I love that talk. It's titled "Letting Go Of God".

I mentioned something about transubstantiation once to my Catholic wife, and she'd never heard of it, or if she had, she'd blocked it from her memory. When I told her what it was, she didn't believe it was really a part of Catholic doctrine. She had to look it up.

As a child I thought the song was about a woman named Grace, I still like the song and the sentiment behind it in that there is a way out of all of the trials of life and this amazing woman named Grace ( inner grace, finding your own way with support from friends and family) can help you.

Great quote. Thank you very much.

I also like his song. "She,s got a way about her" This song made me feel welled up inside as I thought about the lady that I had just met and how she made me feel about her. She was amazing and understanding. I learned a lot about myself with her comments about how I was living my life at that time. I feel that I am a better man today because I listened and accepted her views.

All art is about religion, and art with a capital 'A' is a religion.

@Fernapple all art is about religion? Where do you get this from? Movies, Music, Architecture, Paintings, Sculptures are all art, some are religious most are not, I beg to differ.

@Mofo1953 Yes all art is about religion, because if you want to look at a leaf you go out into the garden and look at a leaf. However if you look at a painting of a leaf you are looking, to a degree at what the artist wants you to think a leaf is, and that is both subjective and a distortion of reality, in which the artist attempts to move you towards their agenda, which is a religious manipulation of your thought, and the better the art the more powerful it is.

Yes I could find lots of counter arguments to this too. Don't take it too seriously. But the second part yes, art with a capital certainly is a religion.

@Fernapple sorry, your explanation eludes any logic because you are repeating what you said without any evidence to support this opinion.

@Fernapple Do you mean Illusion with a capital I? If you ask me it is 'artistic' in the same way a desert mirage is an oasis.

@Mofo1953 First you need to define art. Which I would define as the use of technology to manipulate other peoples minds. As such Art is the parent of all culture and therefore the grandparent of all sub-cultures including religion. Indeed it would be quite appropriate to define religion as one of the art forms.

@Mofo1953, @Storm1752 No art with a capital 'A', refering to the idea of high art. Meaning that certain crafts, have a 'spiritual' (meaningless word) values, in that they can, without any evidence, be set aside from what are called crafts or technologies. Based on the idea that they have a higher worth, even though that the is no evidence for that higher worth, any more than there is evidence for the equally nebulus 'spirituality'.

@Fernapple this is the definition of art (Webster):

noun

1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
   "the art of the Renaissance"
   Similar:
   fine art
   artwork
   creative activity

2. the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.
   "the visual arts"

Your definition is irrelevant because it is just your opinion and it holds no logic.

@Fernapple Again, your personal definition of what you think art is, is of total and absolute irrelevance because it has no basis in logic, common sense or even any facts or evidence behind it, now don't bother me insisting in your own bullshit that only you believe.

@Fernapple Not all art is about religion.

@Mofo1953 Art is an idea so nebulus and vague that it is quite capable of being defined in many different ways, all of which may be true. Certainly Websters difinition, while perfectly true is far too short to even begin to express all that art is. My point is to show the very real dangers of art to those who approach it without showing caution, as such I think that it is very valid, and I am sorry that you can not see that. But then to me that is only confirming evidence, since it is exactly the sort of blindness that those deeply lost in religious indovctrination always exhibit.

Ask yourself. If art is not a religion then why does the term "artistic truth" exist?

@extantpoet Some of it is, but I am not merely say that art is about religion, I am also saying that art, at least high art, is a religion, perhaps with many of the vices that come with that.

@Fernapple you're insisting in a moot point that only you believe. Truth has nothing to do with religion, just with not lying, expressing facts. Give it up already. The point you are trying to make is by itself idiotic and miopic, has no basis in logic or common sense. I'm sure you believe it, but aside from you nobody else does. It is your opinion, you are entitled to give it, but it's not more than that, an illogical, misguided personal opinion.

@Mofo1953 What has truth got to do with it ? The talk was about art.

@Fernapple you can't even remember what you posted. Amazing. You said this "why does the term "artistic truth" exist?" Quit already dumbass, nobody advocates what you stupidly continue to hold as reality because it only lives in your deranged head.

@Mofo1953 Thank you for the ad populum, it would be lovely to think that I was an original, but sadly it is not the case, the idea is not mine but a traditional one, long championed in art philosophy, especially by people like Kahlil Gibran and Ernst Gombrich who famously said. "There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists." And. "The first thing you have to remember about art is that no such thing exists."

@Fernapple they never said art is religion like you stupidly try to continue to defend.

@Mofo1953 Yes they did. Because if art is not existent as a material measurable entity, then belief in it must depend upon faith.

@Fernapple that is a preposterous and false inference. You are obsessed with this idiotic idea that art is religion that you definitely can't be objective.

@Fernapple Aaah, no. Wrong. But nice, lengthy, wordy try. C+

@Fernapple

That is because it’s the music not the libretto that is beautiful....music is manmade, even when it’s dedicated to god, the words are also manmade but less important than the notes. As a classical singer I have sung all of the well known religious pieces and enjoy them immensely...no problem to me that they are dedicated to the glory of god. The words only have any meaning if you believe them.

@Marionville - Many of us with nonprofessional experiences singing in choirs never knew the meaning of the words sung. The emotion from the experience is just as real.

My parents participated in a Mozart Festival were they lived in California during the 1980's. One year, I was visiting when the festival was going on and I attended a dinner and awards given out for youth musicians who participated in a competition as part of the festival. Part of the entertainment for the evening included a piece of music sung in German by a small choir. It was a beautiful piece of music just as would be expected from Mozart. After the song was completed, the translation was provided for the song. It was filled with bawdy criticism and insults of one of Mozart's rivals from his day. Apparently, Mozart was known for producing bits of music like this disparaging others in this way. The music was still beautiful just as would be expected from Mozart.

@Marionville Some of the music I listen to has ungrammatical stream of consciousness type lyrics. They are no less powerful. Some of the music i listen to has singers using no actual words. They are also no less powerful. So I totally agree with you.

It's there, trust me ... the feelings elicited by sublime music are deep. I was raised in a Protestant faith that was (is) extremely anti-Catholic, and so I never learned the translation for Ave Maria (and the many other Catholic texts set to beautiful music) until much later in life. It didn't bother me that I didn't understand the words ... it was the music that mattered.

@p-nullifidian I mean strong feelings for a myth. (My personal feelings anyway.)

@Julie808 And I get choked up watching Polar Express with the kids ... our mythological impressions run very deep.