Heaven or Las Vegas – Part II

So, back to Sin City. I promise this is the last posting with this particular geographic focus.

Buildings in Vegas

Another thing that always strikes me in Las Vegas is how much effort has been put into the grand architecture and how unmoving it all actually is. Sometimes I imagine it is because much of them are fake reproductions other things – and of course – no one likes a fake – even if it is kind of nice. The Italian semiologist and author Umberto Eco (In the Name of the Rose) had a lot to say on these created realities in his classic Travels in Hyperreality. I won’t get that deep here. Rather, let me just drag out a couple more of my horrible picture phone shots of the Fake Eiffel Tower and the Belagio Fountain thing (to be fair the Belagio Fountain thing actually IS kind of cool…). I took these a couple of weeks ago.

Form and Spirit

I think the uninspiring nature of these edifices also has something to do with the concept of form and spirit. Generally form and spirit need to come together for something to be spectacular – these qualities are inextricably linked. When one stands before Niagra Falls – there is something that moves you – the form is breathtaking white water – the spirit is the sheer power of the natural world. The real Eiffel Tower, for example, is animated by it’s history as a World Exposition project and a tribute to the French Revolution. Fake Eiffel Tower is a casino. More on that later.

Religion and Architecture

I have always been sort of into the architecture of Catholic Churches around the world. When I was about 10 years old I was lucky enough to travel throughout Italy with my family- and always stood in wonder that people could conceive of and build these awesome structures – esp given the construction technology of the time. This interest started in Venice and took me through Rome and Naples etc. Once I grew older I took side trips in places like Romania, Prague, France and Germany to check out churches at every chance. The famous Gothic Church in Milan and the Cologne Cathedral of Germany are amongst the most astounding things I’ve ever seen.

The Catholic Church does not corner the market on remarkable architecture inspired by religion. The Taj Mahal, the Pryamids, Machu Pichu, Dome of the Rock – pretty much any amazing old structure one can think of was most likely inspired by religion. There is a reason for this.

Aesthetics and Change

The architects of these sacred spaces understood their ability to move people and to effect change in them. When one enters a really large church with religious symbols and semiotic messages all around – you cannot help but feel small – and that there is a greater power at work in the world. The ability of churches to move people is just one example of the power of aesthetics. Music, art, film – these all hold in their posession the ability to affect change in us. For example if you watch the Last King of Scotland and Hotel Rwanda in a sitting – your perception of Africa will be forever changed. You might be moved to travel there. You might be moved to start a charity for refugees. Something will change in your mind and possibly in your actions.

Aeshetics and Inspiration

I think the change they are going for in the large churches, mosques and temples is inspirational/transformative change. Deepening of Faith. Willingness to give yourself over to something larger. Etc. And I am sure it generally worked. Another classic example of this sort of motivation are the military bands that used to accompany soldiers into battle. How else do you get otherwise smart folks to march to their demise – inspire them along the way. I actually never got this concept until I started working out to Rage Against the Machine and Paul Van Dyk and my workouts became much more intense. Beats loungey house hands down.

Heaven or Las Vegas?

The casino owners/developers in Las Vegas understand the change aesthetics can create just as well as the builders of the great Gothic churches of the 1400s. The buildings are a siren calling you to part with your money for $9 vodkas and $1,000 bets. Put people in lavish surroundings and they might even start to feel wealthy. Why not double down one more time ? Make people feel rich and they will act like it (i.e. spend at will). That is the secret to the Wynn and all the rest.

And it seems to be working. I was astounded to see Wynn following up his triumph of a couple of years ago with a new hotel called Encore – it’s almost complete. These buildings don’t build themselves – somewhere in here is a powerful business model. And a good part of it is aesthetics – something Vegas does well.

But when I stand back from the buildings – I’m still not excited, and something feels fishy – they don’t move me. That’s probably a good thing because if they did – I’d most likely be doubling down…

I hope that one of the brothers here will take up this theme in some new direction – as there much more to explore and this post has gone on long enough. Maybe in the area of music?

