News Walt Disney World will not host any further Night of Joy events

[MisterPenguin]

People stand because it's a liturgical tradition to stand for the singing of the Alleluia which precedes the reading of the Gospel.

If the King George II story is true, then he stood because of that tradition. Not even the most ardent royalist would follow a custom simply because some previous monarch did it once. ("The queen once opened a closet door with her left hand, and so, we all now use our left hand to open closet doors!")

One stands for the Hallelujah, not for some dead potentate whose foot fell asleep that one time.

 

[larryz]

People stand because it's a liturgical tradition to stand for the singing of the Alleluia which precedes the reading of the Gospel.

If the King George II story is true, then he stood because of that tradition. Not even the most ardent royalist would follow a custom simply because some previous monarch did it once. ("The queen once opened a closet door with her left hand, and so, we all now use our left hand to open closet doors!")

One stands for the Hallelujah, not for some dead potentate whose foot fell asleep that one time.

One stands during the Alleluia as a prelude to the Gospel reading during a church service. In this case, it's the finale of a commercially produced celebration that happens to include some biblical readings and Christmas carols (not all of which are religious).

 

[MisterPenguin]

One stands during the Alleluia as a prelude to the Gospel reading during a church service. In this case, it's the finale of a commercially produced celebration that happens to include some biblical readings and Christmas carols (not all of which are religious).

Ummm... you got your facts wrong. The entirety of the narrative is biblical readings, not just 'some.' And all of the songs are religious. All of them.

From beginning to end it is the story of the birth of Jesus proclaimed as the prophecized Messiah and God in the flesh and Savior of humanity, both in spoken narration and sacred song. There's not one Jingle Bell or Rudolph, or song about snow or "that special time of the year." It is unabashedly religious in nature.

 

[larryz]

Ummm... you got your facts wrong. The entirety of the narrative is biblical readings, not just 'some.' And all of the songs are religious. All of them.

Well, I've gone back and reviewed the tape, and you're right. The music is all carols, and the narrative focuses on the Biblical story.

But it's still not a religious service. It's a commercial production.