Unfortunately most large choirs don’t have much choice, you either sing religious stuff by long dead guys or you pay through the nose to sing stuff still under copyright. I don’t know many choirs that can afford to do more than one concert a year of copyright material unless they have a major sponsor, even that is a stretch.

If singing makes you feel good then you should sing whatever you want, if you can hold a tune then do it in public, if you can’t then either just torture your family or join a massed choir where the weight of the other voices will drag you on to pitch or drown you out. Just SING!

I’m another very much in the Dawkins style of cultural Christianity, and the SJ Gouldian idea that good music trumps everything. I especially love all the glorious medieval and renaissance tunes and their off-beat stories. You can see the nativity morphing into folk-tale (cherry tree carol, Herod’s cock, the rose legend, and so many more); remnants of the pagan druids (holly, ivy and mistletoe); plenty of general wassailing and feasting; and even the good old magical baby isn’t so bad as a symbol of returning light and a fresh new year.

Yes, we are upside down here, so singing about frost and snow is also amusing, but I actually prefer the earlier music. I do get a bit of a chuckle over all the “king” and “lord” stuff. No thanks, I’m a republican! That’s Australian for “not a monarchist”, do note that’s with a small ‘r’.

Now excuse me, gotta warm up for rehearsal. dum dum dum HAAAA-LLE-LLU-IA!

Lucky for you small-minded wipers of other people’s bottoms, my Cub takes great pleasure in all the pretty lights on people’s houses, and the soft coo and giggle of a delighted child have done much to restore my tolerance for the Solstice. So I’m gonna leave it at that.

Happy holidays to all and sundry.

The MadPanda, FCD

Wow. Because how can a person possibly sing a Christmas carol if they don’t believe in the subject matter? Like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire”, or “You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch”….

Wait. I’m Christian, and I don’t believe in Rudolph, Frosty, Santa, Jack Frost, or the Grinch. I guess I can’t conceivably sing any of those songs, then. Hmm. And if we can’t sing about things we don’t believe in, I guess I’d better stop singing along with the soundtrack to Aladdin, because singing things is tantamount to expressing belief. (Sidenote: is this a short step towards banning non-liturgical singing and dancing as a form of Devilry?)

And of COURSE we mustn’t tolerate an atheist singing Christmas carols. Stuff like:
Jingle Bells
Walkin’ In a Winter Wonderland
I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Deck the Halls
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
O Tannenbaum
Jingle Bell Rock
Silver Bells
I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
Let It Snow
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
The Holly and the Ivy
Carol of the Bells
Feliz Navidad
The Twelve Days of Christmas

Because Christmas Carols are always so intensely religious, and inherently and unambiguously statements of Christian belief, right? Right? Oh, they’re not? Oh. Hmm.

-Tim Minchin – “White wine in the Sun”

I never knew Greg could become so obsessed with a “holiday” that celebrates the virgin birth of someone he claims never existed.

Our holiday celebrates the family, getting together in winter, the end of a year and the beginning of the next, family, family, family. Some of us also celebrate the birth of their particular mythical figure. Some celebrate the solstice. Some (mostly the children) celebrate presents. The adults pretend to celebrate Santa; the children play along with it. (They don’t believe; it’s their job to take turns being Santa and Santa’s helper.)

For some of us, music is an essential element. My grandson does a great Jingle Bell Rock. I sing carols; they bring back happy memories, even though I don’t believe in the story. I sing about Rudolph and Santa, too. And Frosty the Snowman. And Old MacDonald, besides. Belief is not necessary.

Like Greg’s family, mine is diverse; Christians of every stripe, from fundie to Christmas-and-Easter drop-ins; Buddhists, Hindus, a few Muslims, a fair number of atheists, some NewAgey types, a Pagan or two. Irish and Mexican, Yorkshiremen and Punjabis, Chinese, Norwegians, Swedes, Heinz57 Canadians; a Texan and a Jamaican who may as well be family; they belong with us. Our traditions are a mish-mash of whatever suits us from our mixed backgrounds.

In the homes of fundies, we say grace; otherwise, we don’t. Even the fundies put up with that. If they want to say grace, they do it privately, without fuss.

Like Tim Minchin sings, we pass babies from hand to hand. I really like Christmas, too. No fundie is going to take that away from me.