It occurred to me the other day that I am beginning to forget the tunes to all the old Kingdom Songs I once knew by heart. So I have started recording myself singing a few of my favourites from the old song book and uploading them to YouTube. And it struck me as I was singing them how many of the old songs have a military theme running through them, with references to warfare, soldiers, weapons and so on. I then began to wonder if this military language has survived into the new song book, my initial hunch being that it had probably been toned down in order to thwart states like Russia who may seize on such language as evidence that JWs constitute a threat to national security.
I have found quite a bit of evidence that the military language of the old song book has been purposely removed. For example the opening line of Stay Awake, Stand Firm, Grow Mighty has been changed from:
Stay awake, stand firm, grow mighty, in the warfare that is right
To:
Stay awake, stand firm, grow mighty, be determined to endure
And later the line about Jesus as military leader:
Under Christ, the greater Gideon, We're around the camp of Midian, Soon the battle cry will be given, Putting enemies to flight
Is transformed into the utterly bland:
We obey Christ Jesus' clear command, Under him we firmly take our stand
Other phrases removed from this song include, "as one we serve as an army", "as with Gideon's three hundred men, our commander soon will tell us when, so obey his rules for the battle", and "Look Jehovah's sword and Gideon's!"
Another song that has undergone transformation is Loyalily Submitting to Theocratic Order where the entire middle verse has been removed, avoiding the line:
Jesus Christ our leader is in full control; he equips the soldiers that he does enroll. 'Tis a spiritual warfare, so we have to act, As a group united, close-knit and compact.
Other songs like God's Warriors Are Advancing have been removed altogether, the writers perhaps having concluded that the hassle of repairing such lyrics was not worth the effort:
Agressive is our warfare in this Jehovah's day ... He takes the grand offensive; Let's join him in the fight.
The sometimes amusingly titled Women Are a Large Army also seems to have got the chop.
On the other hand there are instances in the new song book that buck this trend, such as We Are Jehovah's Army! However even here the metaphor of battle seems to be consciously tempered with overtly mundane explications such as:
These we try to find and feed with repeated calls; These we keep inviting to our Kingdom Halls.
So what do you think, was there a conscious effort to remove aggressive-sounding military language from the new song book? Is this another example of the Governing Body subtly watering down their message in order to appear less sectarian? Or are the examples I gave selective or merely coincidental? I am interested if others can find examples to support or refute my theory!