Bricks & Skepticism

I'm still regularly amazed by how often I notice lyrics in songs I've been listening to for years & heard dozens of times, even with one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.

I've known what Paramore's "Brick By Boring Brick" is about since I first heard it, but I'd never thought about it in context of who wrote it.

Well you built up a world of magic

Because your real life is tragic

Yeah you built up a world of magic

If it's not real

You can't hold it in your hand

You can't feel it with your heart

And I won't believe it

But if it's true

You can see it with your eyes

Oh even in the dark

And that's where I want to be, yeah

The song is about reality being preferable to fantasy.  It's about not believing something without evidence.  It's about putting in the hard work to reality instead of taking the easy route of believing a fantasy.  These lyrics would have made me think Hayley Williams is an atheist if I didn't already known she was Christian.

I've been aware that Hayley Williams was a Christian  for years.  But her religion has never been an issue for me, since I've never seen her use it to justify any hate or to shame anyone, and I've never noticed it in her lyrics.  She doesn't necessarily wear it on her sleeve, but she does wear it on her thigh.  Plus, it's not like it's an out of the ordinary thing for someone to be, especially someone from Mississippi & Tennessee.

 

She's that devoutly Christian but wrote a song that could double as an atheist anthem.  This is far from the first time I've encountered a theist advocating skepticism that should prevent their belief.  But it's an excellent example of something that is all too common.   They often apply proper skepticism to everything except their religion.  The day we figure out how to get them to apply that skepticism to their god(s) will be the day we really see religion begin to crumble.