Tuesday, July 26, 2005
How can it be this way??
Whilst browsing one of my schoolmate's blog, I stumbled upon an entry about her trip to Rome and the Vatican City. She said, and I quote,"The basilica is soooooooo amazing it takes your breath away. I had mass and confession there. IT was really significant. ...I wished I had alother catholic with me to appreciate what I felt. I rweally feel proud to be a catholic now."
This feeling of pride and renewed enthusiasm for the religion is exactly what I did NOT feel.
Yes, I was in awe of the asthetic beauty of the towering roman pillars, the intricate artwork, the attention to detail on each statue (down to the very last fold on their robe!), and the breathtaking birds-eye view from the top of St Peter's basilica. The grandeur and opulence of the entire city is what moved me but from a purely secular point of view.
But (and this is a very big but), from a christian's point of view, I was absolutely disgusted. It was as if the entire vatican city had big neon words strung around it which flashed intermittently, "WE HAVE MORE MONEY THAN WE KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH". The extremely public display of wealth stung like a slap accross my face.
How much of the billions of dollars poured into building this material structure, these beautiful paintings, these intricate statues could be used to feed children in the third world? Children who are starving at the rate of one every second (if a popular commercial is to be believed)? How much of this money could be used to build more churches in underdeveloped areas? Or even to build housing for underpriviledged (ah, the political correctness!) people? Instead of saving and building lives, we now have a.... *drum roll*.. ginormous BUILDING!!! How charitable. Oh, the hypocrisy.
Just thinking about it now, 6 months later, gives me the goosebumps.
Stepping into the building, you spot statues ( Oh God, STATUES! Whatever happened to "thou shall not have any idols before me"???? ) with their right foot worn down right down to the pedestal. Why, you may scratch your head and ask. Well because millions of worshippers have placed their hands and lips at the right foot of Jesus Christ to pray. Oh, sorry, it is the right foot of a statue of JC.
You also see special praying pews in front of a glass coffin, with a dried up person inside. On closer inspection, you realise it is the corpse of an ex-pope. And people are on their knees praying before him, as if he were the one that could save their lives. Admittedly, he could have been a good, god-fearing man; a great man even, but he is NOT God. There is only ONE God, and the guy in the coffin is most definitely not He. So why should you be praying to him? He will not wash away your sins, he does not have the power to save you. The whole affair reeks of pagan ancestor worship.
I had much much more to rant about six months ago, but the gradual fading of my memory has lead to the loss of much of the fuel. What will never fade however, is that feeling of disgust at the building which calls itself a church. My mouth contorts into a sneer at the very thought of that day.
By this post, I am not pronouncing myself to be the best and most morally upright (haha) christian in the world. Neither am I beyond criticism. I have my faults and I will openly and honestly admit to them. But the Vatican is a city that prides itself on being the centre of catholicism, the role model to all the catholics out there. How can it possibly be this way?
insatiable at 5:03 PM
5 Comments
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at 9:38 PM
wenrui said... Sometimes I think that you have too much emotion to spare.
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at 4:54 PM
insatiable said...
haha bored wad.. not studying.. just bumming.. no emotional turmoil either. lolx
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at 11:36 AM
said... people don't pray to the pope. they pray to God. get your facts right.
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at 3:03 PM
said...
neither do people pray to statues. nor to mother mary. nor to pictures nor crucifixes. what sheer ignorance. a church's rich 2000-year-old history is not for you to demean nor to criticise.
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at 2:00 AM
insatiable said...
newsflash: I can criticise anything I want to because it is MY blog, and these are MY feelings.
These people say they don't pray to the pope, but why put pews in front of him otherwise? Why kneel before his coffin? Why make statues of a God you have never seen? It so reeks of pagan worship.
