Reviewing Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Part Two

In the previous post I review a Cleveland Orchestra performance of Belshazzar’s Feast. The Orchestra, the Chorus, the conductor were all wonderful. The music wasn’t bad, but nothing notable.

The words were the problem. They have legitimacy in our society because they come from a revered source, the bible. But they were telling a story that justified violence against those who had different beliefs than the story tellers.

There are people in the world today who claim than being sensitive to the feelings of others is “woke” and too politically correct. However, my review was written on the same day that these news items appeared.

A 23 year old woman is taken away at gunpoint from her home in West Gaza. It was midnight. She was asleep. Her elderly parents were forced to be silent and not say goodbye. The soldiers told them that, as soldiers, they could get away with anything as they were at war.

The same words were spoken in World War II against their own ethnic group 80 years ago.

China is arming Russia in its obliteration of Ukraine. And Ukraine is overwhelmed with missile attacks even as its energy infrastructure is being destroyed.

These same scenarios have been acted out before. In all cases, brutal wars are the result.

It’s world events like these that do not give me an optimistic feeling for the future. And it’s why we must search out and eliminate all sources of hate whenever and wherever it appears. Even in music.

Belshazzar’s Feast, a review

I enjoyed a performance of William Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast.” This was a few nights ago, by the Cleveland Orchestra.

• Choir performance – spectacular
• Baritone performance – fantastic
• Orchestra performance – their usual excellence
• Conductor performance – exuberant and joyful, and exacting
• Music itself – Most of the time it seemed more like the soundtrack to a Western movie.
• Words – Here, my appreciation plummets. Details below.

The words were are from the bible. This book of books is the basis of a particular ethnic group’s mythology. The story in Walton’s Feast tells of events that justify violence against others. The Babylonians are being punished because they stole items from a Zion temple. And their gods are being beaten by a better god.

The story throws shade on the Babylonians by making fun of their pantheism. The story says Babylonians have a god of gold, a god of silver, and others. In fact, Babylon’s mythology was both more complex and well constructed.

The story references Egyptian mythology. Egyptian faith is the foundation for many biblical beliefs, without credit. Here’s one example. The story mentions weighing the king’s deeds “in the balance” to see if he gets into heaven. This is a an Egyptian standard for determining the judgment of souls.

Worst of all, this story is relevant to the violence going on in Palestine today, 2024. (Please see my part two post for more.) This story justifies violence against those who are different. And it’s common to hear this from those doing most of the killing.

Pass on Walton’s piece if you come across it. If necessary, listen to it without words. Best of all, spurn all religious based story telling that’s used to denigrate others. Especially if it is justifying violence. There are many other better stories for our enjoyment.

Young Women by any other name

I’m a sensitive sort of guy, in an awkward, macho way.

I now appreciate how much society suppresses, even hates, women. Especially young women.

For this I have to thank the #MeToo movement and Jane Austen.

Proof? Exhibit One. Our language has many names for young women. Not so many for young men.

There must be something that frightens men about a young woman.

Her sexual power over men? The fact that she’s able to create life?

There’s a hint of this hate in the very structure of our language.

In a news article there’s a story of rich men who hire “escorts” and “prostitutes” for selfish reasons.

The reporter might let it slip that these escorts and prostitutes range in age from 16 to 20.

Why aren’t they reported as young women?

I don’t know.

I present this list to you as evidence.

And until our society treats all these young women with respect, I fear for the future.

