A church for those who pray to no Lord
How should a basilikè (Greek for "church") for the people who do not submit themselves, their souls or their lives to no Lord look like? A basilikè for those who don't believe in any God, or for those who don't care if there is a God, or for those who think that there may be a God, but don't plan to submit to him/her (or Him/Her)...
How do you think the place should look like, I mean architecturally, how should the members gather, when, what should they do as members, should they have a Bible, any priest, icons? Should they teach something? What? How? Should they be financed by the State, like any other basilikè?
*I prefer basilikè to "church", because the first had no religious meaning at its origin (it meant "royal room")
How do you think the place should look like, I mean architecturally, how should the members gather, when, what should they do as members, should they have a Bible, any priest, icons? Should they teach something? What? How? Should they be financed by the State, like any other basilikè?
*I prefer basilikè to "church", because the first had no religious meaning at its origin (it meant "royal room")
Comments
So in case of having a church for that, to gather and make beneficial things,
It shouldn't be very big, and it should be an opened place, circular. It should have carpets like in the mosques, mosaics like in some churches and desks like in the synagogues. People should teach what they know or what they believe by turns and they should gather randomly. It should be opened 24x7 and all session should finish with people laughing, or crying. There should not be any man or woman dedicating its life to this basilike. The Ministery of Non Religious Affairs would finance all.
People around the world would visit strange basilikes when they travel out of their countries, because each culture and region would have different buildings.
Maybe you can find some clues into the more spontaneous form of hierarchy in humans -and remember that ''hierarchy'' is etymologically also the ranking of the sacred as it comes from the Aeropagyte- by taking a look to the litteture on hunter-gatherers organizational conditions to promote in-group egalitarianism, the reference is Christopher Boehm's "Hierarchy in the Forest".
Perhaps you could also reflect on the power (or sideeffect) of religious forms in helping to solve coordination problems, in that respect you can take a look at this reference:
http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/publications/sosisandalcortaEA.pdf
so Ill finally answer to your comments, thank you for posting them.
correveidile:
so you say that even this basilikè would be a place where people would submit themselves to anything. if it is so, I'm not sure I understand why. I myself was thinking more to a statement, a political one in a classical democratic sense. a statement and the claim for a Place for those who define themselves as non-religious. a physical place inside the community.
liked your description. I was also thinking of something "open" in a way or another. and I like the idea of mixing traditional elements from other religions...
"people should teach what they know" means that it should be like an open school? with open education? that's a great idea... a teaching market! where everyone can be a teacher! where you can learn something from everyone!
why should the sessions finish with laughing or crying??:)
"there should not be any person dedicating his/her life to the basilikè"... but then, there should not be any restrictions to the involvement of them members, don't you think?
I vote for the institutionalization of the Ministry for Non-Religious Affairs!! yes, I too think that not only the official religions should be sponsored by the State!
and yes, no standardized basilikè!
rada:
I don't feel that I integrate any God/god. or, amyway, I don't feel like it...:)
anurim:
of course, the best question.
a quick answer would be: because the "thematic groups" have no religion-related claim. my proposal comes from a political uneasiness.
hugo:
tx for the references!
the should is a totally operative one, nothing moral. "in case you like the idea of asking for a place in the city for us, the non-religious ones, how should this place look like?"
your concerns about the hierarchy questions are answered by my reaction to correveidile. hopefully:) anyway, egalitarianism was not what made me ask this question. for me it's just a possible output.