"Let It Go" – A Humanist’s Perspective

I don’t have children and so I only have heard “Let It Go”, from the movie “Frozen”, one time – when I saw the movie when it first came out.  However I have heard that others, especially parents, have heard the song so many times that they are actually sick of it.  I read an article the other day that the producer of the movie actually felt the need to apologize for the success of the song to the point where it has gone far beyond the amount of appreciable saturation by the normal adult.

So I decided I should view the lyrics of the song.  I was surprised when I read them that they seemed to describe my experience at coming out from my strong religious background and proclaim myself a Humanist.  For those who have only heard the song, and haven’t dwelt on the words, here are the words to the song.  After these lyrics, I will explain how they parallel my experiences.

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

Not a footprint to be seen.

A kingdom of isolation,
and it looks like I'm the Queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in;
Heaven knows I've tried

Don't let them in,

don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel,
don't let them know
Well now they know

Let it go, let it go

Can't hold it back anymore

Let it go, let it go

Turn away and slam the door
I don't care
what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway

It's funny how some distance

Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can't get to me at all

It's time to see what I can do

To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,
I'm free!

Let it go, let it go

I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You'll never see me cry
Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage on

My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past

Let it go, let it go

And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on

The cold never bothered me anyway!"

I was always told to be the “good boy”, and my church told me what behaviors would label me as such.  I was told to “conceal, don’t feel” and to be dishonest in my feelings, and especially my doubts.  I was told not to let them, the church and Bible College, know of my doubts. 

Then I decided to let it go.  I turned away from my religion and slammed the door behind me.  I no longer cared what they said about me or to me.  I didn’t mind their cold, icy responses. 

After a while, looking back, it is funny how small those once-big things, like salvation, and Scripture memorizations and regurgitations, seemed once I was looking at them from a more proper prospective.  The fears of Hell, and judgments beyond my death that once controlled me, no longer bother me at all. 

It’s time to see what I can do without the restrictions of religion – to test the limits of my own development .  No one outside of me telling me what is right, or what is wrong, and without the need to follow particular rules for my behavior.  By my living according to my own values of developing all that it means to be human both in myself and in others, I will be much better than I was obeying someone else’s rules.  That is freedom for me.

Let it go, let it go.  I am one with the wind, and sky, and earth, and other humans and all beings that are a part of this evolutionary parade.  You won’t see me cry – even if I am pushed to my limits.  Here I will stand and will stay as the religious ones create such a storm around me. 

“One thought crystallizes like an icy blast/I’m never going back, the past is past.” 

By freeing myself of my religious past, I will rise like the break of dawn as the “good boy” is gone.  My goodness is no longer an adjective – it is a noun.  I am now goodness because I am doing good for others, not for my reward in some heaven. 

Here I stand in the light of day and in the light of reason.  I’m letting the beliefs in the supernatural go.  Let the storm of the supernaturalists rage on.  Their bluster doesn’t bother me now. 

After reviewing the words to “Let It Go”, I came up with this observation:  One of the best things about Humanism is when one finds the precepts of Humanism being promoted not from the bowels of the Humanism community, but from the thoughts and feelings of humans themselves. 

David Kimball