One thing that bothers me about being an atheist

[_just me]

Oh, and I've always hated Silent Night...I don't have any patience for it now. I loved O Holy Night and still love it...well, certain versions of it.

[_Blixa]

Buy an instrumentals cd!

Or just think of the lyrics like you do the lyrics to any song: you probably don't over-analyze the lyrics of plenty of pop and rock songs you hear on the radio.

I love Christmas carols. The lyrics don't bother me one whit. I may not believe or agree with some of the sentiments expressed, but I think those sentiments are beautiful nevertheless.

And guess what? I actually really like singing some LDS hymns. I LOVE "The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning!" I think my enjoyment of this one is that its kind of tricky to sing, so it fun to see if I can actually hit all the notes. Plus, it was sung at the dedication of the Kirtland temple so all that stuff about angels coming and visions returning has a direct link to the "mass spirit manifestations" unique to the Kirtland experience.

[_Quasimodo]

Hey! Any excuse for a party!

The great thing about being an atheist is that you can party down on everyone's holidays.

[_stemelbow]

I'm singing along with those godless songs on the radio and I don't get all worked up over their lyrics most times.

Fist in the air in the land of hypocrisy

See. No biggie. Every land's a hypocrisy but the effect of the song is beautiful.

[_Blixa]

Maybe it's a matter of musical taste, but I've always enjoyed Jesus Don't Want Me for a Sunbeam...

That one is a real heart breaker.

[_asbestosman]

And guess what? I actually really like singing some LDS hymns. I LOVE "The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning!" I think my enjoyment of this one is that its kind of tricky to sing, so it fun to see if I can actually hit all the notes. Plus, it was sung at the dedication of the Kirtland temple so all that stuff about angels coming and visions returning has a direct link to the "mass spirit manifestations" unique to the Kirtland experience.

How dare you, you evil, depraved anti-mormon you.

Still waiting for Simon to sleuth up this post (and at least one more) so that we can watch him eat his crow and move on.

[_Sethbag]

I was a huge "Messiah" fan as a teenager and missionary. It was one of the few tapes I had on my mission, so it got played again and again. I enjoyed going to Messiah sing-alongs in Massachusetts, which were never hosted by the Mormons for some reason. We had a Messiah sing-along that took place at my High School, I went to one in Lowell, and I went two or three times at the local community church in Harvard, Mass. These were all moving experiences for me, even though I "knew" that everybody else around me "just didn't really get it" because they didn't have the plain and precious truths Joseph Smith restored, like I did as a Mormon.

Well, I still have a warm spot in my heart for this piece. I'd love to go to a Messiah sing-along again, even as an atheist. Remember this: even though Jesus, as envisioned, doesn't really exist, the people you're gathered together with, probably by the hundreds, in this event that has drawn the community together, do exist. These events are real, honest-to-dog human togetherness experiences, and that is very real indeed. Enjoy it.

Remember most people in the world believe in one deity or another. If you decided not to participate in anything with anyone else because you don't happen to believe in their deities anymore, you'd have relatively few people left to share our human experience with.

[_Sethbag]

Oh yeah, and it is indeed very liberating to just be able to think about myself as a normal human being, not some "Saturday's Warrior" who is somehow special because I know the Truth and have been imbued with the authority by God himself to act in his name (ie: hold the magical Mormon priesthood, with official underwear to boot).

So just think of all this stuff as one of the things that human beings do. You're human, so you have permission to join in and do it alongside everyone else. What you think of the truth or non-truth value of the lyrics really doesn't change that.

[_DrW]

Oh, and I've always hated Silent Night..

Maybe that is because it is just an English translation of an Austrian carol originally written in German when Joseph Smith as a young man.

As I write this, my wife is baking German Zimtsterne (tradition cinnamon star Christmas cookies) while listening to her German Christmas Carol CD (home is in full XMAS mode).

Anyway Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht went by about an hour ago and will come by at least once more before the cookies are all baked. my wife and I love this carol sung by a good choir in German. For us, it is the sound of Christmas in my wife's childhood home.

No accounting for taste, I guess.

[_asbestosman]

I dislike most Christmas music, but there are a few I like. I enjoy Il est né, le divin Enfant, Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht , and if I'm in the mood some of the pieces from Handel's Messiah. There's also some stuff from The Nutcracker even though it doesn't have lyrics.