Don’t RUSH to Judge

I had someone who described himself as a recovering fundamentalist write to ask me a question about a topic that is not entirely outside of my field of expertise, but is nevertheless one in which I have no formal training and about which others are far more qualified than I am.

The question was about the band Rush.

Specifically, the individual in question had been a fan of Rush, but was told in their fundamentalist days that the symbol sometimes seen on Rush paraphernalia was a pentagram and indicated ties to Satanism.

A little prior knowledge coupled with a little research quickly debunked the idea to my satisfaction.

First, a quick look at the image and some of the distinctive features of the pentagram can be seen to be missing. Second, what the red star most closely resembles (a Communist emblem) turns out to be a far more likely source of inspiration, given the statements by Neil Peart that the star image represents collectivism. And finally, since the star is the symbol of the bad guys against whom the hero of the story stands in the concept album 2112, if it were a pentagram, then making that a symbol of the bad guys would not be naturally interpreted as indicating ties with satanism or magic.

To share something from 2112 (the album on which the imagery first appeared) at this point would be thoroughly predictable. And so I will stand against the forces of collectivism and share something else by Rush..