# Silent Night Holy Night 9/11 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066 "2004-12-16T01:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/1 "2004-12-16T01:06:46Z")
I’m an atheist who absolutely loves Christmas and every year I look forward to listening to some of my most favorite holiday hits. O’ Christmas Tree, O’ Holy Night, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, etc. I have no problem with the mention of Jesus or other religious statements because that’s just the nature of the beasts. There is a version of Silent Night I’ve heard on the radio that consist of instrumentals with a voice over that I find in incredibly poor taste. The voice over is suppose to be God. > [@](#): > > "I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who > called his wife to say “Good-Bye.” I held his fingers steady as > he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, “Honey, I am not going > to make it, but it is OK…I am ready to go.” The song is depressing as hell and just isn’t something I want to hear between O’ Holy Night and Jingle Bells. I also can’t help but think “So you were there to hold his finger steady while he dialed the fucking phone but you weren’t available to nudge that plane controls a little bit? Were you on smoke break or something?” > [@](#): > > I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every > prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in > the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and > assuring them that their faith has saved them. Holy shit God was there! I can only imagine that he was also overpowered and was disabled by the terrorist on all four planes. Well at least that explains why he wasn’t able to prevent the catastrophe. I realize this is a pretty lame rant and I already change the dial whenever this song comes on. I still hate it though. Marc ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/2 "2004-12-16T01:21:35Z")
I agree that that song is BS. I also happen to be atheist. This song reinforces it. Not a lame rant at all. I wholly concur with your assessment. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/3 "2004-12-16T01:42:26Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > I also can’t help but think “So you were there to hold his finger steady while he dialed the fucking phone but you weren’t available to nudge that plane controls a little bit? Were you on smoke break or something?” > Marc Ha Ha Ha SON! I turn my back for FIVE MINUTES and THIS HAPPENS! Junior! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/4 "2004-12-16T01:46:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every > prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in > the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and > assuring them that their faith has saved them. All I can think when I read this is that, of all the people on those planes, the only ones I know for a fact had strong religious convictions… were the terrorists. Good thing God was there comforting them with every prayer, I guess. Anyway, this song makes me say my own little prayer: “Thank God I don’t listen to radio.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/5 "2004-12-16T01:57:43Z")
What a pathetic piece of shit. Makes me wish I was an atheiest! 😉 If I had lost a loved one on 9/11, I would be furious that someone was trying to make a cheap, sleazy buck off of it. PS- Marc, I’m glad that you can see this “holiday” for what it is and just kick back and enjoy the chaos! Christmas is what I do in church, with my family and my God. Xmas is the secular insanity that has totally taken over! I can do both! ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/6 "2004-12-16T02:06:23Z")
Lousy, lousy song. I have no doubt that some of the dead turned to prayer and it may have consoled them a bit, but I bet each and every one of those nineteen bastards died yelling the name of the same God. Best not to go there at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/7 "2004-12-16T02:20:54Z")
Believe it or not, I intended to pit this very song. It’s the most crass and exploitative and just generally tasteless buck to be made off an American tragedy since the commemorative 9-11 plates I saw issued. In terms of maudlin glurge factor it reminds me of the John Michael Montgomery song [The Little Girl](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/john_michael_montgomery/the-little-girl.html). In that song, a little girl recognizes a picture of Jesus as the man who held her when her atheist father killed her atheist mother (never mind that 1- Jesus probably looked nothing like his Sunday School representations and 2- If he could beam down to hold a traumatized child in the midst of lethal domestic violence then why couldn’t he give a Vulcan nerve pinch that would take down Daddy, save him & Mommy and spare the little girl being traumatized and orphaned? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/8 "2004-12-16T02:39:39Z")
Just out of curiosity, is this a song that’s typically heard on country stations during the holidays? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/9 "2004-12-16T03:29:04Z")
Well we also have [The Christmas Shoes](http://www.lyricsstyle.com/n/newsong/thechristmasshoes.html) (I don’t mind hearing it, but it’s one of those songs where I have to listen in the privacy of my own home. I’d rather not burst out crying in the middle of public transit thanks…) ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/10 "2004-12-16T03:42:33Z")
