3 ms·

> “Chinese visitors may not necessarily understand the Nativity,” said the priest. How about building two large parking lots on the Notre Dame square then for

> “Chinese visitors may not necessarily understand the Nativity,” said the priest. How about building two large parking lots on the Notre Dame square then for Chinese tourist buses to drive directly up to the building. And offer selfie sticks next to the altar. Seriously, what kind of insane logic is this... The church is not a tourism bureau

dragonwriter 5y ago
> The church is not a tourism bureau Yeah, it is. Or, rather, it is, as a central function a propaganda [0] bureau, and leveraging tourism has proven to be a useful and important component of that in the modern world. [0] the modern use of the term, after all, derives ultimately from the former name of the Church body currently known in English as the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which used to be the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, or in its Latin short form, Propaganda fide.
seszett 5y ago
> what kind of insane logic is this What's the problem with explaining Christian concepts in a Christian building that is visited by many non-Christian visitors? I thought proselytism was a large point of these religions, so it only seems logical to take advantage of this opportunity for explaining their faith to potential new clients.
dagw 5y ago
The church is not a tourism bureau Depends on who you talk to. If you ask the people that own the church building (the French State) then yes, it's all about tourism. If you talk to the capital C Church then it is probably primarily about propaganda (although they probably wouldn't call it that). They don't want Chinese tourists to walk around and come away thinking "wow that was a neat old building" they want the Chinese tourists to come away with a appreciation and interest in Catholicisms that can be a wedge towards conversion. Showing them some relics of western "mysticism" they do not understand is not conducive to that goal. The people who care about if it's a nice space for Sunday Mass are by all accounts the least important people in this equation.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> The church is not a tourism bureau Yeah, it is. Or, rather, it is, as a central function a propaganda [0] bureau, and leveraging tourism has proven to be a useful and important component of that in the modern world. [0] the modern use of the term, after all, derives ultimately from the former name of the Church body currently known in English as the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which used to be the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, or in its Latin short form, Propaganda fide.

seszett 5y ago

> what kind of insane logic is this What's the problem with explaining Christian concepts in a Christian building that is visited by many non-Christian visitors? I thought proselytism was a large point of these religions, so it only seems logical to take advantage of this opportunity for explaining their faith to potential new clients.

dagw 5y ago

The church is not a tourism bureau Depends on who you talk to. If you ask the people that own the church building (the French State) then yes, it's all about tourism. If you talk to the capital C Church then it is probably primarily about propaganda (although they probably wouldn't call it that). They don't want Chinese tourists to walk around and come away thinking "wow that was a neat old building" they want the Chinese tourists to come away with a appreciation and interest in Catholicisms that can be a wedge towards conversion. Showing them some relics of western "mysticism" they do not understand is not conducive to that goal. The people who care about if it's a nice space for Sunday Mass are by all accounts the least important people in this equation.