How Do You Feel About Churches and Cathedrals?
Not religion, just the buildings
#Trigger warning, this contains images of a religious building. If you’re upset by these then please don’t go any further.
I am not a religious person. My mum was selectively religious. But weirdly open-minded when it came to religion. Possibly because she had been raised by a very strict catholic woman. She said she would never try to make us religious. If we were, then fine. If not, that’s fine too. Thankfully we turned out to be a very godless bunch of people. I hold a dim view of organised religion, but as we all know it takes all kinds.
So I was lucky enough not to have been subjected to religious abuse by anyone. Nobody tried to brainwash me into thinking that “God is good” or “Yaay God” or whatever. And not being in religious buildings or organisations also meant that I was never subjected to any physical abuse by religious officials either.
So for me, churches have never been much of a threat. There was no sense of dread that so many people feel when passing or entering one. No abusive undertones to bring back any horrific memories, just an old building. An old building with a certain smell that, for some reason, to this day, I find to be very peaceful.
And for years, I’ve never really known why until I went to Manchester Cathedral last week. Incidentally, it is my 4th favourite cathedral. Because it’s only the 4th cathedral I’ve ever been in. If you’re interested:
- Truro Cathedral
- Salisbury Cathedral
- Lincoln Cathedral
I’ve nothing against Manchester Cathedral. It’s perfectly lovely. I just wasn’t awestruck like I was with the others.
But back to the point, why do I find churches and cathedrals so peaceful? It’s the unspoken rules, the etiquette. When I was in school I was in the choir, and normally at Christmas, we would go to St Helen’s Church. We were told in no uncertain terms that once we set foot in the building we were to be quiet and well behaved. We were to speak no louder than a whisper and absolutely no running. In the words of Mrs Goddard:
“Everything in that church is old and expensive. If you break it, your mums and dads will be furious.”
And, of course, being the well-behaved babies we were, we obliged. As did all of the adults. All of this came rushing back to me when I visited Manchester Cathedral. There were a whole host of tourists around from every corner of the world. And the second they entered the building, every single one began to whisper. Kids stopped running around and started walking at a respectably British pace.
I love the fantastical nature of the carvings and the mind-blowing architecture…… well it blows my mind. But honestly, what I love more than anything else is people being calm and quiet, behaving themselves. Well, I am British, after all.
This is no reflection on how I feel about organised religion. It’s simply the buildings and the behaviour.
How do you feel about religious buildings?