And here we go: (alphabetized)

• arm candy
• au pair
• ballerina
• bitch
• bride
• cheerleader
• chick
• co-ed
• damsel
• delicate flower
• doll (and all its variants: doll baby, baby doll, et cetera.)
• escort
• eye candy
• flirt
• floozy
• gold digger
• hostess
• jail bait
• lady of the night
• maid (cleaning)
• maid (not cleaning)
• maiden
• missy
• mistress
• moll (old term referring to a gangster’s girl)
• muse
• playboy+ (model, centerfold)
• princess
• prostitute
• sex kitten
• side piece (or “piece on the side”)
• slut
• swimsuit+ (model)
• temptress
• virago (not necessarily young)
• virgin
• whore
• witch

There are more, and I look forward to your comments and suggestions for everything I’ve missed. I’ll update this list as I do so. Thanks. 2023-November-13
Updated 2023-11-14. Granted, many of these can be applied to older women as well, but I’m including those that are ambiguous as to age. Words like “crone” that are specific to older women I’m leaving alone, for now.
Updated 2023-11-15 Few more. Some can be considered more neutral (cheerleader) except that the typical imagery is of a young woman. And words containing “doll” can come in so many variations I’m including only the root. There’s 32 items today.
Updated 2023-11-16 Few new ones. Candy as a root may have more than eye- and arm- but I’ll stop there. I’m also excluding words that are overwhelmingly negative. Bitch used to be such a word, but has acquired a more “tough” aspect in the last few decades.
240117 – added “moll”

Why is there War?

Why is there war? Why do people fight? Why do people hate each other? Will war ever stop? Will we always be at war? Why do people, tribes, nations, society, keep hurting children and women? Why must babies die even though there can be no chance that they have been alive long enough to insult anyone?

These are all excellent questions. These are exactly the kinds of questions every aware child has asked at some time, while they were still innocent of learning how to hate.

The Modern War Institute has ideas as to where there are wars. And so do many others.

I’m going to offer the simplest explanation fit for a child. The answer is something all of us already know. It’s the understanding of that answer that is the hardest part.

War is fighting. People fight for resources, like land or water or food.

War becomes most famous when a lot of people fight against a whole lot of other people.

The opposite of War is Peace. It sounds funny, but War can’t happen if Peace doesn’t happen.

Peace can’t happen if War doesn’t happen.

Anytime a person is not at peace, then there is some war. It will be a little bit of war. It might be so small it’s only between two people. It’s still war. The smallest war possible.

Then, when lots of people are not at peace, especially for the same reason, and the people are all similar in some way, then all those people are at war. A few of them become so unhappy that the do something terrible. Something that hurts other people.

At that point, the other side must make a decision. Will they work together to hurt the other people to get back at them? When they do this, it becomes a famous war.

So when a group in the Gaza strip hurt so many people who were having a party, it was because they were already at war at so unhappy that they did something terrible.

Then the other side, the Government of Israel, also had to make a decision. They were also already not at peace. They were already at war. So they decided to hurt the other people. And they still are.

That’s why there is war in the world. Like a fire in the forest, when it gets very big it gets famous. But in order to keep the forest safe, the forest ranger must look for every small fire and put it out quickly.

The same is true for people. If I am at war with my neighbor, it is a small war that should be put out before it grows into a big one.

Someone once said, love thy neighbor as much as you love yourself. So that’s a good place to start. Loving yourself. And your neighbor.

E Pluribus Unum

Out of many, one.

The antics in the White House press room have angered many.

The ejection of CNN’s Jim Acosta has become a lawsuit, one that CNN will most likely win.

But let’s learn something from this.

No matter which side you take, it’s easy to agree that there is one speaker, and many reporters.

When a reporter asks a hard question, and receives an answer that many deem insufficient, what happens?

The speaker moves to another reporter.

Divide and Conquer.

The hard questions never get answered.  The statements are never fully challenged.  The slowly unfolding tragedy that is politics in the USA continues.

United we Stand.  Divided we Fall.

Consider this, those of you in the briefing room.

Choose.  Choose to stand as one.  Or choose to be a mass of competing voices, each of whom goes away unsatisfied, and used.

Choose a single member to become your spokesperson.  Choose them to represent all of you, to ask your questions (submitted beforehand), and to not allow the President or his shills to divide you.

Choose to stand away from the limelight and televised publicity, so that all of us can stand for what is most important.

Choose truth.  Choose dignity.  Choose honor.

Remember.

Choosing not to choose, is also a choice.

Please, choose wisely.  For all of us.