Everyday we hear of bigger and grander buildings. We are well versed with mansions rivaling major universities in space and Versailles in extravagance.
Case in point, BusinessWeek has an article* on these behemoth estates (with slide show for the unbelieving). Groundbreaking is the roughly 60-story building to be constructed in downtown Mumbai; built to house India's richest man, his family, and (of course) the-better-half-of-a-thousand servants.
Most of us are, unfortunately, desensitized to the wealthy: we expect commerce's multi-billionaires to inhabit obscenely immense properties. But usually they reside in suburban upstate New York, a quaint bay in Northwest Washington, or yes, even a downtown metropolis. But near sacred land? While we can be sure that rental rates near the Vatican are high, we are nonetheless still sensitive enough to be shocked if another building overshadows St. Peter's square.
Michael Linton notes in his First Things** blog entry, "there are those trinket shops next to almost every Christian sacred site, but I think that a lot of Christians view them as embarrassments." We can likely claim this with a degree of certainty for St. Peter's, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or Mecca.
Well, actually perhaps not Mecca. An enormous mall and luxury living compound is under construction adjacent to the holy mosque--or over and above, depending which cardinal direction you're facing (we can assume to the chagrin of many Muslims, to be fair). To truly comprehend this, one must read Linton's blog entry (with many links to pictures and articles concerning the complex).
As Linton notes: "My guess is that the memory of the story of the Lord whipping the temple money changers makes us edgy about linking religion too closely with commerce."
It should.
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Sources: [*] BusinessWeek [Maya Roney]. [**] First Things: On the Square [Michael Linton].
Case in point, BusinessWeek has an article* on these behemoth estates (with slide show for the unbelieving). Groundbreaking is the roughly 60-story building to be constructed in downtown Mumbai; built to house India's richest man, his family, and (of course) the-better-half-of-a-thousand servants.
Most of us are, unfortunately, desensitized to the wealthy: we expect commerce's multi-billionaires to inhabit obscenely immense properties. But usually they reside in suburban upstate New York, a quaint bay in Northwest Washington, or yes, even a downtown metropolis. But near sacred land? While we can be sure that rental rates near the Vatican are high, we are nonetheless still sensitive enough to be shocked if another building overshadows St. Peter's square.
Michael Linton notes in his First Things** blog entry, "there are those trinket shops next to almost every Christian sacred site, but I think that a lot of Christians view them as embarrassments." We can likely claim this with a degree of certainty for St. Peter's, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or Mecca.
Well, actually perhaps not Mecca. An enormous mall and luxury living compound is under construction adjacent to the holy mosque--or over and above, depending which cardinal direction you're facing (we can assume to the chagrin of many Muslims, to be fair). To truly comprehend this, one must read Linton's blog entry (with many links to pictures and articles concerning the complex).
As Linton notes: "My guess is that the memory of the story of the Lord whipping the temple money changers makes us edgy about linking religion too closely with commerce."
It should.
-------
Sources: [*] BusinessWeek [Maya Roney]. [**] First Things: On the Square [Michael Linton].
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