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this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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I would never suggest doing away with Bach's or any other sacred music or art. They can and should be appreciated in their proper historical context.
I don't think it's at all fair to say we have ended up in a "culturally poor" place. People are still producing all kinds of cultural contributions without religion. If anything, it is capitalism that has commodified culture causing some of the decline we see today.
I agree that capitalism is a big part of the decline. And I am not saying we need to embrace religion to embrace culture, or that lack of religion is the cause of a decline in culture. I am saying that all our cultural heritage, tends to have influences from religion, and that this is not a reason to reject it. You don't have to take the religious elements, just don't throw out the whole thing because a cultural aspect of a practice or an artifact has elements in its history you find unsavory.
Enjoy the music of Bach and you don't even need to care about the "proper historical context." Enjoy Christmas and ignore the Christian elements, if you like, or view then as a quaint part of its rich history (as Christians did the pagan elements). All cultural threads have always changed throughout history as people have adapted them to their current worldviews and needs. Hand-wringing about historical accuracy and taints from aspects of history we don't like is a modern disease.
As to being in a culturally poor place, the difficulty with that discussion is that the word "culture" covers a lot of ground. We are rich with certain types of culture (yes all the kinds that can be sold to us). We are poor in other kinds, particularly kinds that build community. Capitalism favors the short term, the trend of the day, and that which divides us into manipulatable markets.