Please do not be mistaken. I am not suggesting that Britain has lost its tolerence towards religious freedom. Just that it has decided not to make places of worship free to enter.
Remembering 10 years ago when I first arrived in the UK, I admired very much its wealth of historical architecture, especially the cathedrals. They are rather like living fossils, full of history yet still functioning to this day, carrying out the traditional rituals which would not have been too different a few centuries ago.
At that time the cathedrals were free for all. Wander in when you fancy or pass by, stroll down the nave, take a close-up look at the paintings and stained glass. There would be donation boxes scattered around, and polite signs inviting donations and explaining the maintenance they would be funding. The cathedrals were inviting, as live museums as much as a place where people can seek a moment of quietness and reflection. Specific purposes were not pre-requisite to paying a visit.
Then, one by one, the cathedrals fell to the hands of fee-paying mechanisms. Booths and barriers were erected at the entrances, ushers guarded and demanded payment of entry. And the entrance fees were not cheap (although not expensive comparatively, either). But somehow the atmosphere was changed as soon as these measures were implemented.
They seemed less friendly, no longer a place to drop by. If I ever paid to enter a cathedral, I would walk up and down in the hope of viewing enought treasures to make the fee worth its value. Moments of quietness was disturbed by the thought that one had to pay for tranquility. The grandfather feeling has been lost. It's just another tourist attraction.
Cathedrals were not built to become attractions. By turning them into attractions, the cathedrals are cathedrals no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment