“Belief is a beautiful armor but makes for the heaviest sword. Like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for. Some need the exhibition; some have to know they tried. It’s the chemical weapon for the war that’s raging on inside.”
I believe this verse is the most difficult to understand and the most important one in the song, so I will try to explain it. JM is suggesting that beliefs, especially deeply held beliefs are “beautiful armor”—they protect those who hold them from being penetrated by others. Beliefs give us an inside, an identity. They allow us to be somebody, enclosed and protected in ourselves, this is their power and this is why “everyone believes”. They also give us a place from which we can resolutely defend ourselves when we are attacked. Nonetheless, like armor they can prevent us from really engaging with the beliefs of others, from being wounded by what is legitimate about what others believe. The real problem with beliefs however is when they are used as a sword, a weapon to attack others. The problem is that beliefs are “the heaviest sword” they are unwieldy, inaccurate, and dangerous when you try to use them to violently change others. Beliefs used as a sword are destructive—one can easily be led to kill innocent people, engage in unjust wars, oppress minorities, and torture unbelievers. Beliefs used as a weapon can be self-destructive as well— they "never can hit who you're trying for". When one wages war with one's beliefs, one often undermines everything that one holds dear. One weakens their country financially, morally, and politically. One destroys oneself and everything that one stands for. Why do people use beliefs in this aggressive, reckless way? Why do they believe that it is legitimate to violently force others to accept their beliefs? Why do people wage wars of aggression to try to force others to change their beliefs? Some have a deep need to exhibit what they believe to others; some have to feel like they are improving the world. But the road to hell on earth is paved with these good intentions. Trying to violently force one’s beliefs on others is really a symptom of a deep dissatisfaction and dividedness in oneself, a sign of the “war that’s raging on inside”. Those who at bottom are not really satisfied with who they are and not entirely confident in what they believe actually tend towards fanaticism and irrationalism which blinds them to the dangers of trying to impose their beliefs on others by means of violent force, jihad (in the bad sense of the term), preemptive war, etc. These people externalize their own internal battles in ways that lead to horrific consequences for themselves and innocent bystanders. Beliefs then, according to JM, are both good and bad things and very, very dangerous. They are the fire with which we must play to have an identity and, yet, they can easily destroy our identity and lead to horrific moral and political disasters, such as the war in Iraq, which JM mentions and alludes to several times in the song.
“Belief is a beautiful armor but makes for the heaviest sword. Like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for. Some need the exhibition; some have to know they tried. It’s the chemical weapon for the war that’s raging on inside.”
I believe this verse is the most difficult to understand and the most important one in the song, so I will try to explain it. JM is suggesting that beliefs, especially deeply held beliefs are “beautiful armor”—they protect those who hold them from being penetrated by others. Beliefs give us an inside, an identity. They allow us to be somebody, enclosed and protected in ourselves, this is their power and this is why “everyone believes”. They also give us a place from which we can resolutely defend ourselves when we are attacked. Nonetheless, like armor they can prevent us from really engaging with the beliefs of others, from being wounded by what is legitimate about what others believe. The real problem with beliefs however is when they are used as a sword, a weapon to attack others. The problem is that beliefs are “the heaviest sword” they are unwieldy, inaccurate, and dangerous when you try to use them to violently change others. Beliefs used as a sword are destructive—one can easily be led to kill innocent people, engage in unjust wars, oppress minorities, and torture unbelievers. Beliefs used as a weapon can be self-destructive as well— they "never can hit who you're trying for". When one wages war with one's beliefs, one often undermines everything that one holds dear. One weakens their country financially, morally, and politically. One destroys oneself and everything that one stands for. Why do people use beliefs in this aggressive, reckless way? Why do they believe that it is legitimate to violently force others to accept their beliefs? Why do people wage wars of aggression to try to force others to change their beliefs? Some have a deep need to exhibit what they believe to others; some have to feel like they are improving the world. But the road to hell on earth is paved with these good intentions. Trying to violently force one’s beliefs on others is really a symptom of a deep dissatisfaction and dividedness in oneself, a sign of the “war that’s raging on inside”. Those who at bottom are not really satisfied with who they are and not entirely confident in what they believe actually tend towards fanaticism and irrationalism which blinds them to the dangers of trying to impose their beliefs on others by means of violent force, jihad (in the bad sense of the term), preemptive war, etc. These people externalize their own internal battles in ways that lead to horrific consequences for themselves and innocent bystanders. Beliefs then, according to JM, are both good and bad things and very, very dangerous. They are the fire with which we must play to have an identity and, yet, they can easily destroy our identity and lead to horrific moral and political disasters, such as the war in Iraq, which JM mentions and alludes to several times in the song.
Nailed it.
Nailed it.