It's amazing architecture and i'm always in awe when i visit a church, but I've always thought the money and resources used to build them could have been better spent helping people better themselves.
It's amazing architecture and i'm always in awe when i visit a church, but I've always thought the money and resources used to build them could have been better spent helping people better themselves.
Better themselves how? Bettering yourself is a personal decision that you can make at any time you are ready. It begins with that first smile, or kind word, or pushup, or search for the overall good in a situation instead of Me, Me, Me.
What I was trying to say in a nice way is that Jesus Christ would not think that this building was honoring God, just the opposite:
“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6)
Like i said before, amazing building and your pics really showed that, but not what religion should be about.
You know what Jesus would think? And how money can be better spent? I take it that you are heading for a career in politics? Is taxation to be your forte? Or will you be a moralist? Do you aspire to tell other people what they can/should and cannot/should not do?
Is it just possible that the purpose of the building is to experience a longing for higher things? I'm pretty sure that the craftsmen who built it were aspiring towards a spiritual vision. And, yes, I'm sure that when they were doing their praying they did it in secret, inside their hearts, as they continued outwardly to work to God's glory with their hands and minds.
My parents were devout Catholics and contributed a lot of their money to the church as well as sent me to Catholic schools so i was heavily involved in the inner workings of the church. They closed down the high school I was going to because they supposedly could not afford to keep it open but thought it was important to build huge cathedrals to honor God or spend billions to cover up pedophilia:
https://www.newsweek.com/over-3-billion-paid-lawsuits-catholic-church-over-sex-abuse-claims-1090753
I am no longer Catholic nor do i contribute to the church so what they do with other peoples money is their own business. It was just my honest opinion it could be better spent. I didn't think I would get you all riled up over it and for that i apologize.
OK, I am no longer "all riled up" :-)
I was also raised a Catholic and an alter boy but haven't been to a church or cathedral for "doctrinal" reasons for dozens of years. But I do go there to marvel at the beauty and spirit caught in form by the artisans devoted to their crafts.
"The image of God is found in Work."
Abuse and greed are factors that creep into all human activities and tend to completely overwhelm them. If new creative impulses are not consciously brought into a human activity or organization at critical points, then the activity will eventually turn into its opposite. The religion of Love inevitably becomes the religion of the Inquisition once the generative influence has waned.
Yet it is patently obvious, given the evidence of certain cathedrals amongst other things, that some groups do keep the essence of the original impulse alive and have the knowledge and discipline to apply required inputs at critical times.
We are living in a critical time. Hopefully such groups still exist :-)