I'm feeling a bit like a grouchy old fart tonight.
I went to my daughters orchestra concert tonight, and it was awesome as usual. At least, right up to the end...
The director informed us they were going to play and the audience could sing along. Here I'm thinking something cute like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Jingle Bells.
Instead, it was a medley of four songs about Jesus.
Seriously?
Now I realize that the christians all want to claim this time of year for themselves, and I have heard all of the arguments so please don't waste your time crying to me about the holiday. I understand your position.
My position is that I am not a christian, and I don't wish to have your religion shoved down my throat at a concert unless, of course, I know it's going to specifically be a christian concert.
Now I'm a very tolerant atheist. I don't mind if you call the holiday Christmas, or the tree a Christmas tree. I don't mind christmas carols, or christmas movies with religious themes to them, etc...
But tonight my tolerance was really pushed to the edge when the audience broke out into song as if I were in a church. I've never in my life felt as offended as I did tonight. And for me, that's rare.
Before you get all high and mighty I want you to stop and think for a minute if you were made to stand in an auditorium and made to listen to everyone around you sing about satan, or Allah, or perhaps something else you found distasteful.
If I attend a church ceremony I expect to hear christian music, if I watch a christmas movie I expect to hear christmas music and be exposed to a christian theme. Heck, tonight I even expected to hear the typical songs of christmas being played. What caught me off guard, was for the director to actually have the audience start belting out tunes to worship Jesus.
I'm just saying... It made me feel dang uncomfortable and I really did not appreciate the unexpected turn of events.
Am I going to raise a big stink about it, and act like many atheist jerks would? No, because I'm above that sort of childish type of actions.
Will I vent on my blog about it though? You betcha!
Would love to hear your thoughts on this as long as they are not going to be how wrong I am and that I should just suck-it-up because christianity is the only religion on the planet.
