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What do we do with all the churches?
Posted on: June 6, 2007 - 7:10pm
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What do we do with all the churches?
In the year 2025, 70% of churches and temples are abandoned due to going out of business. The countryside is littered with beautiful pieces of architecture that are no longer used. What should be done with these buildings?
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Some churches would make absolutely wonderful multiuse nightclubs, hotels, offices, concert halls, schools, and more! Maybe even a nice mansion.
www.andyhanson.net
make 'em into a chain of natural history museums, with darwin exhibits
Now thats irony
I wouldnt distroy them at all. Unlike the Muslims who blew up the ancient statues of Buddah in Afganistan. I'd keep them around as a part of mythological history. Just like I think most would not want the pyrimids distroyed.
I have written poetry in the past when I did think there was a god(of some sort). If future people read it I'd remind them I am only keeping it as part of my history and that I no longer believe it.
Distorting history and denying history is what dictators and theocracies do. Churches, mosques and temples should be kept as a reminder of what we used to believe. Just like the Temples to Apollo and Zues.
We should be reminded of where we have been so we dont go down that same path and make the same mistakes.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I think that rennovating a church with a true choir loft would make a great "trendy" place to live. After all, loft condos are all the rage these days.
There would be plenty of parking for friends.
There would be a huge living room - lots of space for that big screen HDTV.
No doubt there would be additional rooms that would be a great place to put in a library, too.
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I grew up in southeast Michigan, and in Pontiac they turned an old church into a pretty awesome club/concert theater. http://www.motorcityrocks.com/cargo.htm (Clutch Cargo's)
[MOD EDIT - hopefully fixed link]
One word: Limelight. Used to be a club in NYC that was an old church. The stained glass windows were all still there. I once saw two drag queens snorting coke off a mirror under a plaque commemorating the boys choir in 18something. It was quite interesting. They really kept a lot of the original church work and stuff and it was this huge nightclub.
That aside, I think the artifacts and artwork should be saved. They are a part of history and many of them are absolutely exquisite pieces. Turn the churches into clubs of every kind, libraries, community rooms.
If god takes life he's an indian giver
I've been in several bars that were once churches. I love the irony in that.
Personally, I'd like to see them made into institutes of learning - libraries, museums, laboratories, college dorms, etc.
I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins
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I frequent, and worked a season, at a local community center that was once a church. There are infinite possibilities for repurposing these structures.
Bars, strip clubs, gay nightclubs, porno stores, etc.
In Norway we got a few stave churche's with an age of almost 900 years. some of the oldest wooden structures in europe.
28 still stand, only 3 of these are in use I think. And all are on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Nobody sane would tare one of those down or use for anything else. Many dont think they should be used as churches either, as it could wear them down.
Still Norway has more churches than we have christians to fill them
. There are discussions about selling or using many of the "normal" churches for other things.
If a church is to be protected it probably have to be special somehow, in construction method or artwork.
To read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavkirke
"Everyone knows that God drives a Plymouth: "And He drove Adam And Eve from the Garden of Eden in His Fury."
And that Moses liked British cars: "The roar of Moses' Triumph was heard throughout the hills."
On the other hand, Jesus humbly drove a Honda but didn't brag about it, because in his own words: "I did not speak of my own Accord." "
I'd like to see an Orwellian/Huxlean usage made for these structures. Just as the "ArchSongster of Canterbury" would need a home, so too would the "Minister of Iconoclasm" and the "Deaconess of A Priori Knowledge."
Many of the buildings do have burial areas, and for that reason alone, I would avoid turning them into bars. I wouldn't let a party happen in a local cemetary and wouldn't like it in a crypt either. (That is my own view. If you wouldn't step on them in life, respect decrees that you avoid it in death as well.)
However, the idea of them as government buildings makes me giggle. What is more debased and unsavory than a government agency. Think on that. Scooter Libby lying like a dog on what was once an alter. Too Funny.
"Tis better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven." -Lucifer
I agree with Yellow here, the best thing to do with them is to reverse their original purpose. Make them places of learning instead of places of ignorance.
Eh, it'd be more cost effective to morph it into something it's already designed for.
Maybe a whorehouse?