Heaven or Las Vegas – Part I

While this blog was getting up and running I was in Las Vegas for a week long tech industry event. It made me want to post something Vegas related – as sordid as that sounds. After being in that town for a week I decided that 2 days (when someone else is paying) can be fun, 3 days is too many, and 5 days is intolerable. I digress.

The Jubilee

Of the many outrageous signs and displays I witnessed – one struck me as particularly hilarious. A friend of mine uses the the word Jubilee often when referring to celebretory events. He is riffing on the traditional Biblical definition of the Jubilee which is defined here:

The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.

In humorous contrast, the sign for Jubilee in Las Vegas displays the word juxtaposed with a picture of a woman’s backside. My camera phone does this image no justice – but use your imagination – it’s probably better that it’s blurry:

The description of this spectacle is as follows:

The showgirl is synonymous with Las Vegas and there’s no show in town that glorifies showgirls quite like Jubilee! at Bally’s. It’s obvious from the opening song about “Hundreds of Girls” that this show is going to be all about the statuesque, sequined beauties. While there aren’t quite hundreds of girls in the show, there are about 85 performers — both topless and covered.

Why are you talking about showgirls in Vegas?

The contrast between these two reminded me of a fairly profound concept that was conveyed to me in a class on spiritual philosophy. It starts with the premise that we are spiritual beings – seeking to obtain spiritual attributes or qualities through a material experience. Whether we are aware or not – our soul seeks this growth – and it is the inherit nature of our soul to do so. Sort of like the absolute nature of fire is to burn – it has no choice.

At the same time – all spiritual qualities or elements have their equal and opposite representation in the material world. Sometimes we become confused – and seek these spiritual attributes through their material counterpart. A pithy example would be to seek the spiritual quality of love through promiscuity. Or to seek communion and meditative state though mind altering elements rather than prayer and meditation. The rub of the situation is our soul will seek this growth – whether we are mindful of it or not – so if we are unaware of our own inherit nature for some kind of growth - we will often screw up and seek the wrong experiences.

And Change?

The Jubilee in Vegas sort of reminds me of a bizarro Christian Jubilee. One is the celebration of sin – the other is about God’s forgiveness and pardon for sin. How does this relate to the concept of change which is at the heart of this ongoing discussion? It seems that if one is seeking to alter the most basic building block of change – the human heart – it would be helpful to look into our own lives to discover where our soul is seeking growth in the wrong place. Are we sifting through dust as a shortcut? The way we orient ourselves – spiritual or material – can effect the way we interact with the world around us. And as we interact with the world – we change it. True and lasting change can never be mandated, managed, ordered or administered. It is difficult and messy because it happens slowly – one soul at a time.

Religious Music

The phrase religious music conjures images of clouds-with-rainbows album covers and reverb-drenched synthesizer pads. Well, at least with me it does. Because of this I’ve often shied away from it, preferring instead the less-overt spiritualism contained in the likes of U2. Sufjan Stevens represents a new type of spirituality in music, one that has at its core an authenticity consistent with the times. What’s sad is that it appears that the commercial viability of authenticity in this arena may have a commercial cost; that’s the perception anyway:

“So Stevens apparently believes the ”Christian artist“ stamp is a deal breaker. Likewise his publicist, who reminded me that ”Sufjan has asked that the topic of religion not be discussed in interviews from this point on.“ (Hmm. Does Kanye West feel the same?) But beyond railing at his own reception, Stevens, a trained oboist, also bemoans the decline of popular music and struggles to mediate the gap he sees between high art and folk.”
- Sylvester, Nick. “Without a Prayer”, The Village Voice, August 8, 2005.

All this pessimism about the state of music that reflects ones spiritual life hasn’t stopped the Dawnbreaker Collective from putting together an eclectic but coherent album which speaks to youth in a musical language they can understand (Arise, 2007). Rather than water the Bahá’í Faith’s message of the promise of world unity, the album brings it to the forefront, combining it top-rate production values that make the message that much more acceptable to those who recognize the modern sounds.

