MASS OR DEATH [Intro] Trento, fourteen-seventy-five, Simon was found, and accusations came alive. Bernardine of Feltre preached, the hatred spread, Jewish lives were taken, and the innocent bled. [Verse 1] Tortured for confessions, under pressure and pain, Coerced into admitting what the evidence couldn't sustain. Prominent members executed, their community condemned, Religious and political power, injustice without end. Weaponized sermons, propaganda and fear, Blaming the minorities whenever trouble drew near. The Vaudois, the Waldensians, persecuted for belief, Mass or death, conformity enforced through grief. [Hook] Mass or death, the mandate of control, Religious persecution taking its toll. Scapegoats and propaganda, dissent suppressed, Power protected while the innocent suffered distress. [Verse 2] Pope Pius the Twelfth, the Holocaust years, The Vatican's response surrounded by questions and fears. Jewish children hidden in Catholic institutions, Families seeking answers, confronting the confusion. Baptism and custody, children not returned, The suffering of survivors, the lessons history learned. Martin Bormann, ratlines, escape routes overseas, Nazi officials fleeing to South America with ease. The New York Times, documents released, Questions of information and reputations preserved. Institutional protection, the truth contested, Historical records and allegations investigated. [Hook] Mass or death, the mandate of control, Religious persecution taking its toll. Scapegoats and propaganda, dissent suppressed, Power protected while the innocent suffered distress. [Verse 3] Seventeenth-century South America, the Paraná, Jesuit reductions, communes spreading far. Religious conversion, communal life arranged, Spanish and Portuguese crowns, colonial power maintained. Low-cost labour, economic exploitation, Population control through organised congregation. Property shared, communities contained, A model of control through systems maintained. From prisoner-of-war camps to the gulags of the state, The text draws connections to institutional containment. Religion and politics, authority intertwined, Control of populations through structures designed. [Outro] Trento to the Holocaust, the centuries unfold, Reductions in the Americas, the stories that are told. Propaganda, persecution, institutional control, History's account of power over the soul.
