Alain de Botton at the Melbourne Town Hall
21st  February 2012

It's nice to see atheism getting a bit more subtle, diverse and deep and reaching beyond the simple "All religion is rubbish" arguemnt. Alain de Botton shared some wonderful thoughts tonight at the Melbourne Town Hall on how a secular world might learn from religion and that the argument that thousands of years of every belief system is instantly dismissible,  needs further thought and is really utter nonsense.  It's just not that simple.

I must say it was nice to hear someone talking good plain sense for once.  Alains point about the factions of atheism now arching from fundamentalist to much less extreme - "I'm at the soft end" he added, seems to reflect much more realistically what most people think and feel.   I know many like myself who are not really religious but not ANTI religion per se, its just not my, or their thing.

That is not to dismiss any abuse, physical, emotional or spiritual done by any organised belief system of course but that's not everyone's experience and should the

Having said that, at university I studied Art History and Music and much of that was religious based; religious themes in art, history of Christian Rome, architecture, stained glass, mediaeval illuminated manuscripts and at the same time I was singing in church and other choirs, singing a lot of sacred music. For me, some of the best music there is, is church music. Period.  But it alongside that sits my belief that there is no God.

What I do think though is that communal singing and music making is amazing. It's fulfilling, it makes your body and senses ring with sound and harmony and delight. It makes you grin and giggle and puts you in a good mood.  It takes you out of yourself as you hear the complexity of the lines, the shift in tension with the chords and the delay of a suspension or the cheesiness of a picardy third.   That's the best way I can convey my personal experience of what Alain was tyring to say.  One can find structure, inner peace, energy, purpuse, drive and focus in some of the things the church offers.

Alains key point extended to the need for the secular world to take on the efficiency of organisation, putting their actions where their words are, and connecting the aesthetic and the arts with their core principles, that religion seems to do well,  just to name a few.

The sound, the look, the expression, the words we use and the environment around us, both natural and built, all matter.  Religous organisations recognise that these details are fundamental to our better lives and better thinking through and living of those lives.

I think we've had our share of horrible buildings, bad music, poor expression and indeed fundamentalism of many sorts - political, religious and atheistic.  May the renaissance of the true Humanist era revive and grow.  Alain, you can host it.

My understanding is that there will be footage of the night on the Wheeler Centre website



Key points that stayed with me.
* If you're trying to change the world - get organised
* If you're trying to change the world - get out of your bedroom
* Religions are not a buffet from which you can go and choose the best bits. Well, yes they are and that's what I"m doing. Its pick & Mix.
* There are some buildings that are so ugly it makes life seem like a cruel joke. those religious guys are pretty good on buildings..
* Our experience can be illuminated by the thinking of other people. I found some of that in religion and that's my point today.