Music in Religion

I think another element that is intertwined with Culture and religion is Music. It’s curious that the first book that the Puritans would publish in the new world was a book of hymns. There must be a reason behind this. I think, given that the Puritans were in a new world surrounded by strange people they relied on song as a method of uniting the community. This is a custom that is found in many religions. For example many Native Americans had songs for tribal activities. In Washington native tribes still go on canoe trips for hundreds of miles and sing tribal songs.  

What could possibly be the practical purpose behind song in religion? I would argue song serves as a more interesting medium to tell stories. Song sounds better to the human brain than simply reading a story. It also requires greater attention to write a story in the form of a song. For a religious person they might feel that a song does more praise toward their cause because it is easier to memorize and recite.

On a deeper level having a group organized and singing in harmony is a powerful thing. The song may be sending a message with physical words but it is also sending a message by having everyone in harmony. The harmony it’s self is symbolic of religion. This harmony has a way of lifting the heart. It makes ones condition seem a little more bearable. It makes sense that the Protestants would find the value of this music because their condition was so difficult.

Psalms

Psalms get interpreted differently as they change social context. The largest difference between the Psalms in the Bay book and the Psalms in Alter’s book is the tone. The Bay Psalm book is much more rhythmic and forcing in some senses it seems like the authors pay more attention to tone than trying to replicate an accurate version of the Psalms. This makes sense because the puritans were attempting to apply the text to their circumstances. 

For example in passage 6 the Bay psalm book uses the word annoynted instead of Alter’s appointed. Biblically anointed has more of the connotation of bringing in God and making God personal. The ancient ritual of anointing involved rubbing oil on ones-self to bring god in. This line makes it seem like as an individual the Protestants wanted to welcome in the King who in their case is God instead of simply appointing a king as it states in Alter’s version. I think it is important that Alter didn’t capitalize the word king while the Bay book did. This makes me think that Alter is talking about a king while the Bay book is talking about God.

Psalm 31: I thought it was interesting that the Bay of Psalms book it said, “god give me the liberty to stand”. In Alter’s version it simply says, “you let me stand”. The Protestants added on the whole concept of liberty. I think this is due to the shift in social context. Protestants were in a situation where they now had liberties to worship. In Britain Protestants wanted the liberty to practice their beliefs. This is why they left and now in the Bay book this line serves to thank God for that liberty.

I think it is interesting to look at how the Protestants adapted the book of Psalms to fit their religion and culture. For the Protestants this book must have played a large role in society because they did not have many books and it was one of the first books they printed. It makes sense that the Bay book would be more strongly worded than Alter’s book because the bay book was used for worship, while Alter’s book is used for scholarly study.  

Can Religion Save a Life?

Anthropologists seem to be very concerned about where to find religion. For example in the text Indian Mounds of Wisconsin By Birmingham and Eisenberg anthropologists were looking to the Indian mounds to find how the natives worshiped. I think this is just a small part of religion. We may never know the depth of the Ancient Indians religion but we can assume that it went beyond effigy mounds and influenced other parts of their life. This is a pattern that we can see in modern religion. I would like to examine how religion goes beyond simply preying on Sundays and at meals. Religion plays a vital role in daily life even in modern times. Religion helps us recover from the unexpected tragedies that can occur at a moments notice.

I have never been a very religious person. Religion to me as always appeared as an abstraction of various thoughts pulled from different beliefs. For example I do believe in a higher power. I do believe we must go somewhere after we die but I attempt not to concern myself too much with where. I try to focus on the present moment. When I took World Religions last year in highschool I found that many of my beliefs were mixed between Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, and many other religions. This summer something happened that really pulled spirituality together for me. It made me discover that religion is not about individual beliefs it’s about the community. It’s about trust and hope, blindly believing in something and being certain about it.

August 8^th started out like any other day in Seattle. I was on my way to the gym, but something was wrong. I could feel an imbalance. As I got out of the car a high school classmate asked me if I had heard anything about the car accident last night on West Port Madison road. I told them I hadn’t and at that instant my phone rang and my mom explained to me that my best friend had been in a car accident and was in ICU unit at Harbor View hospital. The EMT’s thought he was dead at the scene of the crash but they life-flighted him anyways. I couldn’t believe it. I had seen him the night before perfectly healthy. He was supposed to leave for University Colorado Boulder in 3 days.

I was aghast. Word quickly spread around the community. Thousands of people came together and posted on his facebook wall telling him to “believe” or “stay strong”. Hundreds of people came out to the high school football field. We sang his favorite songs, told stories about him, and preyed he survive. The community despite varying beliefs was able to come together and believe as one. This is what religion is supposed to truly represent, people putting aside their differences and finding commonalties. We all wanted Jackson to survive, and heal. We preyed to a power above because it was out of control.

