Kenny, I'm sorry if you thought I was levelling at you. Way up above, I think I said more-or-less the same thing you said - that the song wasn't written with any religious intent. What I said: "I'd say it's a non-religious song that could easily have religious applications. The imagery is similar to that found in many religious songs, without being overtly religious. It's certainly a thought-provoking song."

A lot of so-called "Christian" music, especially music written for youth, makes me nervous. A friend of mine who's a Lutheran minister, calls them "Jesus Is My Boyfriend" songs. They are embarrassingly insipid, and certainly not the kind of message I want to convey to young people, even if the melody is appealing to them. I tend to select songs that are rooted in the Psalms and other passages of scripture. For religious services, I mostly use exclusively religious music. An exception would be a non-sectarian gathering where I want to do my best to be inclusive.

But for a class or a retreat, I'll often use a secular song to give people something to think about. I choose songs that encourage peace or compassion or tolerance or diversity. Believe it or not, most religious people encounter the same situations (good and bad) and have to actually think about how to deal with them - only a few fundamentalists have everything spelled out for them.

And in an informal situation like a class or retreat, I wouldn't think of paying royalties for songs like we do for the ones we use in regular worship services. Do you pay royalties for songs you sing at singarounds? If you did a volunteer gig at a nursing home, would you pay royalties for every song you sing?

And to whether it's offensive to secularists for religious people to sing a "secular" song at a religious gathering, that seems to me to be absolutely ludicrous. Now, if the song is some sort of exclusive anthem of the Secularist Religion, that might be another matter. If a song is held sacred by one group or another, then that sacredness should be respected - within reason. But this song doesn't make any attempt to be exclusively secularist. It addresses human emotions and human experiences. Last time I looked, religious people were also human beings and shared the same emotions and experiences - despite what the Mudcat bigots might tell you.

Leveller, I have the impression you're a pretty good person and I hadn't thought of you as part of the Mudcat bigot team before, but your message posted 05 Nov 13 - 04:15 AM, crossed the line into hatefulness; and it made me very angry. Rightfully so, I think - but I'm glad that calmer voices have intervened since then. Disagreement is one thing, hatefulness is another. And to class all religious people together, is grossly unfair and bigoted.

-Joe Offer-