Aaaarrrrggggghhhh!!! One of the many, many reasons I despise the holiday season. “Let’s see if there’s anything in this world that we _haven’t_ cheapened and exploited yet! Ooh, look, a terrorist attack!” Anyone who _doesn’t_ see something terribly wrong with that song can bite me. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/11 "2004-12-16T03:51:23Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > Well we also have [The Christmas Shoes](http://www.lyricsstyle.com/n/newsong/thechristmasshoes.html) > > (I don’t mind hearing it, but it’s one of those songs where I have to listen in the privacy of my own home. I’d rather not burst out crying in the middle of public transit thanks…) That version left out the last verse, which is: [spoiler]\*I headed out feeling feeling Christmas in my heart and in my soul then remembered in the parking lot I’d forgot to get my can of Skoal so I turned around and went back, my eyes still bright and moist and as I passed the Service Desk I heard a familiar little voice. “Hey woman!” said the little boy "Hey buffalo, I mean youse! Yeah over here, shug, open up and give me the cash back for these \*\*\*\*ing shoes! And while you’re doing that point me in the inclination of the place in this dump you call a store where you sell the new Play Station! I followed the kid from the service desk and kicked him in his little nads Turns out his mom’s a gynecologist and he has a lawyer for a dad\* Still I admired his gumption and his acting and his wit, but even so I smiled and laughed as I knocked from him the shit.\*[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/12 "2004-12-16T03:55:51Z")
I don’t know if this makes me want to carry around a Louisville Slugger to smash the hell out of every radio I come across, or gouge out both my ears with a screwdriver just in case there’s a radio I can’t get to. Then again, I’d still have to live in a society where this passes as both genuine entertainment and worthwhile sentiment, and where it is downright blasphemous to ask the obvious question of “So if you were there, God, couldn’t you have saved us a whole lot of shit with just a minimum of smiting?” I need to start looking into either a shack in the woods or a decent opium den. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/13 "2004-12-16T04:03:41Z")
Doing a bit a googling around, it seems that these are the culprits: Author: Ms. Stacey Randall (Original Title: Met In The Stairwell) Reader: Bob Holiday of KFSH/KKLA/KRLA Music Performance: Mannehiem Steamroller ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/14 "2004-12-16T04:32:52Z")
Actually, the music is done by John Tesh. Unless there’s more than one version of this glurge. The title is “God in the Stairwell” Thank God the link to download the MP3 isn’t working. [http://tinyurl.com/47rl3](http://tinyurl.com/47rl3) ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/15 "2004-12-16T04:35:38Z")
So, what’s your take then on Simon and Garfunkels’ [_ **7 o’Clock News/Silent Night** _](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/7-o'clock-News-Silent-Night-lyrics-Simon-and-Garfunkel/113341CC7162CD5F48256896000EE44A)? Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/16 "2004-12-16T09:38:50Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Holy shit God was there! I can only imagine that he was also overpowered and was disabled by the terrorist on all four planes. Well at least that explains why he wasn’t able to prevent the catastrophe. > > I realize this is a pretty lame rant and I already change the dial whenever this song comes on. I still hate it though. Not lame at all. This is really disgusting. There have been any number of nauseating exploitations of September 11th, but even for glurge this is putrid. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/17 "2004-12-16T11:21:25Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > So, what’s your take then on Simon and Garfunkels’ [_ **7 o’Clock News/Silent Night** _](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/7-o'clock-News-Silent-Night-lyrics-Simon-and-Garfunkel/113341CC7162CD5F48256896000EE44A)? > > Peace. Apples and oranges, my friend. S&G were attempting social commentary about what were then current events. The song **MGibson** is complaining about is maudlin trash. Robin, who is glad she doesn’t listen to Christmas music on commercial radio. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/18 "2004-12-16T12:01:42Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Holy shit God was there! I can only imagine that he was also overpowered and was disabled by the terrorist on all four planes. Well at least that explains why he wasn’t able to prevent the catastrophe. I agree the song is vile. Having said that, I’d like to point out - this sort of reasoning always annoys me whenever I hear it. Free will is a vital part of human existence, and that means that human actions will occur that don’t always measure up to the standard of moral or good behavior. In my opinion, once free will is allowed for, it seems that there are two options available: either God allows actions to have consequences, no matter how vile the action might be; or God acts to negate all evil actions, which seems to me would negate the whole purpose (whatever it might be) for allowing free will in the first place. I’m not trying to troll, here. Or convert anyone. I’m just sick of that particular non-argument for why a good and loving God can’t possibly exist. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/19 "2004-12-16T12:02:28Z")
Christian here (NOT fundie) and I hate that song too. Damn depressing, and really stupid representation of God and what his actual actions would be (as has been mentioned). ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066/20 "2004-12-16T13:07:39Z")
I _hate_ overly maudlin songs. I finally heard the “Christmas shoes” song that people have been talking about, and my instant reaction was :rolleyes: I also hate “In the Living Years” and “Butterfly Kisses” because they seem to me to be deliberately written to tug at your heart strings. I do forgive Eric Clapton for his “If I Saw You In Heaven,” maybe because I know his grief is genuine and not some hokey gimmick. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silent-night-holy-night-9-11/280066.md?page=2)