Hi all. I'm not sure exactly where this should go (Real Life Advice or Music subforum?) so I'm just going to drop it in water cooler for right now.
I'm in a weird space right now. I guess I should start by saying I'm an atheist. I'm that way, not out of anger or spite towards religion. I just thought very long and very hard about certain questions regarding life and our place in it and this is just where I ended up. I'm confused though. I love certain kinds of religious music. Southern gospel music especially. I hear that tempo, those tunes and I can't help but dance. For example, this one is stuck in my head right now:
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home awaiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Am I a hypocrite? I mean, the concept of "Lord" doesn't resonate with me at all, but I just love the sound. I love the passion and effort that goes into this music. Is that a weird thing for a nonbeliever to think?
Many non-Christians worldwide enjoy JS Bach's works even if he made many of them for religious reasons. Likewise, you can find something alluring in gospel and be atheist. Heck, many of us in our youth loved the 90s Pokemon theme, and that was written and performed by a Gospel group. Music isn't held by creed, you know.
To expand on this further, look at some of the major characteristics of gospel. Funky off-beat rhythm? Loud yet harmonious singing? Positive messages regarding love, community, and world peace? These are all aspects that can attract many people for many different reasons beyond Christianity. Don't think that being atheist means to completely shut yourself off from anything and everything relating to religion. It doesn't mean you can't be comforted by a Bible verse, or inspired by a passage in the Koran, or even practice some religious holidays in a non-secular way. So go ahead and listen to gospel and feel no shame in it.
I think religion is some hokey thing... I'd prefer to use the force, or barring that, finding a way to open a jar of jelly with my mind. Hmmm... Wait, that's what my other half is for... Opening jars.
Seriously, Han Solo had it right about the whole hokey religion issue.
Is there some jealous god of atheism who's going to smite you for listening to religious music? Listen to whatever music you want. Heck, go to a church and sing those hymns with a congregation if the mood strikes you.
Not believing in the existence of a god or gods doesn't automatically mean you have to hate religion and find no value in anything associated with it. Many churches and religious practices are positive things for their adherents and their communities. That's true whether God is real or not.
Slightly off topic, but Warhammer actually DID have a God of Atheism, iirc. He got stronger the fewer believers he had, but had to have believers to exist, or something weird like that.
I'm in the oposite situation: I'm a Catholic and I'm a great fan of Ska-p, a band with a strong atheist position, with many songs that critize religion and the Pope. It's just music, no big deal.
I'm in the oposite situation: I'm a Catholic and I'm a great fan of Ska-p, a band with a strong atheist position, with many songs that critize religion and the Pope. It's just music, no big deal.
It's actually really reassuring to hear someone come at it from the opposite angle. Somehow it makes it feel a little less weird for me.
I am in a similar position. I was agnostic for quite some time, then began to listen to religious music (David Phelps and the Gaither Vocal Band particularly), became religious for quit some time, and have circled around to atheism. I'm actually vehementaly anto-religious, but I still love the music- some of the msot talented artists active today are gospel artists. It's not hypocricy.Performing it in a church would be, whcih I why I gave up being a Cathloic Cantor even though the pay was good.
Believing that there are certain unexplained phenomena such as "ghosts" or "spirits" while being atheist is not hypocritical either. A scientific worldview should accept that there are still phenomena in the physical universe that we have not acquired an explanation for as of yet.
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"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men."
- Willy Wonka
The Quote function doesn't work for me on this forum. Sorry for any confusion created.
I'm as strongly-identified an atheist as many; I'm Vice President of the local humanist club, I attend conferences and all that jazz. I also love bluegrass and gospel music. I'll sing "Down to the River to Pray" and "I'll Fly Away" in the shower. I listen to Sufi devotional music ("qawali") like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
I suppose the main reason is that it's beautiful music, sure. You can just enjoy the tune without thinking about the lyrics. But I even enjoy the religious joy of the performers and composers. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not a hypocrite by appreciating or respecting the religious joy of others just because my own sources of joy are not themselves religious. Part of the fun of this world is our diversity. It should be enjoyed, not avoided for fear of "breaking party discipline", you know what I mean?
It should be enjoyed, not avoided for fear of "breaking party discipline", you know what I mean?
I do, actually. I often get ***** from more zealous atheists for telling them to tone it down on the theist bashing a bit. I'm no stranger to being an outsider in my own group. 'Like what you like' appeals to me, so your comment resonates with me.
I often get ***** from more zealous atheists for telling them to tone it down on the theist bashing a bit.
You get ***** from atheists about not being zealous enough in your irreligion... The irony of that is staggering really.
I don't give a crap what religion you are, you should always be faithful to who you are and what you feel. If you think it's beautiful song then think that, if it moves you be moved, and the fact of the matter is that Christian music is some of the most beautiful music ever written because so many influential and legendary composers were writing music for the church.
If you think Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart aren't some of the greatest composers producing some of the greatest music humanity has ever created just because you disagree with their views on topics that have nothing to do with musical composition, I don't know what to tell you.
