do people still find this line from muse 2 the pharaoh puzzling?
when prince says "the opposite of NATO is OTAN" i believe he is making a pun on the name of an egyptian deity from the 14th century b.c. - aten. the pharaoh who named himself akhenaten (the glory of aten) is noted for decreeing that there be only one god and having the names of all other deities erased. he even went so far as to expunge the plural "gods" from the language. thus a very early example of strict monotheism.
so what does this have to do with prince? first of all, back in '98 the site www.love4oneanother.com had a special page called nefertiti, akhenaten & the one. here, it was argued that akhenaten's belief in one god may have influenced, even formed the basis of judaism/christianity/islam. many historians view this pharaoh as an artist, poet, mystic and philiosopher, while others see him as a religious fanatic. (hmmm...sounds like someone we know?) prince went so far as to depict himself as akhenaten re-born, and mayte as nefertiti. in fact there is even a hidden message in the video for "the one" which says something just to that effect.
this interpretation may be substantiated by the fact that, at the chicago ONA show, prince said "the opposite of NATO is me" and in indianapolis, "the opposite of NATO is monotheism"(!) so obviously, prince sees NATO as syncretistic (recognizing many deities), in direct contrast to the monotheism that jews, christians and muslims espouse.
i think the line in muse 2 the pharaoh is actually quite clever - he even pronounced OTAN, which i suppose could be pronounced any number of ways, exactly like the name of the god aten. and rather than say "NATO spelled backward is OTAN", which is true, but really wouldn't make the point, he says "the opposite of NATO is..."
so what do you all think?

old news. read all the old threads

I guess Prince believes in reincarnation.

Sounds pretty accurate to me.

thanx fms, i didn't actually read the old threads--i wasn't interested in this subject until after the recent Celebration.

"many historians view this pharaoh[aten] as an artist, poet, mystic and philiosopher, while others see him as a religious fanatic"

...And there was another group who just thought he was getting too weird to care.

I think Prince just couldn't think of anything to say there. He just had a brain fart and said the oposite of NATO is UTAH. Then at the last minute he changed his mind and that's what we ended up with.

I think you're right on target, too. When I hear the line from a live playing of muse "the opposite of NATO is monotheism" then I think right away -- Egyptology!

fms said:

This explanation is not new really, it has been debated many times before by several people here. It is however one that seems the most accurate.

I think also that Prince is not clear if he says that "monotheism" is the opposite of "Nato".
When you take in account that the three great monotheist religions are all separated and have been in war and disputes for centuries with eachother it does not make a lot of sense when he tries to say that Nato supposedly must be the "opposite" to a belief in one God.

In fact Nato is an organization that is meant to provide security for every civilian that lives in a country which is a member of Nato regardless of any particualr belief system. Thus he is exactly saying then that "monotheism" is actually the source of "evil" -> wars etc. and that Nato is a source of "peace" and "security", since that is what it is meant to be.

However Prince would probably argue then that an organization made and led by World Governments is automatically from "The World" and thus automatically not from "God", and thus automatically "opposite" to this "God".

Also I think that in his view there is indeed only one "God" and that it can indeed be traced back to the days of Akenaten... but also that the three great monotheist religions are not the accurate reflection/translation of this faith in one God...

After all... if there is only one God, why are there three big religions saying that only theirs is the true and one God?
So it are not those monotheist religions who have always been in a position of power in the world that are the opposite of Nato ... it is the religion that says it always distances itself from every form of "worldy power" or "political activity or influence"... it is the organisation that proclaimes itself to be the one and only true messenger and proclaimer of "the word of God"...


perhabs the opposite of Nato is WTS.


just a thought.

Ouch, Abrazo...you're gonna be lumped in with me if you keep postin' like that...ya hairsplittin', nitpickin', overanalyzin' contrarian, you...

And the opposite of NATO is Oprah..it's been shown countless of times...WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!

wellbeyond said:

ooops... I guess i better be watching myself in that case!

This is very interesting, I dont have the cd you are talking about.

Can anyone please elaborate on Prince's thinkin' his ass is to clever for words lyrics?

thanks.





***
Doucheana can NEW JACK SWING on my nuts! Ha!

"After all... if there is only one God, why are there three big religions saying that only theirs is the true and one God?"

I don't think they are. I think they are saying that their particular faith is the only way that leads to God.

Chandrasonic said:

This is because those big 3 all were from the exact same divine source, GOD, and each time GOD's manifestation was revealed, thru Moses, Christ, Muhammed, even Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster and Baha'u'allah, it was that same GOD saying "I am the way" ( GOD is the way) because of man's shallowness, they argue that their specific manifestation is the right one, NOTE: all the great books aknowledge the other faiths and all promise a return...
people, its all the same, just look at it on a timeline, its progressive revelation

Chandrasonic said:

That... and that many scriptures and explanations/interpretations from the other religions are not accurate and do not portray "God" in his truest form, therefore also not being the one and only true scriptures and not from the one and only true religion worshipping the one and only true "God".

feltbluish said:

Wow..ever since ur first post I've liked u.

Here, have a .

i didn't see the old thread so it's nice to see here...

i still owe you an org note. haven't forgotten.

mrchristian said:

Ahkenaten's regency also resulted in a period of upheaval and military defeats for Egypt. As he concentrated more and more on the monotheistic "cult" of Aten, and purging his country of all traces of other Egyptian Gods and their followers, he left his borders poorly defended and neglected his foreign policy with neighbouring states. He was seen as a heretic by the following generations who decided to restore faith in their traditional gods. Did Ahkenaten know "The Truth"? Perhaps Prince thinks so. Is Aten the same as Jah, Yahweh, Jehovah, God, Allah just because he is one god? Who knows?