# Poll for Hardline Atheists and/or Pacifists **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139 "2005-11-21T21:05:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/41 "2005-11-24T03:50:10Z")
> [@KRM](#): > > Fair enough. That’s why I asked. Like I said, it’s just a hypothesis. It looks like we haven’t really had atheists who grew up Christian answer your question. I too would be interested in hearing it from that perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/42 "2005-11-24T04:17:16Z")
I believe Jesus or someone like him existed but I no more believe the mythology surrounding him than I do the various legends ascribed to Arthur and his knights. ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/43 "2005-11-24T06:22:58Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > It looks like we haven’t really had atheists who grew up Christian answer your question. I too would be interested in hearing it from that perspective. I grew up about as Christian as you could ask for. My father was a Baptist preacher, one of those who really gets into the hellfire and brimstone aspects of things. I left when I graduated highschool at 19 and have never been back. (I’m 50 now) I like Amazing Grace and will listen to it when I get a chance, especially the version on the bagpipes like **snakescatslady** likes. I miss the song. I don’t miss the religious claptrap that went with it. When I was a kid, some Sundays I would listen to that and it would give me chills. It was like listening to some exotis chant by an African tribe. Zulus or something. An eerily powerful song and one that is astoundingly evocative of my childhood. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/44 "2005-11-24T08:07:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The same reason that you cry or react to a well written novel or a great movie or powerful irreligious song, would be my guess. Add in the knowledge that to hundreds of millions of people this is real. A perfect example of this is Anna Marlis Burgard’s wonderful book [Hallelujah](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587612267/103-3799522-5979003?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) which essays 500 years of hymns as the voice of a common human experience. Reading this, if not as an atheist then as a confirmed religious curmudgeon I can see exactly where the poster is comming from. mm ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/45 "2005-11-25T05:02:58Z")
In a way, for me, its much like standing one the ocean shore in a storm. The feelings are visceral, and have nothing to do with my belief system. As others have said _Amazing Grace_ will turn me into a puddle; played on the bagpipes, even worse. Of course, that has more direct links. It’s sung or played at almost every fire fighter funeral, and many of the funerals for friends from air rescue units that have crashed. But, songs like \* How Great Thou Art\*, _Handel’s Messiah_ _The Battle Hymn of the Republic_ and of course, the whole book of traditional Christmas music, will still bring chills. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/46 "2005-11-25T11:05:05Z")
\*\*\*It always makes a small chill run down my back when I hear it but why? \* \*\* I’m not familiar with the song you heard but I get the same feeling from the \*\*Soul Stirrers \*\* featuring the, (not so) late, great, **Sam Cooke**. Chills? Forgetaboutit! He can bring tears to your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/47 "2005-11-25T11:37:45Z")
Not an atheist by any means, but I’ll chip in with a non-Catholic appreciation of _The Dream of Gerontius_. Especially the closing section where the Soul is committed to Purgatory (which is a doctrine I don’t subscribe to): > [@Gerontius's Guardian Angel](#): > > Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul, > In my most loving arms I now enfold thee, > And o’er the penal waters as they roll > I poise thee, and lower thee, and hold thee; > And carefully I dip thee in the lake, > And thou without a sob or a resistance > Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take > Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance. > Angels, to whom the willing charge is given, > Shall tend and nurse and lull thee as thou liest, > And Masses said on Earth, and prayers in Heaven, > Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most Highest. > Farewell, but not for ever, brother dear! > Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow; > Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here, > And I will come and wake thee on the morrow. And as a cross-over on the military and religious angles, I was playing trumpet at a Remembrance Day concert a fortnight ago, and when we played the “Evening Hymn and Last Post” I was having a little trouble seeing the dots. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/48 "2005-11-25T22:36:23Z")
100% atheist, but religion in general is fascinating and often moving to me. Just tonight I was watching something (don’t tease me, I think it was “Renovate My Family” where someone was in such a joyous, religious fervor that they couldn’t help but dance and wail, and it was just so powerful. I might not agree with their faith, but seeing someone else so moved can be very moving for me. It might sound odd, but sometimes I vaguely envy the religious, of feeling the comfort and joy of believing in a supreme being. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t believe it, but still, sometimes it seems it must be a beautiful thing. On the pacifist side of the scale, I probably rank as “mildly” pacifist, but there are few things as awe inspiring as seeing some exquisitely choreographed military maneuver - whether it’s planes in formation or troops marching in perfect time. It has an odd, mechanical beauty to it that I just love. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/49 "2005-11-26T00:52:21Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > My boss sent me on an errand for her about an hour ago and on the drive back to work, a Creed song came on. I can’t remember which it was but it did remind me of _My Own Prison_, my favorite song of theirs and there is one stanza in particular near the beginning that I especially like for its imagery > > _I hear a thunder in the distance > See a vision of a cross > I feel the pain that was given > On that sad day of loss > A lion roars in the darkness > Only he holds the key > A light to free me from my burden > And grant me life eternally_ > > It always makes a small chill run down my back when I hear it but why? I’m as atheist as Mother Theresa was Catholic. Why would such a heavy-handed and hackneyed allegory of a belief system I _don’t even believe in_ evoke such an emotional response from me? Objectively, I understand it’s just cultural inertia from my upbringing as a christian (small “c” intentional) in Tennessee but, subjectively, it still kind of freaks me out. > > Likewise, do any pacifists have comparable reactions to martial displays? I was never pro-war, even as a child or teenager, but I can’t help but be a little overawed at showings of military might, whether it be a few jet fighters flying overhead, a company of soldiers marching in step, or stock footage of the Soviet Army marching in Red Square. > > Typing this out has made me realize that if I were a little less self-aware, I may’ve become one of the blindly allegiant people that scare me so and, as previously mentioned, that’s more than a little scary. > > Am I alone in this particular form of cognitive dissonance? No, I grew up on Methodist and Baptist hymns. I get a little misty when I hear some of them still, and I’m also an atheist. The way I look at it, I’m not going to let a little thing like religion or guilt interfere with what I perceive to be beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/50 "2005-11-28T18:38:49Z")
BTW, in case you were wondering, the whole troops-marching-in-perfect-step thing can get old. Now that I think about it, that aspect of military power (the “robot army” coming to crush you with their impressive phalanx etc, or pretending to in some kind of parade; the planes flying in formation) has never really done much for me. I’m more of a sucker for a perfectly commanded, excellently executed surgical manouver, like the one I linked to earlier: get there without anyone knowing, quietly file into the airport, plug the guard on the left, plug the guard on the right, get on the loudspeaker and say “This is the IDF, we have taken control of the airport, do not panic…”, plug the last guard, take the hostages, fly them home, ask questions later. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139/51 "2005-12-04T05:08:44Z")
> [@Snakescatlady](#): > > I’ve threatened to haunt my husband if anyone tries to “pray me into heaven” after I’m gone, but have asked him to have a recording of “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes played if he can find one. Why not go whole hog and hire a piper? Couple of hundred bucks, Amazing Grace by the grave-side, all the mourners dissolving into tears, and everyone there will remember **Snakescatlady’s** passing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-for-hardline-atheists-and-or-pacifists/332139.md?page=2)