her, blaming her for practicing the dark arts and telling her that she couldn't see the truth because her eyes had been blinded by Satan.

Those close to the couple sensed that the real reason she was concerned was that it threatened her control over John's life. If he became a follower of Jesus he would no longer depend on her and the occultists. During long, passionate arguments she attacked the key points of his fledgling faith.

They met with a couple of Norwegian missionaries whom Yoko questioned fiercely about the divinity of Christ, knowing that this was the teaching that John had always found the most difficult to accept. Their answers didn't satisfy her, and John began to waver in his commitment."

That Lennon was seeking spiritual answers in the Japanese mountain town of Karuizawa where he and Yoko and Sean spent time was well known.

One missionary, Carol Fleenor, who claimed that the couple also once attended her church, Karuizawa Union Church, remembered her encounter:

"We talked a little more about our kids. Before I knew it, an hour had passed, and he, Yoko and Sean prepared to pedal off on their bikes," she recalled. "'It's good to talk to all of you,' John said. 'I've been looking for something this summer, something spiritual,' he continued. ''I've been speaking with a lot of the missionaries I've met here, about life and what it all means. Thank you for your words.' He waved goodbye-and I waved back as they rode off, little Sean perched on his daddy's handlebars."

More recently, reports have surfaced in a soon to be released documentary that late in life, Lennon had grown ashamed of the political naivete of his early years and though unable to vote for him because of his British citizenship, had become a supporter of Ronald Reagan during his run for the presidency in 1980.

"John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on Jimmy Carter," Seaman told filmmaker Seth Swirsky. "He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me....I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism...He was a very different person back in 1979 and '80 than he'd been when he wrote 'Imagine.' By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."

Finally, according to a book titled All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lennon questioned the theory of evolution, mocking the notion that man descended from apes:

"I don't believe in the evolution of fish to monkeys to men. Why aren't monkeys changing into men now?," Lennon asked. "It's absolute garbage. It's absolutely irrational garbage, as mad as the ones who believe the world was made only four thousand years ago, the fundamentalists.... I don't buy it. I've got no basis for it and no theory to offer, I just don't buy it. Something other than that. Something simpler. I don't buy anything other than "It always was and ever shall be."

If John Lennon had become a Reagan-loving, TV-evangelist watching, evolution-mocking 40-year old, it was certainly no crime.

But if Yoko knew it and kept it from us for the last 30 years, surely that would be a crime against the truth from a woman whose family motto was: "All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth"

Hmmm

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[financeguy]

Maybe he was being provocative

^ Perhaps the most important quote from the above. Lennon loved getting a rise out of people. And I don't think he ever identified as a communist, so I'm not surprised to hear he enjoyed arguing with one.

Of course, most people do shift to the right as they get older. Lennon was a wealthy man by the time he died, so it would be surprising if he didn't start to question the radical ardour of his younger days.

 

[diamond]

maybe, maybe not..

<>

 

[PhilsFan]

This is so stupid.

 

[corianderstem]

At least one Ramone turned Republican.

.... that's all I've got on this one.

 

[cobl04]

Jesus, Jew, Mohammed, it's true
All sons
Of Abraham

 

[Earnie Shavers]

So, umm, dare I ask... where is this from?

 

[Canadiens1131]

So, umm, dare I ask... where is this from?

FoxNews.com Opinion page -> FOX News - Opinion - Opinion Posts - Jesus, Reagan and John Lennon -- What Secrets Has Yoko Ono Been Keeping From Us?

But I am guessing <> probably picked it up as a repost on some Mormon forum -> LDS Freedom Forum - View topic - Jesus, Reagan and John Lennon

 

[BVS]

Strong source

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

that story reads like it's from the onion. looks like i wasn't too far off.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think John Lennon was a very intelligent man, and that probably led him to be very open minded and curious. Whatever peace he may have had before he died, well I think that's good. Christian or not, voting for a Republican or not.

It's up to Yoko to "keep from us" whatever she wants to keep from us, she doesn't really owe us anything. I for one don't need or want to know any more about John Lennon, don't think that's any sort of entitlement. I think he shared enough and I think the fact that a loony toon took his life is enough for her to have to deal with. And enough to earn him his rest-after all these years.

 

[LPU2]

Lately the American right has tried very hard to convince everyone that global warming is a hoax, the New Deal prolonged the Depression and that everyone from MLK to JFK would be a republican if alive today. I guess we can add John Lennon to the list. I wonder if the fact that they're all dead (and can't speak for themselves) has anything to do with it.

They're so desperate for heroes to add to their Reagan-long list. Ever notice that liberal celebrities are constantly ridiculed on Fox News for their political activism, but the conservative few are given megaphones? Wow, where would Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson and...um...Ted Nugent be if it weren't for their rebirth as conservative heroes?

Ever get an email from your grandmother that ridicules liberalism, supposedly written by—oh, fill in the blank—George Carlin, Clint Eastwood, Winston Churchill, etc? They're all written by right-wing ideologues in some basement somewhere and attributed to a well-respected figure. Then they're emailed out, they go viral and spread to every corner of the nation. Eventually, Snopes or Politifact discredit the email, but it makes no difference. Grandma knows that's just the "liberal media."

 

[nathan1977]

Wow, where would Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson and...um...Ted Nugent be if it weren't for their rebirth as conservative heroes?

There are a lot of words I can use for Victoria Jackson and Ted Nugent. "Heroes" is nowhere on the list...

DM is still funny, I suppose.

 

[U2DMfan]

He was facinated with televangelists around the birth of Sean.
He was really only trying to kick drugs. I vaguely remember reading these articles before. They may have even been posted here?

John Lennon's Born-Again Phase | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction


Popular Culture: The Ballad of John and Jesus | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction