The Show:
Edited, Partial Transcript
Hey everyone this is John Gravino. Welcome to another edition of Soul Science. Today our topic is “Atheists, They Don’t Have No Songs.” You can see right here I call it an Advent reflection. Or the alternative title, “Tis the Season for Deconstructing Steve Martin.” You know I was thinking I’ve got to do something for Christmas before Christmas gets here and um what a better topic than Steve Martin! Actually, Steve Martin is the composer of a song called, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs,” and so he is the inspiration for the title of this episode. Believe it or not, I uh find a a way to connect this to
Christmas and to religion. And, by the way, you can see up on the screen over here that I have the YouTube address where you can see the Steve Martin song. I highly recommend it.
The Steve Martin Critique of Atheism
And so Steve Martin is uh getting to an interesting idea. He’s expressing a dissatisfaction—in a funny way. And some people would say, “Well, he’s just goofing around. It’s just a funny song.” But the truth is that he is expressing a dissatisfaction with atheism. And he’s pointing out that atheists lack something. And so the question I’ve got up here on the screen is, “Well, what else do they lack?” And you can see this beautiful photograph I have of a Christmas tree. And you can see here. I’m, today, I’m sipping my tea from a beautiful Christmas-themed teacup. Let me move away from my microphone here so I’m not too uh … I don’t want my gulps to be in Sensurround. But, I will tell you, that when you’re talking, it does help to have a beverage.
Christmas
So what else do they lack? Well, they lack Christmas. And think about the title of the Steve Martin song, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs.” You know there are radio stations that do nothing but play Christmas songs from Thanksgiving all the way up until Christmas day for an entire month. You know—the whole time. We Christians don’t run out of songs! Basically, that’s my point. And so I thought, “Yeah, actually Steve Martin’s song is such an appropriate reflection for the season that we’re in of Christmas, which is filled with so many memorable songs.” And, you know, not only do they not have any songs, they don’t have you know. What holidays do they have? We’ve got Christmas. What have they got? We’ve got all the the cool Christmas decorations. We’ve got beautiful Christmas trees. We’ve got Bing Crosby. We’ve got “Silent Night,” Frank Sinatra. We’ve got Mariah Carey, right?—“All I want for Christmas.” It’s actually, you know, I actually love that CD!
Is Christianity More Beautiful Than Atheism?
And so it seems to me that maybe Steve Martin was on to something here. Maybe he’s got something more than just a funny song. And I’ve got this question up on the screen. Is Steve Martin, you know, possibly, in a funny way, raising a deeper question? Is Christianity more beautiful than atheism? Does Christianity actually contribute more beauty to the world than atheism does? And so I’m asking a question whether—and this is where we’re deconstructing Steve Martin: He goes on The David Letterman Show. And he sings a funny song, and he gets a lot of laughs. And he’s having a good time. But in our deconstruction, I’m asking whether Steve’s song is actually pointing to a deeper reality. I think it might be. On the other hand, maybe it’s just a funny, light-hearted potshot at atheists. I like it either way!
Alain de Botton—Dissatisfied Atheist
However, I have a quote from a very fancy fellow— intellectual fellow. His name is Alain de Botton. I hope I’m pronouncing that correctly. And he’s quoted in The Guardian. I’ve got the URL up here. You can see this is from an article back in 2012. Let me read this to you. I think it makes the case that Steve Martin’s song is really not a potshot at all. Here’s what Alain de Botton says. He’s he’s considered to be a philosopher and an intellectual. . . . [See the full podcast!]
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