As Bob Dylan sings,
“The country I come from is called the Mid-west,
I was taught and brought up there the laws to abide,
and that the land that I live in has God on it’s side.”
Northern Wisconsin was sparsely populated with mostly farms and forests,
not far from where Dylan was born. Most of the population was made up of
Scandavian and German Lutherans. In the very small town we lived near,
there were two Lutheran churches. The one we went to didn’t have the
means to have a permanent preacher, so one came in the summer and my
siblings and I had to go to Sunday school and the sermon.
Most of the sermon was given in a foreign language I didn’t understand
and a shorter part was in English. We sang hymns out of tune. In fact, I
rather enjoyed it because after the sermon there was a pot-luck lunch
and I was able to play with children from all the areas around.
The Sunday school stories were OK for children, but not as good as the
ones I read at school or at home. I had Lutheran confirmation classes
where the only things I remember learning were how to use a condom and
smoke a cigarette during the breaks.
Later we moved to a “modern” suburb in the city. We went to another
white Lutheran church which was bigger and richer. Sunday school was now
year around and I was bored because I had already heard the stories.
There are not that many: Jonah and the whale, Daniel in the lions’ den,
Jesus walking on water, etc. The heroes and their exploits were less
exciting than those–like Heracles and Thor–of the Greek and Nordic myths.
I just wanted to play basketball with friends or go to the beach, or
just hang out, with them. I never had a clear idea of what was meant by
God or the Bible teachings or belief in them even though I once went to
a Billy Graham show in a stadium. I guess that if that don’t get’cha,
nothing will. Around 16 I started to read Nietzche and discovered that
other people had similar ideas and good analyses of the history of those
beliefs and I discovered the word “atheist”.
At 18 I left home and never went to church services again. I didn’t need
to let go of God because I had never had any real belief in it. I don’t
remember being traumatized in learning that there was no Santa Claus
either, though I firmly believed in him, and I had evidence: he gave me
presents every year. From God I got zilch. I didn’t learn moral behavior
at church but from my parents, family, and school and just having
simple(well, not always simple)interactions with fellow students and
others.
Randay
France
So the classes weren’t a total waste. I wish I could say the same thing about my Catholic confirmation classes.
Change Wisconsin to Texas, Bob Dylan to Woody Guthrie, and Lutheran to Church of Christ and I could have been the one writing this story.
Why I am an atheist — Frank Lovell
I was raised as a Bible-believing Christian. But then one day I decided to try reading the Bible the way I’d read any OTHER book. Doing that was sufficiently unnerving as to drive me to reading other books, and I soon discovered that there were LOTS of other books that made genuine GOOD sense to me. Within a couple of years, I was utterly free of any belief in an existential supernatural creator God. Been an atheist now for the last nearly 50 years, and honestly, I think I’m gonna like it.
Sounds like Lake Wobegon. Take that Garisson Keiller!
Is it true that Bob Dylan has become one of those “Born Again” whatevers, or is it just a disgusting rumor? I would really like to know for sure.
Jimbo, you are about three decades late for Dylan’s born again period. Do try to keep up.
Janine,
But is he still???
He has not made any albums like Slow Train Coming or Saved, he does not witness to his audience while in concert and he had an audience with the pope a couple of years ago. While he probably is still a believer, he has not acted like he did during his born again period.
As for what he really thinks, join the rest of humanity. No one knows and Dylan works hard to keep it that way.
You think I’m not human?
Yes, jimbo. I think that you are a crustacean who lives next to a volcanic heat vent that somehow got online.
You don’t have to be rude. I’m only asking a question.
Jimbo, I was not being rude. I was teasing you for not understanding a common phrase, “join the rest of humanity”. All that was meant is that Dylan is famously inscrutable. He has worked hard over the last half century to maintain that image.
Randay:
I don’t remember being traumatized in learning that there was no Santa Claus
either, though I firmly believed in him, and I had evidence: he gave me
presents every year. From God I got zilch.
If I had to pick between Santa and god to believe in, it’s Santa all the way. For the exact reason you list.
jimbo:
That is not at all what Janine was implying. Look at it as 2 checkout lines at a supermarket. Both lines are comprised of humans. One line has long been perplexed by Bob Dylan’s born again period. The other line has largely been ignorant of his conversion several decades ago. Janine is in the former line, you are in the latter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_dylan#Born-again_period
Janine and Tony,
In a 2006 recording “Thunder on the Mountain” he says “One sweet day I’ll stand beside my king”.
what do you think that means?
And jimbo, I will repeat myself; it seems that Dylan is a religious believer. But, also, he does not engage in the same behavior that he did when he was a born again evangelical three decades before. Nor does he make evangelical albums like he did during that time.
Janine,
Sorry if my questions are hard, but Dylan was always a real hero to me.
But I watched a 2006 Martin Scorcese documentary “No Direction Home”, and it made me really wonder about his motives for his early music since he seemed to POO POO all that it was about. Like it was all for just the fame of it. Have you seen it?
If Dylan was always such a hero to you, why were you unaware of his born again period? Seems to me that you hero was a construct and you are upset that the person does not match up to your myth.
While I count Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Saddle as among my favorite album, I never felt much attraction to neither the man nor the myth.
And even if he told us no one would understand it
Bob Dylan being mean to the scene that spawned him? I am so fucking surprised. Or I would be if I never heard Positively 4th Street.
N°18 “We Are Ing The Matrimonial Collective” – “And even if he told us no one would understand it”
That is so true. I saw a documentary about Dylan and there was an interview with Joan Baez where she said that she prided herself on being able to understand people, but she said that she never understood Dylan.
I am rather fond of “Highway 61 Revisited” and perhaps my favorite “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”. If you can find it, get the reggae versions of some of his songs on the CD “Is it Rolling Bob”. Different Jamaican singers do their remarkable covers.
There is a beautiful interpretation of “Don’t Think Twice” by a woman, JC Lodge
Janine,
Thanks for
“Seems to me that your hero was a construct and you are upset that the person does not match up to your myth”.
I believe you’re right. Dense I can be at times, but in those situations if I don’t ask I just won’t know.
By the way Positively 4th St. never made any sense to me. Who was he supposed to be talking to?
Thanks Randay; the present-based evidence for Santa Claus is an interesting point, and one that challenges scientists every day–for though there may be some form of evidence to support your hypothesis, not all evidence is genuine, or genuinely related. Especially when the evidence is wonderful baubles that magically appear just for you.