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Subject: A Carol For Sceptics From: GUEST,Paul Burke Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:47 AM We evolutionary materialists don't have many Christmas carols, so here's one. It's a bit more preachy that I would have liked, but whatthehell. A Sceptical Carol +++++++++++++++++ The rain fell from a sky of grey Above the cave where a baby lay. No choirs of angels sang his praise, No shepherds stood in rapt amaze. A fallen girl, her husband old, The inn was full, the night was cold, The dirty straw lay on the earth Where Mary gave her baby birth. And as that child to manhood grew Both pain and joy in life he knew- Peace and rest at journey's end, Betrayal by his dearest friend. He scorned the rich who used the law To crush the weak and rob the poor. Inflamed by hate and greed for gain They nailed him up. He died in pain. Two thousand years have passed since then Of grief, and fear, and shame for men, And still they murder, rape and maim, And death rains down in Jesus' name. O'er Jew and Moslem, witch and gay, The Inquisition held their sway, And jeering crowds, for Jesus' sake Dragged helpless victims to the stake. So superstition lay aside, Religion gives to us no guide. The law that rules our lives must be Our love and shared humanity. To all accord their human worth, Not bow to wealth or pride of birth, For Son of Virgin, child of whore, The babe was neither less nor more. ....... (this parts a bit OTT I'm afraid) The snow lies white upon the ground (The streams of tracer fly around) And choirs of children sing His praise (The rebel town is all ablaze) The stars shine brightly overhead (The streets are filled with twisted dead) Our King shall reign for evermore (In bitter and unending war) X:1 T: A Sceptical Carol C:Paul Burke I:abc2nwc M:6/8 L:1/8 K:G D|:G2G c2e|d2B G2e/2d/2|d2B GcB|A2F D2D| G2G c2e|d2B G2e/2d/2|d2B GcB|A2F D2d| e2c G2e|d2B G2c/2B/2|A2F D2F|A2F D2d| e2c G2g|d2B G2c/2B/2|A2F D2F|A2B c2e| [1"^Bridge section"d2B c2d/2e/2|d2c/2B/2 A2D:| "^Finish"d2G c2e|d2c/2B/2 c2B/2A/2|G6|] Cheers Paul Burke |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: Dead Horse Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:55 AM Rust Ye Merry Gentlemen? Oh. I thought it said septics............ |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: GUEST,Richard Date: 02 Dec 04 - 07:04 AM Yep! that sums it all up nicely. Still, it's a good excuse for a piss-up! |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: IanC Date: 02 Dec 04 - 07:50 AM Thomas Hardy said the same thing rather better, I think... Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. "Now they are all on their knees," An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! Yet, I feel, If someone said on Christmas Eve, "Come; see the oxen kneel "In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know," I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so. (Thomas Hardy "The Oxen") ;-) |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: katlaughing Date: 02 Dec 04 - 10:48 AM Well done, both! |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: squeezeldy Date: 02 Dec 04 - 04:59 PM There is a lot to think about in these two poems. The rather cynical hope presented in Hardy's poem is a tender contrast to the first poem. They balance one another very well. Too many of us profess to not believe in miracles, and desperately hope that we are wrong. It's why we need music. |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: open mike Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:39 PM Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne All the streets are filled with laughter and light and the music of the season and the merchant's windows all all bright faces of the children and the families hurry into their homes as the sky darkens and freezes they will be gathering around their hearth and tables giving thanks for god's graces and the birth of the rebel jesus They call him by the prince of peace And they call him by the savior and they pray to him and in every bold endeavor and they fill his churches wth their pride and awe as their faith in him increases but they have turned the nature that i worship in from the temple to a robber's den in the words of the rebel jesus We guard our world with locks and guns and we guard our fine posessions and once a year when christmas comes we give to our relations and perhaps we give a little to the poor if generosity should sieze us but if any one of us should interfere in the business poor get the same as the rebel jesus pardon me if i have seemed to take the tone of judgement for i've no wish to come between this day and your enjoyment in a life of hardship and earthly toil ther's a need for anything that frees us so i bid you pleasure and i bid you cheer from the heathen and the pagan on the side of the rebel jesus |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: open mike Date: 02 Dec 04 - 05:49 PM oh yes, and Dar Williams' Christians and the Pagans where now only pumpkin pies are burning... |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: Ron Davies Date: 02 Dec 04 - 10:27 PM Not so serious, by a long shot, but still a carol for skeptics---already in Mudcat 2 Dec 2000-- God Rest Ye, Unitarians God rest ye, Unitarians, let nothing you dismay Remember there's no evidence there was a Christmas Day When Christ was born is just not known, no matter what they say Oh,, tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact Oh, tidings of reason and fact. There was no Star of Bethlehem, there was no angel song There could have been no Wise Men, for the journey was too long The stories in the Bible are historically wrong Oh, tidings... Much of our Christmas custom comes from Turkey and from Greece From solstice celebrations of the ancient Middle East We know our so-called "holiday" is but a pagan feast Oh, tidings.... |
