Some of the Hymns that they sing have nice Chords, but the Lyrics are Spooky.

I went to the conformation of an old friend today. It was quite a surreal experience not helped by the fact I haven't been in a church for a while. What I find really odd is religion has this way of making me feel bad about myself. Though not in the sense that you have to admit you're a sinner and a terrible person to be confirmed, I treat those bits with quite, indignant refusal, but more in the sense that organised religion seems to bring these people so much joy and a sense of self worth that I am slightly jealous of.

I would say I've lost any sort of faith recently. Sure I haven't been to Church since I was 8 or so but I was always fairly exposed to religion and had that sense of the existence of a higher being, though not one necessarily contained within any of the conventional doctrines. I certainly had too much faith to agnostic, that's for sure. However, due to recent experiences I have slipped into a more atheist frame of mind, I had some real doubts about there being any sort of God with any sort of interests in the squabbles of men.

The dad of the friend who's conformation it was is a proclaimed atheist so I thought I'd have company in lacking faith. So initially I did just enjoy the hymns, the choir were very good, and ignored the tried and tested, repeated-every-week sermon. But by the end, the culmination of the choir, the organ, the congregation and the Bishop had a really profound effect on me. I was really emotional but not entirely sure why. I felt something though, that's for sure.

I've always appreciated Organised Religion for it's positive affect on literature, music, architecture and art, but until now I always underestimated its power to move you.