tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6032973124729177537.post3588241348382114430..comments2012-03-14T03:16:21.926-04:00Comments on Yeoman Scholar: 8 Things Japan could Improve: No. 3. The TemplesYeoman Scholarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08904451782491955150noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6032973124729177537.post-33430333259638016722011-03-07T14:21:26.803-05:002011-03-07T14:21:26.803-05:00A sidenote: Anathallo (a Christian group that does...A sidenote: Anathallo (a Christian group that doesn't actually suck) produced an album of hymns that they released for free. I know it was free initially, and I think it's still free online. It's only 7 or 8 hymns, but I like it.A.L. Hineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02821861149801803887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6032973124729177537.post-33479374755196296892011-02-26T17:38:17.127-05:002011-02-26T17:38:17.127-05:00Oh, and for your amusement, a couple of quotes:
...Oh, and for your amusement, a couple of quotes:<br /><br /><br />He passed a cottage with a double coach-house,<br />A cottage of gentility;<br />And he owned with a grin<br />That his favorite sin<br />Is pride that apes humility.<br />1. St. 8. Compare: "And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin / Is pride that apes humility", Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Devil's Thoughts. (1835?)<br /><br /><br />and from Marlowe's play, the Jew of Malta, just because I thought the pure villainy would amuse, if only you:<br /><br />1. FRIAR BARNARDINE. Thou hast committed--<br />2. BARABAS. Fornication: but that was in another country; And besides, the wench is dead.Yeoman Scholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08904451782491955150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6032973124729177537.post-70719410846920920522011-02-26T17:36:45.268-05:002011-02-26T17:36:45.268-05:00You know, I had to give this a fair bit of thought...You know, I had to give this a fair bit of thought before responding. At first, I wanted to agree with you off hand, and I will agree with you to this extent - all religions I have encountered tend to be far too focused on money. That is as true of unorganized as of organized religion. <br /><br />That said, I have nothing wrong with money being a part of religion - the use of money for worship in religious ways is, I think, quite entirely proper. But that is exactly what it should be - as worship, not as a tax on admittance. <br /><br />Interestingly, I think both the Shrines of Japan and western churches are examples of this done properly - in both, you can give money, and both are examples of religious art (I speak of Western churches in the sense of Chartres, Santa Maria Novella, St. Vitas, etc - not the unsanctifying cardboard blocks of false humility displayed so often by certain other organized or unorganized religious orders.<br /><br />Now that's not to say that there are not sometimes entrance fees lifted in western cathedrals- I just visited Venice, which is very strong in that regard. My favorite church in Venice (and this is not why it's my favorite, I think it is also the most beautiful) has a sign above the door, very pointedly saying "This is a house of God. No one may charge you for entrance."<br /><br />I think that is the very point of a work of religious art - it is anti-capitalistic. The point of it is worship, and if its worship is not supported by donation, it looses its power. In fact, if I may make a note, certain types of religious music would do very well to actually be paid for beforehand, and then be put online for free. Why not? It would not cost a tremendous amount to pay for an album to be produced, even to pay a band for a year. Religious art should be free, because the point of it is to display the glory of something to a world that is believed to need that glory, or mercy, or beauty. To charge admittance is to eliminate a better part of the world.<br /><br />That's what I'm thinking now.<br /><br />PeterYeoman Scholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08904451782491955150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6032973124729177537.post-58706818082559062062011-02-21T00:51:51.454-05:002011-02-21T00:51:51.454-05:00hmm...
I can't help but think that maybe they...hmm...<br /><br />I can't help but think that maybe they are just being more honest about their financial agendas than westerners are. I have yet to discover an American church that won't pass the offering plate at every opportunity they get. Imagine what they would do if hundreds of tourists suddenly began to come through their doors every day. I have a feeling the end result wouldn't be much different.<br /><br />That having been said, I think we would both agree that the mere presence of money almost necessarily cheapens and pollutes any religious experience. Essentially, every religion is concerned with the promotion of spiritual truth over material truth, and the pragmatic necessity that money represents is probably one of the most effective at disturbing our immersion in spiritual contemplation.finite empathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03160196697688644155noreply@blogger.com