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Subject: RE: A Carol For Sceptics From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 03 Dec 04 - 10:26 AM Re: And still they murder, rape and maim, And death rains down in Jesus' name. --------------- Just because there are hypocrites, should the virtues they pretend to have not be strived for? And when you are talking about "they," why don't you talk about the "they" who heal, feed, teach and comfort in Jesus' name as well? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics From: GUEST,Jim Burrill Date: 14 Dec 20 - 05:33 AM A Christmas carol which candidly sticks closely to and celebrates the biblical nativity story... The Greatest Story of All by Jim Burrill (© 2019) licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license (this means you can sing & share this, if you mention my name...) At only thirteen, she became his bride, Looking forward to their wedding night. She knew Joe loved her, but he couldn’t perform, Though he tried with all his might. So Maria sought comfort from someone older, And, my God, He was old as the hills! Though she knew it was cheating, it felt reassuring. But she didn’t have birth control pills. And this is the greatest story of all. One to celebrate this time of year. Let our voices bring candor, till the heavens ring, and Our hearts will be filled with cheer. Nine months later, she was blessed with a son, In a shed behind an inn. The cuckold Joe and his cheating wife Proudly watched over him. Three other guys came by to visit, And brought some fancy stuff. Joe made sure they were never alone with his wife. He felt that he’d had enough. Yes, this is the greatest story of all. One to celebrate this time of year. Let our voices bring candor, till the heavens ring, and Our hearts will be filled with cheer. Our hearts will be filled with cheer. a lyrics + chords PDF coming soon: sites.google.com/site/JimBStuff/home/songs |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics From: cnd Date: 14 Dec 20 - 10:54 AM Thanks for sharing your song Jim. I can appreciate the rhyming and the joke of the story (even if I don't necessarily agree with it!) Perhaps Paul and Jim's songs and the others here could be added to the Atheist Hymns thread, or the two pages could be linked. While it's not exactly for sceptics or atheists, David Clark's Dawg--It's Christmas is in the same vein of comedic Christmas music. It's a comedic re-telling of the classic Christmas story but in an entertaining and comedic way |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics From: Mrrzy Date: 14 Dec 20 - 05:51 PM We spell it sKeptics. And a lot of us don't believe in a historical jesus either [grin]! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics From: Joe_F Date: 14 Dec 20 - 09:59 PM Christians at War |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics From: GUEST,paperback Date: 15 Dec 20 - 02:24 AM Joe F: wouldn't that one be A Carol For Septics? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Jeri Date: 15 Dec 20 - 10:37 AM It's the British spelling of "skeptics", but my mind reads it a "septics" too, a la "scenic". I don't really care for the modern interpretation that Mary cheated or Joe was cuckolded. Maybe there was just an arrangement, or a turkey baster, and the "God did it" thing was just what they told the busybodies. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: punkfolkrocker Date: 15 Dec 20 - 10:52 AM The Jesus easter story is a far more gripping yarn... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Jeri Date: 15 Dec 20 - 11:01 AM The origin of zombies? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Joe Offer Date: 15 Dec 20 - 11:51 AM For ease of searching, I added the alternate spelling, skeptics. No offense is intended. As for Christmas, the New Testament tells two vastly different stories. Matthew focuses on Joseph and his ancestral home of Bethlehem; and the Matthew story is in five segments, each built around a quote from the Hebrew Scriptures. Interestingly, Joseph, son of Jacob, found out about all this in dreams - just as an earlier dreamer named Joseph was also a song of a Jacob. The Matthew story is also interesting in how the genealogy works out to three sets of fourteen generations: Abraham to David, David to Babylon, and Babylon to Jesus. If you look on this as literature, it's fascinating. If you view is as an attempt to present historical fact, it gets problematic very quickly. The entire Gospel of Matthew is mirrored in literary devices that mirror the Gospel's infancy narrative. The infancy narrative of Luke is focused on Mary and Nazareth and the Angel Gabriel. It's built around a series of songs or canticles, the Magnificat, the Benedictus of Zechariah, the Gloria of the angels, and the "Nunc Dimittis" of Simeon. Again, very interesting literary forms, but problematic from a historical standpoint. So, I take the Bible as literature set somewhat within a historical context, but certainly not straight history. It's something meant to inspire people, not teach history or science. And it talks a lot about justice and compassion for the poor and the corruption of people in power and all that good stuff. And I enjoy it. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Mrrzy Date: 15 Dec 20 - 05:05 PM Not even unstraight history, Joe, it's literature, sure, but fiction. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: GUEST,paperback Date: 16 Dec 20 - 12:07 AM Jeri: It's cockney rhyming slang: 'septic tank' = 'yank' - fitting for such a (US) belicose-religious carol. Merry Christmas |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Pete from seven stars link Date: 16 Dec 20 - 08:14 AM Matthew had a particular interest in how the OT , particularly the prophets writings , were fulfilled in the arrival of the Messiah, and so he recorded the events from that angle . There’s nothing really problematic in his presenting the genealogy in the way he does , as it’s intended that way , and not the more exhaustive list in Luke Speaking of which , he , Luke, presents himself as a careful historian , and though it used to be claimed that he dated Qurinius wrong , it’s now thought that Q was in his position twice . For myself , I hold to the historic understanding of the church , that scripture is inspired by God , and trustworthy |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: punkfolkrocker Date: 16 Dec 20 - 11:02 AM "I hold to the historic understanding of the church , that scripture is inspired by God , and trustworthy" My evangelical minister relative and his family are highly intelligent, very well educated, smart folks.. ..BUT... when devout faith and trust in God over rides reason and rationality.. hmmmmm....... