[From "John Lennon’s Gospel of Drugs and Sex"]

“Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll is all my brain and body needs”

(Ian Dury & The Blockheads)

Many in this audience remember the Beatles and their rock ‘n’ roll group saying they were “more popular than Jesus.” Some of you, I suspect, also remember the Saturday Evening Post article (July 1964) on the Beatles which contained the following: “It’s incredible, absolutely incredible,” said Beatles’ press officer Derek Taylor. “Here are these four boys from Liverpool. They’re rude, they’re profane, they’re vulgar, and they’ve taken over the world. It’s as if they founded a new religion. They’re completely anti-Christ. I mean, I’m anti-Christ as well, but they’re so anti-Christ that they shock me, which isn’t an easy thing.”

Now forty years later, John Lennon and the Beatles are back in the headlines. ABC News and reporter Jonathan Karl featured on September 5, 2006 an exclusive interview with Yoko Ono entitled “Yoko Ono on John Lennon and the FBI” in which Yoko Ono hypes an upcoming film “The U.S. vs. John Lennon.” According to ABC News “Yoko Ono cooperated with the filmmakers, opening her archives of rarely seen footage of the couple’s fight for peace.” One thing that brought us together, says Yoko Ono, “was the fact that both of us were rebels in so many ways.” The film portrays Lennon’s fight to stay in the United States after involving himself in pro-Communist activities and demonstrations (the FBI file on Lennon consisted of 300 pages of text). It will be interesting to see if the film mention’s Lennon’s pro-Communist song “Working Class Hero” which he dedicated to the Communist revolution.

The release of Steve Turner’s interesting and authoritative work The Gospel according to the Beatles (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006) has also brought the Beatles back into the news. Turner, a poet and journalist for over thirty years, has written a number of books on popular music icons such as Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, and U2, including an earlier work titled, A Hard Days Write: the Stories behind Every Beatle Song (2005). He also wrote the poem “Creed” which Tim LaHaye and I reprinted in our work Mind Siege. Now, in his latest effort, Turner offers an in-depth look at the world of the Beatles, especially their lifestyle as preached and promoted in the lyrics of their songs and their music.

Of particular interest to our readers is Turner’s acknowledgment of your humble and obedient servant. In the first chapter he notes, “David Noebel [was] one of the earliest opponents of Beatles music. Noebel started Summit Ministries in 1962, and it was through his work with teenagers in this capacity that he became interested in the effects of rock ‘n’ roll.” (223) Elsewhere he states “The most high-profile Christian critic of the Beatles was a thirty-year old youth pastor, David A. Noebel, the author of Communism, Hypnotism and the Beatles (1965) and Rhythm, Riots and Revolution (1966)…His thesis was that rock ‘n’ roll sapped the moral fiber of the young, unwittingly achieving the goals of the revolutionary left.” (23)

Turner could have mentioned my 1969 work, The Beatles: A Study in Drugs, Sex, and Revolution as well as The Legacy of John Lennon: Charming or Harming a Generation? published in 1982.

Later, Turner quotes me directly on this point, “The Beatles in particular have a special significance to the disrupters of society for their promotion of drugs, avant-garde sex and atheism. The revolution, though sometimes veiled, is fundamentally against Christianity and Christianity’s moral concepts. Karl Marx sought to dethrone God before he set out to destroy capitalism.” (23)

Turner’s careful research more than verifies my early observations of the Beatles’ harmful and negative influence upon millions of naïve young people and validates how these pied-pipers from Liverpool lead tens of thousands straight into the drug culture and sexual revolution. Indeed, Lennon’s gospel was a gospel of freedom without God, moral boundaries or adult responsibility. His mantra of “give peace a chance” was merely a cloak to cover his drug-drenched lifestyle, promiscuity (free love) and Marxist/socialist revolution.

Since I have been criticized over these many years for my observations regarding the Beatles I will merely summarize Turner’s research on this most influential rock group. Readers can make up their own minds on whether “Beatlemania” was, and is, a positive or negative influence. The following material comes directly from Steve Turner, The Gospel according to the Beatles (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), and his book is highly recommended for those interested in the subject of rock ‘n’ roll in general and the Beatles in particular. It may be purchased through Summit Ministries’ webstore or call: (719) 685-9103.