While it’s true that no community can survive without its own collection of sacred spaces, its own calendar of sacred times, its own sacred rituals, and its own pantheon of sacred figures, I feel that this so-called globalised, so-self-claimed secularised world, in which we live, is going a bit too far with its unconscious religions.
All the international sports events, from olympic games to football championships, have been marked, in recent years, by ceremonies that tended to be ever more somptuous, ever more costly, and ever more impressive.
Whom are we glorifying today? What are these huge expenses and sacrifices good for?
It is tacitly assumed that we are doing this ‘in the name of peace, of love, and of mutual understanding among nations’. Yet, there is no sign that this world be less affected by hatred, war, and intolerance than in the past.
‘We just love the show,’ most people might say. These shows are great, indeed. These shows are magnificent, indeed.
Has any god ever received so much glory on this planet? Ever? Very unlikely.
These shows fill the souls of humans with awe, indeed. But other gods might turn jealous.
(14th February, 2010)
