Religion is innately human, similar to the sense of music.
Music is and has been a human language accepted worldwide throughout man’s history. Likewise, religious beliefs are shared global phenomena among humans, each individually serving as distinct identities to his or her cultural heritage and desire for meaning or purpose. The two blend together in the form of religious “instruments” that play the music of a group’s values and beliefs.
Though often claimed as divinely inspired, religions have the clear markings of man’s workmanship.
Using the local materials of a group’s geographical locale, man has fabricated the instruments of religion, producing unique timbres in a world bound by tones.
The variety of instruments throughout the world attest to humanity’s common appeal to a higher being, yet speak to the separate interpretations of God. There exist strange, foreign instruments with new sounds, as well as traditional ones with popular sounds. For example, the guitar and piano can be likened to such religions as Islam and Christianity, while obscure instruments can represent the hundreds of world beliefs that make up man’s religious repertoire.
Take Scientology: It’s basically the kazoo of religions — the few who play it are die-hards, but, to everyone else, it’s little more than a joke. Nonetheless, all instruments have unique histories that represent their geographical and cultural identity.
From these origins there have risen virtuoso composers who are acclaimed to be the leaders of their respective genres. Mozart, Beethoven and Bach are fathers of their genres as Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha are to their followers. Their works and compositions have garnered pious followers who relentlessly strive to replicate their wonder and spread their work to other listeners.
Yet, musical perfection can never be achieved by man — and can be arguably stated that the original fathers were masterful yet imperfect as well. Religion is a tough practice requiring rigorous training in becoming masterful, though inevitably never reaching perfection.
Religion is an art much the same as music is. It can be formerly taught in the classical form or it can be simply learned from the interpreted tones alone. The style and composition are subjective, which are freely expressed by believers of their art.
The frustration arises when insolence is preached from the mouths of people on street corners and destruction carried out by others. Many believe their religious instruments to be superior to others’, as if their music were the one and only true music. What they fail to realize is that what sounds cacophonous to one, might be a heavenly tune to another; one that they feel resonates with the rhythm of their own life.
For it’s the sounds produced from an instrument that speak to one’s beliefs. It’s an expression of an individual’s desire for meaning, communicating more than the spoken word. Thus, one should stop talking about his or her respective instrument, and let the music speak for itself.
Andrew is a construction major. He can be reached at andrew.rowen@asu.edu.
