Superstar (the album with Ian Gillan)
I’m an atheist.
So i was thinkin’. I also love Spirits in the Sky (Norman Greenbaum), May the Circle Be Unbroken (Johnny and June Cash).
And of course One Toke Over the Line (Sweet Jesus).
Hypocrite?
There’s a lot of great religious art, going back long before the dawn of modern pop music. Why would you be a hypocrite for enjoying it? Even Richard Dawkins lists Bach’s St. Mathew’s Passion as one of his favorite works of art.
Nice OP!
Yes, some of the most beautiful art was inspired by Jesus and his example. It’s all about the passion, almost regardless of that at which the passion is directed. Speaking of Jesus - Jesus that was an awkward sentence! 
Hey, Larry!
I just wanted to take the occasion to all the nice, pleasant mods who are currently slinking away in dejection, their thread-moving tools going sadly un-used.
(Big-time fan of Kaizers Orchestra. I’ll Hallelujah with the best of them when it’s Janove asking me!)
I also think JCS is an excellent musical and album. I was trying to sing “Heaven on Their Minds” just yesterday as I was cleaning. I am also an athiest. I may well be a hypocrite, but not on this evidence.
Jesus is just alright with me
Jesus is just alright oh yeah
The biggest fan of Gospel music I know is an atheist-leaning Jew.
I wish Gillan was in the movie. Ted Neely was pretty lame.
My sister got the JCS album (yes, an actual album) when it first came out when we were teenagers, and played it about ten million times.
And yet, surprisingly, I still really love it. I have no problem with religious music, which is fortunate since so much of the best music over the centuries was written specifically for religious purposes.
The only thing I can’t stand is the modern Christian pop. Talk about bland. I don’t like bland in any musical variety, though, so it’s not just the Christian stuff.
Oh, honey, a little Lawrence Welk will cure that unnatural leanin’ of yours. 
I despise Ted Neely. No one should be subjected to a whiney Christ.
I think I’m coming down with a little cold, because I had “This Jesus Must Die” stuck in my head earlier, and I can only sing Caiaphas’s part when I have a cold.
One thing I’ll say for him,
Jesus is cool.
That was awesome. I wonder what they told them that toke meant?
Nah. It’s just music.
Absolutely, no hypocrisy in enjoyment of music, poetry or art (be it “high” culture or popular entertainment) inspired or influenced by a religion or spiritual tradition you do not subscribe to. One could say, that is a measure of how good is it as art or entertainment, if it can be enjoyed by those who are not already in the tank for the cause.
But I’m with Mama Tiger on “Christian Pop”… if eternal life’s going to be this lame…
Jesus Christ Super Star is my second favorite movie, behind Kill Bill.
Hallelujah as sung by Rufus Rainwright is my favorite song.
I also love Ave Maria. Although, I’m not sure if that song is entirely religious. I’m pretty sure it mentions ‘prayer’ a couple times.
Another atheist here. Christ or Judas are dream parts I’d kill to play if I could sing…which I can’t. I saw a touring production of the show in the mid-80s. Was thoroughly disgusted. I had the original broadway cast albums, and had seen the movie…I wanted the stage show to look and sound like that. Instead, they destroyed the show with a “modern” production. I’d actually sold blood to buy my ticket, too.:mad:
I’m not a Christian, but I dig Johnny Cash’s versions of “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” and “When the Man Comes Around.” I’m crazy about a lot of Bob Marley’s music even though I’m not a Rastafarian either.
ETA: Moved to Cafe Society.
I love me some Marley, Marley. Yup CS
Kind of wondered that myself.
Jeannie C Riley covered it, too, Og help us all. I suspect both she & the Harper Valley PTA knew the accurate definition.
I have a fondness for Jesus Christ Superstar mostly because my high school performed the first North American production of the musical, six months before it opened on Broadway. I won’t say I love everything in it, but there are some damn fine songs.