On Attending Religious Services as an Atheist

[MineralMan]

3. Exactly. However, I have frequently performed music

in church settings. As an oboist and as a Bass/Baritone vocalist, I have often enjoyed performing music that has a religious theme. The music is the thing, not the religious belief, for me.

I no longer participate, due to my age, but I can hardly count how many times I've played in an orchestra or stood up to sing an aria from Handel's Messiah. A few times, I've done both at the same performance. So much music was written for church use that musicians can hardly avoid it if they want to perform.