Jackson was in a coma for 21 days. I had to leave for college with the figure of him in a hospital bed superimposed in my head. I preyed for him ever day, as did tens of thousands of people in the community and friends at various other colleges. Jackson’s story is an ongoing a tale of recovery and believing. Although he is out of his coma he still needs to relearn how to walk, talk, and even eating is hard. But his humor and memory are still there, as is the community who supported and believed all along. I don’t want to say the community saved Jackson, but deep down I know the words I whispered to him at his bedside, and the prayers of the community helped in some way.  

Do We See Nature Like it Used to be Seen?

While there is no conclusive evidence for what the effigy mounds represent, or even that they represent anything. I would like to believe that the effigy mounds of Wisconsin are there to preserve the human connection to the natural world. Often in modern society humans believe they are out of the confines of nature. We are buried in caskets, travel in cars, and prey indoors. Most humans are very disconnected with nature. Effigy mounds represent a different time. They represent a time when humans wanted to live in harmony with nature instead of trying to control it.

Building effigy mounds could have been the peoples attempt to worship by working with nature. They created sacred mounds in a sacred way. Effegy mounds seem reminiscent of the way caves were painted by the Upper Paleolithic people. Not only was it a sacred object but the act of making them could have been considered sacred also.

             I admire the possibility that was suggested in the reading that “physical modeling of an orderly universe, the effigy mound people sought to call on the power of their spirit being to restore harmony to a quickly changing world” (Birmingham, 141). It represents how humans called on nature to help them instead of paving over nature. The effigy worked with nature. In there appearance from the ground they almost blend into the natural surroundings. But seen from above some effigy mounds come to life and take the shape of an animal. To me this reflects what most people can’t see in nature. If one looks quickly from one perspective it is easy to take nature for granted. But if one pauses and gains a new perspective they can take in their surroundings and truly appreciate the beauty of our natural world. I like to think that these effigy mounds were a tribute to nature and the beauty it contains.   


Image from: Ancient? Mysterious? Exploring the effigy mounds of Governor Nelson state park By Siegfried Spelter 

What Religion Should Be

People should learn to find the joy in religion. I think religion should be as Tom Cruise said “ a blast”. Emotions play a large role in religion and belief. “If your emotions are involved then that’s the time when you’re more likely to believe whatever the religion tells you.” Said Atran in the article Why Do We Believe?

It is easy to get confused emotions regarding religion, instead of fun one might be led by passion. This is dangerous because passion is a strong emotion and it is hard to control. Passion can easily ignite arguments. Religion is such a personal issue that intense passion can be taken as an attack on ones character.

Passion is the root emotion that drives people to force their religion on others. If people look for the enjoyment in religion it would be easier to control their emotions. Religion should be a personal quest. If people in a community focus on making themselves more upstanding the whole community will witness improvements. Religion should be about individuals improving themselves instead of trying to improve others through religion. When we passionately pursue forcing religion on others we lose sight of the sense of fun and calm that is supposed to come with religion.

It’s more helpful to let people figure out what God means to them than to force someone into a religious sect. If you teach a man the founding principles of religion he may discover god and religion on his own and be happy. However, if you give a man a religion it may not be a good fit for him he may object and it creates conflict and suffering.

Religion should be more than what someone was baptized. It should have personal meaning. Religion should enforce moral standards, be purposeful, and personal. Above all religion needs to be something that is fun and brings us comfort. 

Preach Tolerance

Why do we still believe in a higher power when such atrocities have been committed in His name?  I agree with Sam Harris who in his video Why We Should Ditch Religion said “We should be talking about real problems like nuclear proliferation, genocide, and poverty… and that’s not at the center of our moral concern” Watching these issues evolve over the years is frustrating. While people ignore human suffering they debate over issues of differing religion that have no answer. However, We don’t need to ditch religion.

Religion could be the glue that holds people together instead of tearing society apart. Robin Marantz Henig said in his article Why Do We Believe “92 percent of respondents believe in a personal god… with a distinct set of character traits” It would be unrealistic to ask people to ignore these feelings. I agree with the common sentiment that our brains are wired to believe. I disagree that we should try to force our beliefs onto others. People must respect different interpretations of spirituality.

People look to believe in a perfect world like heaven or an omniscient being such as God, simply because they want someone who can understand them. It may also be an evolutionary trait to bring humans together to survive. No matter what the personal reason “there seems an inherent human drive to believe in something”- (Robin Marantz Henig Why Do We Believe). Because one person believes in something does not mean they are right or wrong, it’s simply a belief. Religious beliefs can be widely different but all should be respected.

            If humans were able to find an alternative way of thinking about religion the world would be a much better place. People should understand that we need to deal with the answerable questions here on earth, for example poverty, genocide, and global warming all require immediate attention. Proving ones religious belief is unnecessary and impossible. Religions role is to keep people together in a community and hold people to high moral standards. Religion should teach people to show compassion, and resilience in the face of life threatening changes. People can exist coherently with different views as long as each one values tolerance. If tolerance were preached more frequently peoples reactions to other beliefs and values would be much less extreme. A world of tolerant humans would be able to tackle the tough problems of the 21^st centaury head on.