The several stories about the "church" that I've read mention "worship" though, apparently, the word in the context of the intent of the local tourism officials would seem to mean worship of shoes. Oh, yeah, unsurprisingly, the "church" is supposed to appeal to women and things that are supposed to appeal to women. Something tells me that the local officials are all if not mostly men.
One of the comments I've seen said it had about as much to do with a church as a Las Vegas marriage chapel. While there have to be allowances made for cultural differences that, somehow, may make the whole thing seem less offensive, insane and vulgar in that area of Taiwan, I think it's probably as offensive to many people, especially women in Taiwan as it is to anyone who gets it sent to them by ignorant atheists as an example of the pathology they believe religion to be.
It has nothing to do with religion, it is pure Chamber of Commerce stunt architecture, as significant as the World's Biggest (I so wish I could insert the appropriate "Corner Gas" episode)* with about as much thought put into it.
That anyone would seriously try to turn this tourism stunt into an example of religion only shows how stupid the current anti-religious invective is. If you want to listen to it, the lecture by Walter Breuggemann posted below has a description of Solomon's Temple which, as he points out, was another example of the same kind of thing which the prophets called out and condemned in the plainest of terms. Though you have to read a lot of the Hebrew scriptures and think hard about them to understand that. It's not something I expect to see gain wide influence online because, as the high heel "church" shows, stupid is easier.
* As Hank might say, "Two words, Youtube."
As the poet said, "A patch of ice doth not a winter make."
ReplyDeleteThis is a "church"? So?