JUNE 25, 2022 – (Cont.) “From these principles flow countless acts of mercy and charitable initiatives that genuinely improve the human condition. As critical as I might be of religion for all of the evil done in its name, I’m not prepared to condemn religion wholesale.
“Plus some of humankind’s most beautiful art, music, architecture, and literature have been inspired by religion. Remember the Bach I played for you?
“Those sound waves?”
“Yes, the sound waves—particularly the ones comprised by the alto aria, Erbarme dich,mein Gott, from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. But to the human heart, the strains of that music—inspired by Bach’s religion—are more than mere sound waves.” The alien’s interpretation of music as sound waves still annoyed me, but as I stirred my lemonade, I thought better of the matter. By its implicit reference to the scientific, mathematical qualities of sound waves, hadn’t the alien highlighted humankind’s cosmically rare, if not unique, nature with respect to aesthetic inspiration? I decided to declare a silent victory and move on.
“I’d love to guide you to some of the world’s great mosques, synagogues, and cathedrals,” I said. “Throughout Europe and the Middle East, you’ll find some of humanity’s greatest architecture—all of it inspired by religion.
“Then there’s the foundational scripture of each of the major religions, much of which scripture qualifies as beautiful literature, irrespective of the reader’s or listener’s subscription to the religion and belief systems built upon that scripture.
“And if you have time . . . oh, what am I talking about? Of course you have time—ironically, because you don’t understand time the same way we do; you exist outside of time.” I took a bite of a cookie—I’d forgotten I’d brought a plateful of them out onto the porch—and continued. “What I was going to say is that you should visit some of our world’s great art museums—the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, the Vatican Museum—in the Vatican—the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, just to name few—and see how much visual art has been inspired by religion, and that’s before you enter any of the mosques, synagogues, and churches adorned with artistic masterpieces—all inspired by good ol’ human religion.”
It then occurred to me—if great music came across as sound waves to the alien, how would great sculptures and paintings be perceived by this cluster of blinking filaments sitting atop the porch table?
“Honestly,” I continued, “I can’t imagine how drab civilization would be without the magnificent works inspired by religion—though I’m not sure what you’d think of great visual art and architecture; whether you’d have any frame of reference for apprehending and assessing it.”
“Perhaps I can answer that,” said the alien, “once I see examples of what you’re talking about. Maybe you could lead me on a tour?”
“I’d love to do that, but I’m afraid you’d find my constraints rather frustrating. I’d have to travel by conventional means devised by humans, whereas you, clearly, have mastered the laws of physics to a degree that few humans can imagine and none can achieve. But actually, maybe you’d get a kick out of how we move ourselves from point A to point B on this planet of ours.” (Cont.)
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© 2022 by Eric Nilsson
