I previously posed this question on my LiveJournal blog a few Christmases ago (I have a few atheistic friends who read my blog). With the Christmas season once again upon us, and the much greater concentration of atheists here who listen to what I say, I’ll ask the question again here - I’d like to know what non-believers’ thoughts are on this. (for simplicity’s sake, it’ll mainly be a cut-and-paste of my blog, meaning that it will be in the present tense, with some minor editing and clarifications added):
We were listening to the radio today in the car on the way to/from an errand, and a thought occurred to me: we started out listening to a local Christian station (mainly CCM, ie Christian pop and light-rock - I like Christian music but I much prefer Christian hard rock or metal, analogous to my tastes in “secular” music) and, of course, it was playing Christmas carols (done by CCM artists), mostly the “religious” ones that actually talk about the birth of Jesus (Joy to the World, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, etc.) She then switched the station (my wife can out channel-surf any guy, she usually switches the radio station immediately if there isn’t music (ie DJ chat or ads), and usually switches the TV station the instant it goes to ads, often not returning to the original program) to a local lite music station (“secular”, of course), and it too was playing mostly Christmas music, done by lite music stars. I realized that many of the songs were the same, and I’d hear the “religious” Christmas carols on both stations. It struck me that any other month of the year the light rock station (or any other non-Christian station) wouldn’t touch any song mentioning Jesus or God or religious matters with a ten foot pole and would refuse to play it, but in December they have no problem with a song that would say “Joy to the world / The Lord has come! / Let earth receive her King!” - as long as it’s coming out of the mouth of Rod Stewart or something like that.
(For the record, I don’t care for either station, way too “light” for my tastes. I prefer the local 80s, 90s, and “whatever” rock station, but I’m almost always in the car with the wife, so she picks … )
I wonder what non-Christian Dopers’ thoughts are about this. I’m sure that they’d have something to say if their local secular station played a song that mentioned Jesus being the Son of God, or dying for our sins (a few Christmas carols have that in there, which I’ve always found an odd juxtaposition) during the summer months (even I’d be startled at the least), but I’m sure is tolerated by them during December. (Again, not asking to mock or question your beliefs, but as genuine curiosity, having grown up in a Christian home and have identified as a Christian as long as I can remember, I don’t know what non-Christians think of things, and I’m the very curious-about-the-world-especially-things-that-are-outside-my-experience type.) What is your whole thought on the “Christian” carols? Do you sing them without much thought to the lyrics (much as I do with national anthems [I am an anthematologist and study, and sing (to myself) national anthems quite frequently] - I don’t profess any loyalty to a foreign nation, king, or God, despite the anthem lyrics I may be singing at the moment)? Do you refuse to sing them?
[Added after to original:] My sister brought to my attention this after seeing this post, that is of a similar tone.
