God and Art

This post is going to be far less eloquent than a post entitled "God and Art" should be. It is rambling but I hope to reach some sort of conclusion by stream-of-consciousness thought on this matter, so bear with me.

Throughout history, art and religion have crossed paths - a lot. It's been a love-hate relationship. In every music history class we learn how music was extolled as having healing properties in ancient Greece, banished as the work of the devil during the Dark Ages, and then brought back in the Renaissance and Reformation. Luther thought it was the best way to convey religious ideas to children. Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, and every other fantastic composer in history have written liturgical music. Almost every religion in the world employs the arts in some form.

Many opera singers start off singing in a religious choir. I sang in synagogue choir from 6th grade on. Judaism has a rich history in music, but it is one that a lot of American non-Jews seem unaware of, while Jewish musicians are schooled in the history of Christian music for as long as they are in a music history class. A lot of the people in my conservatory class were "discovered" when they began singing in church. Classical music itself seems to many people like a wholesome art form that wholesome people practice. And it's true, there are quite a few people in the opera world who value a God in their lives.

BUT

There is another side to the arts. One that has had religious persona insisting for years that music leads to dancing, dancing leads to sex, and sex leads to hell. While I have many friends in this business who value having religion in their lives, I have just as many who reject it. There's something about creating a character or interpreting a song that is deeply personal and sometimes lonely...it makes me simultaneously doubt and confirm that God exists. It seems to push every artist to one extreme or the other.

The basis for the thoughts that inspired this post was the show I did this weekend. I just finished the show with a company that is based in "Christian fellowship through theater." This is where religion starts to seem as though it is forcing itself upon the arts, instead of the art enhancing the religion. Before every rehearsal or show, we had to pray. In a Catholic manner. No sensitivity or regard for other's religions. Apparently Jesus was the only way to transcend that company's love of theater. Not that this isn't ALLOWED to happen - it's a free country and a private theater company. They also accepted and cast me despite the fact that I am not Christian. But it seemed sneaky to bill the show to the public as one thing and then have a religious agenda that was forced upon the cast. It was a learning experience, to say the least. I know I am overly sensitive to my perception of the public's insensitivity to religious diversity. Especially in the midwest. I don't know what about the experience made me so indignant, but I feel as though religion is so intensely personal, and to foist it upon a cast who might have disagreed with the ideals goes completely against what art should promote.