Having read their book a couple of times, I’m not sure their own God would enjoy their architecture very much. Considering we still have a lot of poor people and other issues that they could have been fixing all of these years with their money and time, rather than actively crusading against many of them.
I used to work in churches quite a bit and it’s truly fascinating. The one where i live was build in 1810. It’s pretty impressive, just to think that this is one of the first things they build back then, and how much labour and dangerous work and money and resurces went into it and how much better it could’ve been spend. I know it was a different time and having a clock tower and a place to meet people was probably important.
Going in there now is just odd.
30 years ago i didn’t know a single person who went to church for their beliefs and as for right now, not a single person goes to church, and hasn’t for maybe 10 or 15 years. Even as a 8 year old, i found it hard to believe that people really do believe all that, and going in there now, in the year 2024 it’s insane. They have all these elaborate paintings with these different saints who have all these very specific super powers. A guy is there to find lost sheeps for example. How can you look at it and don’t realise that these were just the first pretty lame avengers.
Historically, Christianity originated in pagan and polytheistic times. I believe saints being associated with this or that specific topic is to give familiarity to new converts from polytheistic faiths. Basically, there’s only one god, but this saintly specialist will put in a good word for you to him on this topic they’re a specialist on.
I agree with you. It is uswful to note church architecture back in its functional roots. It was an institution of knowledge and for some villages the only place to really learn, so it helped stave off fear but also provided a literal safe building before cannons tore down stone walls. It was a symbol and inspired. We have so much art and TV shows and music and games, we are full cups but back than they needed something to inspire and make cohesion in the group. I totally get it both ways, arranging stones in a precise manner might seem like wealth but it’s just people being precise and being well trained in their skilled field. They worked slowly and could take decades. In native American tribes on Mississippi they created a 300foot mound with temples, in Athens they built monuments up high.
I honestly think it’s odd us humans ARENT trying to be limitless in our inspirational architecture and have left it to capitalism to build . But to your point I think it would be best if we built amazing homeless shelters to inspire rather than amazing churches!
Considering we as humans are born from wild animals everything is built on atrocities. As long as we keep remembering and documenting and moving forward progress is made like a sand pyramid in an hour glass that keeps collapsing but slowly builds upward. We built atrocious institutions because we never tried it before or never done to completion. Ignoring positive and holding onto negative is by definition skewed thinking, they kind we fight against all the time. Just my thoughts.
I too struggle seeing any good but come to realize humans do things and learn from things way slower than I’d want…
"
Some day the load we’re carrying with us may help someone. But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn’t use what we got out of them. We went right on insulting the dead. We went right on spitting in the graves of all the poor ones who died before us. We’re going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and the next month and the next year. And when they ask us what we’re doing, you can say, ‘We’re remembering’. That’s where we’ll win out in the long run. And some day we’ll remember so much that we’ll build the biggest goddamn steam-shovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up. Come on now, we’re going to go build a mirror-factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them.
"
Amen to that. You should see how huge and austere the Mormon temples are - everything is sterile and white, big empty marble halls and white with no color or plants or anything. And everyday more news stories about new temples opening across the world. SIGH. If that’s what they imagine heaven to be - a bastion of sterile whiteness - I’ll gladly stay in hell and at least enjoy the vivid colors!
Having read their book a couple of times, I’m not sure their own God would enjoy their architecture very much. Considering we still have a lot of poor people and other issues that they could have been fixing all of these years with their money and time, rather than actively crusading against many of them.
I used to work in churches quite a bit and it’s truly fascinating. The one where i live was build in 1810. It’s pretty impressive, just to think that this is one of the first things they build back then, and how much labour and dangerous work and money and resurces went into it and how much better it could’ve been spend. I know it was a different time and having a clock tower and a place to meet people was probably important.
Going in there now is just odd.
30 years ago i didn’t know a single person who went to church for their beliefs and as for right now, not a single person goes to church, and hasn’t for maybe 10 or 15 years. Even as a 8 year old, i found it hard to believe that people really do believe all that, and going in there now, in the year 2024 it’s insane. They have all these elaborate paintings with these different saints who have all these very specific super powers. A guy is there to find lost sheeps for example. How can you look at it and don’t realise that these were just the first pretty lame avengers.
Historically, Christianity originated in pagan and polytheistic times. I believe saints being associated with this or that specific topic is to give familiarity to new converts from polytheistic faiths. Basically, there’s only one god, but this saintly specialist will put in a good word for you to him on this topic they’re a specialist on.
I agree with you. It is uswful to note church architecture back in its functional roots. It was an institution of knowledge and for some villages the only place to really learn, so it helped stave off fear but also provided a literal safe building before cannons tore down stone walls. It was a symbol and inspired. We have so much art and TV shows and music and games, we are full cups but back than they needed something to inspire and make cohesion in the group. I totally get it both ways, arranging stones in a precise manner might seem like wealth but it’s just people being precise and being well trained in their skilled field. They worked slowly and could take decades. In native American tribes on Mississippi they created a 300foot mound with temples, in Athens they built monuments up high.
I honestly think it’s odd us humans ARENT trying to be limitless in our inspirational architecture and have left it to capitalism to build . But to your point I think it would be best if we built amazing homeless shelters to inspire rather than amazing churches!
I’m inclined to ignore those roots considering the other atrocities they were committing throughout that time, and most of their history.
Considering we as humans are born from wild animals everything is built on atrocities. As long as we keep remembering and documenting and moving forward progress is made like a sand pyramid in an hour glass that keeps collapsing but slowly builds upward. We built atrocious institutions because we never tried it before or never done to completion. Ignoring positive and holding onto negative is by definition skewed thinking, they kind we fight against all the time. Just my thoughts.
I too struggle seeing any good but come to realize humans do things and learn from things way slower than I’d want…
Good points. But, we also as a society need to do a better job at holding groups committing atrocities accountable for their actions.
To quote Bradburry Fahrenheit 451
" Some day the load we’re carrying with us may help someone. But even when we had the books on hand, a long time ago, we didn’t use what we got out of them. We went right on insulting the dead. We went right on spitting in the graves of all the poor ones who died before us. We’re going to meet a lot of lonely people in the next week and the next month and the next year. And when they ask us what we’re doing, you can say, ‘We’re remembering’. That’s where we’ll win out in the long run. And some day we’ll remember so much that we’ll build the biggest goddamn steam-shovel in history and dig the biggest grave of all time and shove war in and cover it up. Come on now, we’re going to go build a mirror-factory first and put out nothing but mirrors for the next year and take a long look in them. "
Yep. I’ll make the biggest tree ribbon!
Amen to that. You should see how huge and austere the Mormon temples are - everything is sterile and white, big empty marble halls and white with no color or plants or anything. And everyday more news stories about new temples opening across the world. SIGH. If that’s what they imagine heaven to be - a bastion of sterile whiteness - I’ll gladly stay in hell and at least enjoy the vivid colors!