As one of the newest interns at Tikkun I was pretty eager to prove my dedication to the magazine as we were nearing our print deadline, so I was a little more than irritated when my boyfriend asked me to take off to attend LovEvolution with him in San Francisco last Saturday. “I don’t think they’d appreciate it if I took off to go to a rave,” I said with a little more than a hint of impatience.
“Erin, it’s not just a rave. It’s LovEvolution!” He proceeded to explain how, for the nonreligious like himself, festivals like LovEvolution are the closest he ever gets to an opportunity for congregationalism. Now I’ll admit, I was skeptical, but come on. Techno music, drug use, and half-naked girls in furry boots are a far cry from the congregationalism I experienced in small, country Methodist churches in rural Maryland. “You just wanna party.” But trying to be open-minded and supportive, I agreed to go. Let me just say, I was not prepared.
Roughly 100,000 people rolled into San Francisco’s Civic Plaza for the festival, originally adapted from Berlin’s Love Parade. LovEvolution (formerly known as Lovefest) is a parade that features electronic DJs from around the world and provides an opportunity for people of all ages to enjoy an atmosphere of community, music, and dance for the country’s largest day rave. It was more than a little overwhelming for someone who’s never been to a rave, but as it turns out, it is very much a form of congregationalism … just replace all those old church ladies with twenty-somethings in body paint.
Like Woodstock and Burning Man and so many other music festivals around the world drug use and drunkenness run rampant, but LovEvolution is more than just an excuse for debauchery. Behind the scantily clad raver chicks and beer-guzzling frat boys stands a genuine desire to build a community, however temporary, based on a common respect for humanity. Even for someone like me who chooses to abstain from drugs like ecstasy, the raver drug of choice, you can’t help but feel connected to the thousands of others in attendance. Ravers stand shoulder-to-shoulder attempting to dance, or drink, or get to the next stage, but there’s no animosity when someone bumps into your arm and spills your drink¾only apologies, and hugs, and more than a few exclamations of “I love you, man.”
The congregation that is LovEvolution is a chance for individuals from all walks of life to be a part of something bigger than themselves¾to be something other than ordinary. As DJs spin their most popular tracks, members of the audience rejoice in dance and song as one, in the same way that a religious congregation rejoices in singing praises to their higher power. In both cases we are free to lose ourselves in something that seems so much better, so much more beautiful than we could ever be on our own. How is that not like church? Do we, as religious communities, not run to our congregations to feel a part of something? To seek comfort in the love of our brothers and sisters?
In both forms of congregationalism there is the opportunity to shed our skin as ordinary people and don the costume of something extraordinary. There’s no shortage of people in outrageous outfits at LovEvolution (just check out the pictures). Like any rave, dressing up is a large part of the fun, but it is also a way to help us step out of our routines and let go of what is normal. In business suits we are confined to our roles as upstanding citizens of mainstream society, but dressed as pink rabbits and fairies we are free to hug strangers and scale streetlights. Within a church context, Christians are allowed to let go of their identities as mail clerks and financial analysts and simply be children of God. In both cases, being part of a group means being able to say that we are not of this world and the rules of this world do not apply to us. It is escapism, but it is escapism from the self into the community. And it is an opportunity to have this feeling of community with no prerequisites.
As unifying as religion, or culture, or nationality can be, it can also be terribly divisive. As a cultural Christian I have had so many opportunities to engage in a congregation with other Christians and experience the joys of being a part of such a community¾of letting go of this world and being a part of something better, but what if that’s not enough? How many opportunities do I have to connect with all of my fellow human beings simply because we have our humanity in common? In every country, in every culture, there are such celebrations that grant the opportunity to celebrate being together, but what I find so refreshing about LovEvolution is how inclusive the festival is. We are not celebrating a holiday, or a common heritage, or a particular theology. We simply proclaim that we love, and we ask to be loved in return.
Everyone loves an excuse for a party, but we don’t always need an excuse. LovEvolution is proof that wanting to be together should be more than enough to bring us together as a community and a congregation.
So yes, Sergey, you were right.
Check out this post at www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/
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