To sing or not to sing?

@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
September 29, 2015 6:02am CST
OK - you're at a church service - maybe a friend's or relative's wedding - and there's a great set of hymns on the menu. Let's suppose you're an atheist and therefore don't believe a word of it. Do you sing or not? I certainly would - I love singing and used to do a lot more than I do now, so going to the occasional church service is a great opportunity to belt out "Bread of Heaven", "Love Divine" or something similar. A similar situation arises at occasions such as the FA Cup Final ("Abide With Me") and the Last Night of the Proms ("Jerusalem", "Land of Hope and Glory" and "Rule Britannia"). The vast majority of those singing lustily really do not want to expand the British Empire when they sing "wider still and wider may thy bounds be set" - but they do it anyway. And what about the National Anthem? The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - a well-known Republican (in the British sense) was seen recently not to be singing it because he does not want the Queen "long to reign over us". However, it is the National Anthem, like it or not, and he has promised that next time round he will do, because on such occasions the words do not matter.
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@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
29 Sep 15
If you love to sing, why not? Although I respect people who might not sing certain songs due to their convictions. It's up to each individual. As to Jeremy Corbyn, let's face it, the Queen doesn't reign in the traditional sense, so I don't think he's betraying his conscience in singing God Save the Queen.
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