As
society focuses more on the developments and advancements of science and
technology, religion becomes outdated and futile in continuing the course of
survival for the human race. Each day, religious officials lose their purpose
and standing in society. Religion is dying, along with the journey to moral
righteousness and enlightenment.
Philip Larkin’s “Church Going” describes the
idle curiosity of the speaker for a church he comes across while out for a bike
ride. The speaker wants to be sure there is nothing in the way of a church
service going on. He demonstrates awkward reverence removing his hat and cuff
clips. Apparently he has stopped at a number of churches. He describes this one
as “Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little
books, sprawlings of flowers, cut for Sunday, brownish now.”
He seems
uninterested in the denomination of the church. He questions his curious
habit of stopping at churches. Once they have become totally useless, will
officials keep open some cathedrals and leave the smaller churches to rain and
sheep? Will cathedrals become tourist traps and these smaller churches become
attractions for ruin seekers, antique hounds, and mothers perpetuating
superstitions and seeking simples (medicinal plants) to cure cancer?
Churches
were built for the once large numbers of believers who attended every Sunday,
but those numbers are rapidly reducing themselves. Marriages are gradually
shifting to legal events performed by lay people if indeed people do merely
choose to live together without ceremony. As time goes on, the Church is
playing a role of less importance in society, politics, and world events. However,
Larkin cannot totally reject the human religious movement that dominated
history until the twentieth century. Religion is
decaying as time grows on, but religion remains prominent with those who still
believe in hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment