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There was a man from Allentown who fed his son to death.
He calmly watched him gorge himself until his final breath.
And there he stood, surprised and shocked above his tiny frame.
He said, "I bear no blame for this. I only share his name!"

There was a man from Nazareth
The fools at war pervert.
They forged an image of his flesh for brand-on mugs and t-shirts.
They say one day he'll spring to life to smile and clear your name.
So nail yourself up on the cross and hang your head in shame forever.
This is forever.

I've read a review of this by Max I think. They are two conflicting situations. The first is about people who blame everything else on other people, he says it wasnt my fault. dont blame me, I dont want responsibility. And the other is about people who try to take too much blame. People who try to make everyone else happy and take the fall for other people instead of worrying about themselves.

Im sure everyone knows at least one of those kinda people.

Well, I take on a few meanings from this song.

One is a big picture of juxtaposing people with God. One man killed his son and wouldn't even take responsibility, while the other gave his son willingly to help others. Selfishness / selflessness.

The next is a stab at the "marketing" behind branches of Christianity that has watered down Jesus' message and/or changed it for their own gain. This is reflected in the "one day he'll spring to life to smile and clear your name" where he is saying the way people portray Jesus is some guy that is just like Mickey Mouse who magically one day (when you die) shows up, forgives your sings and leaves. And that's not what Christianity is about but that's how many people make it to be.

The last two lines are just reiterating his disdain for these people and this is forever I don't have a clue but it sounds cool. Maybe he just means this will always happen.

About the last two lines, the first thing I notice is the shift in mood compared to the rest of the song (from generic to imperative). Most of the song is just a retelling of a story: "there was...", "he did this...", "they do this...". The second to last line, however, is Max himself speaking to these people he was telling about.

Nail yourself upon the cross and hang your head in shame. As has been mentioned already, Max is definitely against what these people allow themselves to do... committing crimes, starting wars, etc... all in the name of their misguided and misrepresented beliefs.

This is forever. The word forever (and 'never', and 'everything', and 'nothing') has a far reaching meaning that in its truest form is impossible for us to even understand... but we use the word so casually. There's no avoiding that, though; we're only human. But this line being repeated over and over at the end of the song kind brings out a different meaning each time... I hear it like this

This [truth that you all deny and hide from behind your beliefs] is forever.
This is larger than you
This has been around before you
This will be around long after you
This you can never fully understand
You are wrong... forever.

i should say something constructive about the song and what it means but all i have to say is this is exactly what i wanted. like really...thanks so much