[extropy-chat] Atheist Hymn Book

Tue Nov 21 20:28:10 UTC 2006

Here's one to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the
Republic"

http://www.spiritualhumanism.org/hymn.htm
--- Thomas <Thomas at thomasoliver.net> wrote:

> Well, yes I have some ideas . . . in song form.  One
> in particular comes 
> to mind.  It's called "There Is A Light" and the
> music is in a fun kind 
> of "holy roller" gospel style.  I agree with Ayn
> Rand that the sense of 
> exaltation is not to be limited to the domain of
> religious expression. 
>  I am interested in a venue for this type of
> expression -- someplace 
> where I'd feel more at home than in churches or
> bars.  -- Thomas Oliver
> 
> Emlyn wrote:
> 
> >Hi all,
> >
> >I just watched those vids on youtube of Richard
> Dawkins talking about
> >his new book "The God Delusion" [1], and was
> inspired. Imagine someone
> >taking the case for Atheism out there in times like
> these, especially
> >in the US! What a legend. I haven't read the book
> yet, unfortunately,
> >still have to go get myself a copy.
> >
> >Anyway, it got me to thinking about one of the big
> things that Atheism
> >lacks, which is the traditions and general
> apparatus of religion.
> >Holidays, ceremonies, teachings, community.
> Culture.
> >
> >For those who don't know me, I'm a singer, and sing
> in a lot of
> >christian churches, solo and choral, but I've been
> an atheist all my
> >life  Actually by Huxley's definition I'm an
> agnostic, but in the hard
> >sense of "the existence of god is unknowable by
> definition", which is
> >in practice a hardline atheist (in that for me
> theism falls in the
> >santa clause, tooth fairy, etc camp, strictly
> unknowable and therefore
> >by Occam's Razor to be sliced out of any model of
> reality). Yet I
> >spend a lot of time in churches, as part of the
> church community,
> >because it is the institution that most supports a
> type of music that
> >I am involved in (church music, choral music,
> oratorio, etc). I don't
> >attend church as part of the flock, only as part of
> the show.
> >
> >The culture that comes with religion is easy to
> deride, but I've been
> >seeing it in detail as an outsider for many years
> now. The
> >cultural/community side of the church clearly
> provides purpose and
> >meaning to many people, and the labours of people
> involved in it seem
> >to do an awful lot of good. There's a lot of
> feeding the poor, caring
> >about injustices, working for a better future,
> going on in the
> >grassroots of the churches (especially the old
> ones). I put this down
> >to the focus of religion, which is to think about
> the basis for and
> >reason for existence. Although they clearly get the
> answers dreadfully
> >wrong, this focus, and the associated devotion to
> at least a couple of
> >hours every week to getting together with other
> likeminded people and
> >ruminating on the big questions, seems to create
> groups of people who
> >can find it in their hearts to do something (even
> something miniscule)
> >to improve the lot of other people who need help.
> >
> >Now, there are atheist equivalents of course - all
> secular endeavour
> >could be classed in this way. I'm not saying that
> atheists are
> >heartless uncaring bastards, far from it. However,
> there does seem to
> >be a gap there, no sense of the unity, the
> community and culture, that
> >religious people enjoy.
> >
> >Again, as far as culture goes, that doesn't matter
> so much a lot of
> >the time, because all of secular culture counts as
> atheist culture by
> >default (does it?). However, the acknowledgement of
> a scientific world
> >view, and the way that ties in with the very human
> sense of wonder and
> >appreciation of the universe, is something that
> doesn't really seem to
> >get a run. Especially in a time when theists are
> more prevalent, and
> >at times more oppressive, than they've been in a
> long while (people in
> >the US might particularly resonate with this), it's
> a time when
> >atheism as a world view could do with a bit more
> unity, a bit more
> >cohesion. I think this requires some kind of
> establishment of
> >culture/community/tradition.
> >
> >I think establishing atheist community is a hard
> problem. Dawkins says
> >in one of the videos that organising atheists is
> like herding cats,
> >and I believe there is a very good reason for this,
> which is that
> >Atheism is not a belief system, it is a lack of
> belief. Contrary to
> >many religious folks' contention that atheism is
> just another defacto
> >belief system (and hence equivalent to religion),
> it is this aspect of
> >it (that there is no culture/community) which most
> clearly shows that
> >it is not. I think in the end, it is very much
> harder for people to
> >rally around a lack of belief in something, than it
> is to rally around
> >a positive belief. Furthermore, the *only* tenet of
> atheism is to be
> >without god, so atheists differ greatly in their
> beliefs and values.
> >
> >Nevertheless, I think it would be a worthwhile
> thing to try to
> >establish such community, now more so than ever.
> Atheism is a dirty
> >word these days, it's a scary time to stand up and
> commit to being
> >one.
> >
> >To this end, in my own little way I'd like to try
> to add a bit of
> >celebratory culture, by way of some music. As I
> said above, I sing a
> >lot of religious music[2], and would love to have
> music that had the
> >same benefits (expressing the big issues of life)
> without the
> >drawbacks (fundamentally flawed premise).
> >
> >So in my long winded way, I'm asking a question,
> which is, if there
> >were to be an Atheist hymn book, what would be in
> it? New music, or
> >existing songs, both are ok. What would the songs
> be about? What do we
> >have to celebrate, and how would you like to hear
> it expressed?
> >
> >So, got ideas?
> >
> >Emlyn
> >http://www.emlynoregan.com
> >
> >[1] Reading of The God Delusion in Lynchburg, VA
>
>http://richarddawkins.net/article,303,Reading-of-The-God-Delusion-in-Lynchburg-VA,Richard-Dawkins--C-SPAN2
> >
> >[2] Godless Heathen (an article by me about why I
> sing religious music)
>
>http://emlynoregan.com/wu_Generic.aspx?PageName=showarticle&AID=1
> >_______________________________________________
> >extropy-chat mailing list
> >extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>
>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
>
http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
> 

Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"Believe nothing. No matter where you read it, or who said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."- Siddhartha Guatama aka Buddha.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored Link

Online degrees - find the right program to advance your career. 
www.nextag.com