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: robomatic Date: 18 Dec 20 - 08:59 PM Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, not my favorite writers, yet penetrating and cheerful at the same time, and used at the very beginning of a mystery thriller: It is one of my favorite movie moments, and how I wish it was included in the Starbucks/Spotify Christmas playlist and I could be sitting in Starbucks lip-syncing to it! And sung by my favorite crooner, Perry Como. Christmas Dream CHRISTMAS DREAM From the 1974 film "The Odessa File" (Andrew Lloyd Weber / Tim Rice / German lyrics: André Heller) Perry Como & The London Boy Singers Watch me now, here I go, all I need’s a little snow! Starts me off, sets the theme, helps me dream my Christmas dream, Every year I dream it, hoping things will change, An end to the crying, the shouting, the dying, And I hope you will dream it too! It’s Christmas, Remember? We’ve got to remember! So, light the light, I’m home tonight, I need you to warm me, to calm me, to love me! To help me to dream my Christmas dream! Crazy things, said an’ done, Every single day but one! Every night should, I believe, Be the same as Christmas Eve, Nights should all be silent, Days should all slow down, An end to the hurry, the noise and the worry! And I hope you believe that too! It’s Christmas, Remember? Does no one remember? The whole world needs, a Christmas dream, We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . . To help us to dream our Christmas dream! (Lüge dirigiert die Welt, Ehrlichkeit bringt selten Geld, Jeder möcht' Sieger sein, wer verliert bleibt ganz allein; Doch manch Will' ist möglich durch die Fantasie Du stirbst um zu leben und nimmst um zu geben;) Einmal im Jahr wird alles wahr Zu Weihnacht vergiss nicht, Vergiss es gewiss nicht. The whole world needs, a Christmas dream, We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . . We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . . We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us . . . To help us to dream our Christmas dream! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: GUEST Date: 09 Dec 21 - 08:39 AM An update to my post about “The Greatest Story of All by Jim Burrill (© 2019)” : The lyrics + chords sheet is can be found now at a slightly different URL: click the song title at the new URL: sites.google.com.view/JimBStuff/songs . And, a comment on my song in response to anybody who believes the song’s story is somehow different from the biblical story they learned in church or heard in other carols. I believe the story sticks closely to the biblical accont. The only difference is that I tell it a bit more candidly... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Mrrzy Date: 09 Dec 21 - 09:49 AM Steve Martin, I think, writes and petforms atheist anthems and carols. I shall seek. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: cnd Date: 09 Dec 21 - 10:34 AM Mrrzy, would this be the song you're thinking of, or does he have more? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Joe_F Date: 09 Dec 21 - 05:52 PM Not all Christians believe in carols. Here is one for Luther, Calvin, and Knox: Noel, noel, noel, noel! Most of you people are going to hell. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: GUEST,A Caltech alum '59 Date: 18 Dec 21 - 03:39 PM Are you the guy with the 'atom' sweater from your grandma and who had trouble with shoelaces? Lloyd George knew my father too. Nice carol, BTW. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: RTim Date: 18 Dec 21 - 03:51 PM On Christmas day it happened so (as sung by May Bradley) On Christmas day it happened so Down in those meadows for to plough As he were ploughing all on so fast Up came sweet Jesus hisself at last "Oh man, oh man, what makes thou plough So hard upon our Lord's birthday?" The farmer answered him with great speed "For to plough this day I have got need." Now his arms did quaver through and through His arms did quaver, he could not plough For the ground did open and loose him in Before he could repent of sin. His wife and children's out of place His beasts and cattle they're almost lost His beasts and cattle they die away For ploughing on old Christmas day Now his beasts and cattle they die away For ploughing on our Lord's birthday. Tim Radford |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Joe_F Date: 18 Dec 21 - 05:49 PM Guest CIT '59: I spect so, only it was my mother who knitted the sweater. (I never saw either of my grandmothers -- my parents married late.) These days I never have to tie shoelaces. My shoes have Velcro, and on my boots they are tied at the bottom and I just loop them over the hooks at the top. As insurance, I now know the difference between a square knot and a granny knot. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: GUEST,CIT59 Date: 18 Dec 21 - 09:13 PM Ashley's wife here. Your post turned up in a search for something and when I told him your CIT reference he recognized your name. Still here in Pasadena. Apparently no way to send messages rather than posts. pmglory at geemaledotkomm. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Mrrzy Date: 21 Dec 21 - 04:29 PM Thanks! I am reminded of a Boynton card, from the 80's, maybe: Outside: an elephant labeled Ephant and a camel labeled Cam, drawn in festive colors Inside: No El, No El. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add: A Carol For Sceptics/Skeptics From: Mrrzy Date: 22 Dec 21 - 01:25 PM We three kings are six feet apart? |
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