May I ask how old you and your friends are? Most of my atheist friends and I had stronger anti-theist phases when we were young and opinionated and eager to form identities. Eventually I realized being the chill one who realizes religion is beneficial for certain types of people is just as much an identity as jumping on the Hitchens-Dawkins bandwagon.
I'm an atheist, I love gospel and I don't give it a second thought. Good music is good music, and the way I see it, inspiration from religion and inspiration from life itself is, at the heart of it all, the same thing. Read "lord" and "god" as a metaphor for something you like if you want to, it's music, a form of art, and the beauty of that is that you have the right to interpret it any way you want to.
And generally speaking, if someone tells you that you are too religious or too irreligious, you could tell them to go and f ... but Hallucigenia is right, they're probably just struggling with their own identity (as young and other unconfident people always do), they're probably trying to reflect on their own stances by trying them out on their surroundings. I used to vocally look down on religious people when I was a teenager, and now that I'm older, I'm still a die-hard atheist internally, but I know to shut up about it instead of being disrespectful to people that are different from me. Any grown up person, religious or irreligious, should be expected to have some damn respect, and it's tempting to tell them to shut it, but they're just flawed and they will hopefully figure it out.
I saw a t-shirt that says "Never apologize for your art." Don't apologize for your music choices. It's no big deal.
Now if you're an atheist and believe in ghosts and demons, that makes you a hypocrite, or you were raised a very good Catholic like I was.
There are plenty of non-religious people who believe in ghosts and demons for entirely non-religious reasons.
I've heard some interesting arguments that are somewhat based in science that have to do with alternate dimensions and string theory, but it's mostly conjecture from people on the metaphysical side of things rather than theoretical physicists.
My family was super Catholic and all of us later became atheists, and maybe it's because we're Mexican-American but virtually everyone in my family has a ghost or demon story. I think it's just a part of the culture. My ex's family was the same, none of them believed in God and several of his family members had PhDs in Mexico and had ghost stories. The PhD biochemist said the ghosts and demons were actually aliens.
May I ask how old you and your friends are? Most of my atheist friends and I had stronger anti-theist phases when we were young and opinionated and eager to form identities. Eventually I realized being the chill one who realizes religion is beneficial for certain types of people is just as much an identity as jumping on the Hitchens-Dawkins bandwagon.
I'm 25. Most of my friends are a little younger, by a year or two. I've become a bit less passionate over the past three years, which is about when I started openly identifying as a nonbeliever, so I kind of skipped the "Hitchens-Dawkins bandwagon" and went straight to a more mellow perspective.
As an atheist, I like pretty much anything that has a good beat. Whether its religious or not, in english or not, if it gets the blood pumping then I'm down with it. I have clothing that has crosses on it too. If I like the design, I wear it. I guess that's one nice thing about being an atheist is I have zero pressure on what is and isn't appropriate to wear or listen to. If I had atheist friends that gave me a hard time for this, I would laugh and ask them where their insecurity comes from.
Hi all. I'm not sure exactly where this should go (Real Life Advice or Music subforum?) so I'm just going to drop it in water cooler for right now.
I'm in a weird space right now. I guess I should start by saying I'm an atheist. I'm that way, not out of anger or spite towards religion. I just thought very long and very hard about certain questions regarding life and our place in it and this is just where I ended up. I'm confused though. I love certain kinds of religious music. Southern gospel music especially. I hear that tempo, those tunes and I can't help but dance. For example, this one is stuck in my head right now:
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home awaiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Am I a hypocrite? I mean, the concept of "Lord" doesn't resonate with me at all, but I just love the sound. I love the passion and effort that goes into this music. Is that a weird thing for a nonbeliever to think?
There's absolutely nothing hypocritical about liking a song from Bioshock Infinite.
I'm in a weird space right now. I guess I should start by saying I'm an atheist. I'm that way, not out of anger or spite towards religion. I just thought very long and very hard about certain questions regarding life and our place in it and this is just where I ended up. I'm confused though. I love certain kinds of religious music. Southern gospel music especially. I hear that tempo, those tunes and I can't help but dance. For example, this one is stuck in my head right now:
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home awaiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Am I a hypocrite? I mean, the concept of "Lord" doesn't resonate with me at all, but I just love the sound. I love the passion and effort that goes into this music. Is that a weird thing for a nonbeliever to think?
UAzami, Locus of All KnowledgeU
BMarrow-Gnawer, Crime Lord of ComboB
WBRTariel, Hellraiser StaxWBR
Annul is really good in EDH
Now if you're an atheist and believe in ghosts and demons, that makes you a hypocrite, or you were raised a very good Catholic like I was.
