On Sun, November 6, 2011 13:32, Don Roberts wrote: > > > On 11/6/11 11:42 AM, Karl Shah-Jenner wrote: >> John Palcewski wrote: >>> >>>> Dan Mitchell, Interior York Minster Shots of church interiors always >>>> seem to me to be an exploitation of the power of religious people's >>>> faith than on the visual material itself. Which is to say that >>>> somehow the less-religious viewer is somehow obliged to treat these >>>> pictures with a sort of reverence or approval that other subject >>>> material does not. Non-believers are expected, even demanded to be >>>> respectful, but then I imagine far too many Christians would not in >>>> turn feel obliged to give the same respect toward the interior of, >>>> say, a mosque. >>> >>> That's interesting. I've always found the interiors of old churches >>> fascinating, and I come from a completely non-religious background. >>> The resources poured into cathedrals and such produced bits of period >>> architecture that don't exist for any other reason. >> >> >> I always thought all religious fanes were designed to awe and push all >> our response buttons - irrespective of one's faith. >> >> I too am a non follower and find them inspiring, including mosques, >> and aside from the beauty I also admire the dedication in designing >> and building such wonderful architecture > I have to agree with John and Karl but..... I have mixed feelings about > places of worship. I especially note that in poor villages in Mexico, > where some people may live in corrugated sheet homes that the church is > always resplendent in gold and jewels. The people have little and yet > they tithe because the church demands it. I understand the pride they > may take in a glorious house of worship and the solace they might > receive but I still bristle at it. Probably just me. Yeah, my actual exposure is mostly to European cathedrals, which are both very old (i.e. paid for :-) ) and in prosperous places. So that aspect doesn't immediately come to the fore in that context for me. If I were seeing such resplendant things in the midst of poverty I would probably react somewhat the same way -- to the extent it's really their choice, okay, though I wonder if it's a smart choice. A completely utilitarian budget with no frills is actually kind of deadening, after all. -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b@xxxxxxxx; http://dd-b.net/ Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/ Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/ Dragaera: http://dragaera.info