Yes, that's what we do with them in the UK. Is there a point to the question?
Freedom of religious belief is an inalienable right. Stuffing that belief down other people's throats is not.
I need real friends. Imaginary friends are for kids-- Ely Toka, Goddess of Butterflies
So many old churches in Europe are pretty much just tourist attractions these days, although many still have a small number of believers that gather occasionally. As for many of the little churches in the US, a lot of them were something else before they were churches, so no problem there, and many "super churches" are virtually school campuses, complete with sport utilities. I sure hope your 2025 projection comes true! We've got a lot of work to do...
Do You Worship an Evil God?
Id turn them into whatever the community needed most.
Poor area = homeless shelter/soup kitchen.
No library = library/computers/general learning center.
And so on and so on.
"Faith does not give you the answers, it just stops you asking the questions."--Frater Ravus
I'd be keen to have some turned into venues for sex parties.
Or I'd like to live in an old church...I like the architecture.
Or both.
Shaun
I'll fight for a person's right to speak so long as that person will, in return, fight to allow me to challenge their opinions and ridicule them as the content of their ideas merit.
I'd convert a third of them into homeless shelters, a third into soup kitchens and a third into housing for the poor.
Here in Vancouver
Todays new loft listings
1. 104-2525 Quebec Street $429,900 Totally unique 1909 heritage church conversion. Spacious rooms, open design w/9' ceilings, oak floors, rustic character w/original timber beam details, exposed brick plus the den is the circular turret corner unit w/access to 21' of patio space from LR and bdrm. Few common walls, solid character building, steps to convenient & hip Main Street shops.There are two seasons in Canada, Hockey season and not-Hockey season.
Canada: 16% Atheist and growing.
I know someone who bought an old church and he's renovating it into a home. He left all the organ stuff intact. It looks awesome.
If god takes life he's an indian giver
So, is he having sex parties? I mean, it's not like churches are completely sex free. It's just that now it would be among consenting adults.
In any case, it's a great idea, and if I had the moolah, I'd do it.
I'll fight for a person's right to speak so long as that person will, in return, fight to allow me to challenge their opinions and ridicule them as the content of their ideas merit.
Turn them into arcades.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
French Revolution?
Temples of Reason.
in the black community there is a church on almost every damn corner! we got churches galore hell they seem to never close!
Never close? That sounds like Las Vegas to me, so maybe they should be turned into casinos.
By the way, I know you've been a member for a long time, but I don't think we've been introduced.
We'd love it if you'd hop over to General Conversation, Introductions and Humor and introduce yourself!
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They've been doing this in Chicago for years now. I went to look at a loft with a friend of mine who was considering buying one in an old Methodist church a year or so ago. They make for really unique living spaces.
"The powerful have always created false images of the weak."
This is a very hot topic for me. The money thrown into houses of worship is just disgusting. Joe Preacher gets P/O'd at John Clergy and just has to build his own church. There are churches literally right across the street from each other. There is a mormon temple in San Diego that practically glows in the dark. And there's a huge gold statue of the angel moroni (am I the only one who giggles at that name?) on top. I know that cost a fortune to build.
All this money wasted. Go pray in a carport and use the money for something good.
http://smartasses.org
There's a classic line in the play "Angels in America" where the mormon gal (who is a bit spacy) offers a thought, "If we got the Scriptures from the angel Moroni, why aren't we called 'Morons'?"
Background: Kansas City is so close to Independence, home of the RLDS church.
When the actress said that line, the house came down in hysterical laughter and then the applause started. It just about stopped the show.
Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server.
Some of those tacky megachurches would make great indoor waterparks for year-round fun. I have seen some that must have 50 foot ceilings or better.
"Who, like some evil Atlas, turned the world upside down upon their shoulders, and made shams and delusions into absolute truths, and absolute truths into inviolate heresy?" Elliot Merrick, True North (this may be a misquote, but is close, I don't have th
Here's an example of what you can do with churches. This is from Malmö, Sweden, where they rebuilt a church into a music venue/restaurant/night club/bar. The place is called Jeriko. By far the best use of a church ever. I hope this happens more, and it's likely since Sweden probably has more churches than christians nowadays.
http://www.jeriko.info/