To expand on this further, look at some of the major characteristics of gospel. Funky off-beat rhythm? Loud yet harmonious singing? Positive messages regarding love, community, and world peace? These are all aspects that can attract many people for many different reasons beyond Christianity. Don't think that being atheist means to completely shut yourself off from anything and everything relating to religion. It doesn't mean you can't be comforted by a Bible verse, or inspired by a passage in the Koran, or even practice some religious holidays in a non-secular way. So go ahead and listen to gospel and feel no shame in it.
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There are plenty of non-religious people who believe in ghosts and demons for entirely non-religious reasons.
Seriously, Han Solo had it right about the whole hokey religion issue.
Not believing in the existence of a god or gods doesn't automatically mean you have to hate religion and find no value in anything associated with it. Many churches and religious practices are positive things for their adherents and their communities. That's true whether God is real or not.
"normality is a paved road: it is comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow there."
-Vincent Van Gogh
things I hate:
1. lists.
b. inconsistencies.
V. incorrect math.
2. quotes in signatures
III: irony.
there are two kinds of people in the world: those who can make reasonable conclusions based on conjecture.
It's actually really reassuring to hear someone come at it from the opposite angle. Somehow it makes it feel a little less weird for me.
UAzami, Locus of All KnowledgeU
BMarrow-Gnawer, Crime Lord of ComboB
WBRTariel, Hellraiser StaxWBR
Annul is really good in EDH
Believing that there are certain unexplained phenomena such as "ghosts" or "spirits" while being atheist is not hypocritical either. A scientific worldview should accept that there are still phenomena in the physical universe that we have not acquired an explanation for as of yet.
- Willy Wonka
The Quote function doesn't work for me on this forum. Sorry for any confusion created.
I suppose the main reason is that it's beautiful music, sure. You can just enjoy the tune without thinking about the lyrics. But I even enjoy the religious joy of the performers and composers. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not a hypocrite by appreciating or respecting the religious joy of others just because my own sources of joy are not themselves religious. Part of the fun of this world is our diversity. It should be enjoyed, not avoided for fear of "breaking party discipline", you know what I mean?
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I do, actually. I often get ***** from more zealous atheists for telling them to tone it down on the theist bashing a bit. I'm no stranger to being an outsider in my own group. 'Like what you like' appeals to me, so your comment resonates with me.
UAzami, Locus of All KnowledgeU
BMarrow-Gnawer, Crime Lord of ComboB
WBRTariel, Hellraiser StaxWBR
Annul is really good in EDH
I don't give a crap what religion you are, you should always be faithful to who you are and what you feel. If you think it's beautiful song then think that, if it moves you be moved, and the fact of the matter is that Christian music is some of the most beautiful music ever written because so many influential and legendary composers were writing music for the church.
Like, if you listen to this and don't think it's pretty, I don't know what to tell you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Y_ztEW1NE
If you think Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart aren't some of the greatest composers producing some of the greatest music humanity has ever created just because you disagree with their views on topics that have nothing to do with musical composition, I don't know what to tell you.
Playtesting | Karador, Ghost Chieftain | Narset, Enlightened Master | Ephara, God of the Polis
Established | Gahiji, Honored One | Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker | Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo | Rubinia Soulsinger
Retired | Medomai the Ageless | Diaochan, Artful Beauty
And generally speaking, if someone tells you that you are too religious or too irreligious, you could tell them to go and f ... but Hallucigenia is right, they're probably just struggling with their own identity (as young and other unconfident people always do), they're probably trying to reflect on their own stances by trying them out on their surroundings. I used to vocally look down on religious people when I was a teenager, and now that I'm older, I'm still a die-hard atheist internally, but I know to shut up about it instead of being disrespectful to people that are different from me. Any grown up person, religious or irreligious, should be expected to have some damn respect, and it's tempting to tell them to shut it, but they're just flawed and they will hopefully figure it out.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
I've heard some interesting arguments that are somewhat based in science that have to do with alternate dimensions and string theory, but it's mostly conjecture from people on the metaphysical side of things rather than theoretical physicists.
My family was super Catholic and all of us later became atheists, and maybe it's because we're Mexican-American but virtually everyone in my family has a ghost or demon story. I think it's just a part of the culture. My ex's family was the same, none of them believed in God and several of his family members had PhDs in Mexico and had ghost stories. The PhD biochemist said the ghosts and demons were actually aliens.
What can I say? We live in a world of paradoxes. *shrug*
I'm 25. Most of my friends are a little younger, by a year or two. I've become a bit less passionate over the past three years, which is about when I started openly identifying as a nonbeliever, so I kind of skipped the "Hitchens-Dawkins bandwagon" and went straight to a more mellow perspective.
UAzami, Locus of All KnowledgeU
BMarrow-Gnawer, Crime Lord of ComboB
WBRTariel, Hellraiser StaxWBR
Annul is really good in EDH
Don't question the type of music that appeals to you, just embrace it.
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kidding aside, one thing is being atheist, and other being antitheist, if you are truly atheist, you are OK
You should try to minimize your hypocrisy, but you'll never be rid of it.
There's absolutely nothing hypocritical about liking a song from Bioshock Infinite.
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