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Ypsidixit - 2007-10-09 08:58:35 "Originally, the Romans had a temple built to the god Mars on the top of the hill and called it Mons Martius. (Mars Hill). The Christian, Saint Denis met an unhappy end when he was beheaded on the hill top, in front of the temple, for his Christian beliefs in the 3rd century.
"Legend says that he picked up his head and carried it to the bottom of the hill to a spot where he was eventually buried. Christians changed the name to Mont du Martyre or Martyr's Hill." No disrespect intended, surely. Far from it. In fact, I must confess that for years now I've had a case of... (gets up, removes large gold-framed portrait of Richard Dawkins from the wall, takes to front bedroom, covers it in a quilt, shuts the door, scurries back to computer... (whispers) Catholic Envy. It's true. There's so much beauty and history in the Church. And, what I like, is that if you want a structure of moral exemplars who offer a little bite-sized lesson to emulate every day, to better yourself, all you need is your Lives of the Saints books, of which I have the standard and the supplementary versions. You usually get a pretty pat story in those, though--I had to dig around online before I found some juicy details about St. Denis, other than the bland Official Bio. But look at what I learned today. I imagined his dramatic walk off Montmartre, besides learning possible origins of that hill's name. I learned about and saw stunning pictures of France's "royal necropolis," and learned of his importance in French history. I even learned, which I didn't put here, that St. Denis's head was preserved as a relic until the French Revolution! At which time it was chopped into flinders, regrettably.
Atheism's history is as long as the Church's, but less beautiful and mesmerizing. And, though I've looked, there is no "Atheist Of The Day," like the "Saint of the Day" email thing I subscribe to. It wouldn't be as fun, anyways. It's silly to discard the fundamental role the Church has made in Western thought and all the history to be learned from something as simple as SOTD. I won't ever believe the Church's main-dish tenets, but I think there's enough room at its very old and venerable table so that even I can sneak a few hors d'oeuvres off the side.
As a bonus, one of the reviews mentioned Robert Ellsberg's "All Saints," which also looks good, in a different way.
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