It reminds me of the time I met President Bill Clinton when he visited East Palo Alto. I was standing next to Jamal (last name forgotten) who was sharing the office next to College Track’s. As President Clinton made his way around the room, shaking every hand and introducing himself (“Hi, yes I know, Bill. Nice to meet you.”) he came to Jamal. because of my proximity to the Jamal-Bill meeting I was able to notice that the President gave Jamal what can only be described as a dap shake. You know the one, it starts with a regular handshake and goes through two additional transitions ending in the greeter’s fingers locked at the second metacarpals (how’s that for making something hip less so through description?). The president followed it with: “Hey man, I’m Bill.” Bill Clinton was modifying his delivery based on the recipient, in this case a young adult African American with shoulder-length dreadlocks. This might be interpreted by some as patronizing but on the contrary I believe it showed great cultural sensitivity.

This is all pretty close to home for me as a musician and one who cares deeply about the intersection of faith and the arts. My own explorations have yielded the following rough song which I present for the first time here publicly. Please feel free to use it for your own children’s classes if you find it useful. I offer it under creative Commons licensing.

We Are Drops 2008, Pedraum, Luc and Sophie Pardehpoosh

Are there other artists you know of that have infused their music with spiritual themes without preaching? Do you have a favorite album that has clouds and rainbows on the cover and I’ve offended you with that earlier comment? Tell me so in the comments.

Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois from the album “Illinoise” by Sufjan Stevens

The link between belief and behavior (Case Study: global warming)

CO2 is the exhaling breath of the global economy. Changing this will require an unprecedented and united global effort. Which, in turn, will require a higher level of global consciousness. This is the inevitable direction we’re heading, and we should be privileged that our generation has the opportunity to achieve it.

That’s my best summary of the message in Al Gore’s new slideshow. The question of how belief and behavior are linked is a central one for this blog, and we’ll have more to stay on it, and look forward to your comments, in the coming posts. For now, here’s Al:

So how do we go about achieving a new level of global consciousness? In Gore’s 1992 book, he points out various philosophies and Faith movements that could inspire us in this direction, including the Baha’i Faith:

One of the newest of the great universalist religions, Baha’i, founded in 1863 in Persia by Mirza Husayn Ali, warns us not only to properly regard the relationship between humankind and nature but also the one between civilization and the environment. Perhaps because its guiding visions were formed during the period of accelerating industrialism, Baha’i seems to dwell on the spiritual implications of the great transformation to which it bore fresh witness:

“We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life molds the environment and is itself deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.”

And, again, from the Baha’i sacred writings comes this:“Civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.”

What do you see as the role of religion in addressing climate change or other global issues?

Light and Darkness

“Were it not for the cold, how would the heat of Thy words prevail, O Expounder of the worlds?  Were it not for calamity, how would the sun of Thy patience shine, O Light of the worlds?

Thank you Sholeh for the thoughtful questions you raised about maintaining optimism in pessimistic times. It got me thinking about the subject of “Light and Darkness”.

It seems with all forward motion, there is always resistance, and often wherever there is light, there is shadow.

So it is natural in times when the forces of progress are at work for there to also be forces of resistance.

This is one more dimension to this “mental framework” we are trying to test and evolve through this online dialogue.

If we can see many of the depressing events that occur around us as a reaction to the forces of integration that are in fact operating in the world, it should help us to maintain optimism.

This still doesn’t mean any of this will ever be easy. I think about what it took to form the League of Nations and the United Nations — both basically a collective reaction to the two worst wars in human history. And we still haven’t come anywhere near a functioning system of reasonably united world! Gulp.

But then again, if we all collectively threw in the towel, we would still be living in caves, so something must be working somewhere to have gotten us this far, and we can only trust we will ultimately keep going in the right direction