On the surface, one would interpret this as Spirituality and Secularism. A preacher might be quick to define the street as the secular world, while a cathedral means religious bodies. What we must not fail to realize is how interwoven the intersection of spirituality, faith, and everyday life is. It is exactly how people navigate their beliefs in modern-day society.
Streets and Cathedrals hence are contrasting spaces -one represents the mundane, bustling life of cities, while the other embodies tranquility, tradition, and sacredness. This is the exploration of the dichotomy between two worlds and how they coexist. Streets and Cathedrals have inspired countless writings, artists, and musicians.
The concept of contrasting faith and humanity, religion and common sense, could be really insightful. I am hoping to analyze loopholes, reveal realities and predicaments as well and probe thoughtful questions into the minds of my audience. I can see that juxtaposing these concepts could lead to some “Aha” moments and real revelations to the audience.
“Faith is a business deal, where you put in something in the hopes of getting something back”. Does that make sense?
I am writing to a recent generation of people who have lost interest in the value of Religion against the old ones selling some sort of faith that is not evidential enough yet it’s all talk. I also want us to probe further into the purpose of life from both the eyes of Religion & Street where one suggests one must look forward to a place of bliss in the afterlife while the other encourages survival of the fittest as only the strong will always survive.
We will be addressing some real tensions and paradoxes in society. On the one hand, we have the old guard, who have a lot of faith in something that might not be based in evidence. On the other, we have a new generation who are disillusioned by that faith, but also perhaps searching for something more. This further reveals the curious relationship between faith and evidence? Do you think one is necessary for the other, or can they exist separately?
Faith is meant to lead to substantial evidence that keeps one keen on facts of revelations. An example was when Prophet Elijah in the Bible went in an all-out national contest against the prophets of Baal, it was written that such was an open challenge. Recent faith seems to prioritize talks without any evidence but all aimed to debit from listeners. Powerless kind of preachers who could coin dangerous preaching topics yet subject to all big talks with no evidence. It leads to a word which I tag as Transactional faith.
When I use the term “transactional faith,” I mean faith that is predicated on the idea of an exchange – you give something (money, labor, time, etc.) and you receive something in return (salvation, forgiveness, good fortune, etc.). It’s the idea that faith is a business deal, where you put in something in the hopes of getting something back. Does that make sense?
A Cathedral in this topic is a symbolism not limited by any kind of faith, yet striking to point at all person in practice of one religion or another. The etymological definition meaning of Cathedral makes it a perfect word for me as it is a large and important Christian church that serves as the seat of a bishop or archbishop. Cathedrals are usually grand and architecturally impressive structures. They often feature intricate stained glass windows, towering spires, and ornate decorations. Some well-known cathedrals include Notre-Dame de Paris, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and Westminster Abbey in London.
As a Litterateur, I find myself stuck with the striking topics of great novels like “Murder in the Cathedral” by T.S Eliot, “Devil on the Cross” by Ngugi Wa’Thiongo, “Dwelling in the Belly of the Beast” by Dimeji Sodeke & “In God’s Name” by David Yallop. This title became so meaningful to me upon many profound happenings that are prevalent in our recent times, since Cathedrals are often larger than churches reflecting their importance within religious hierarchy which connotes Governance.
On this journey of enlightenment, we could later be ushered into a Podcast or Radio sessions for more insightful engagement and public active participation yet the focus is to ensure we get to the very depth of wisdom, understanding and initiating appropriate changes and right mentality that could move us forward as a people, nation, continent and world.
I welcome you all to the start of a Periodical titled “Street & Cathedral”. The idea behind this is to create some sort of profound sub-topics that delve deeper into the social engineering of humans by juxtaposing Faith and Humanity as well as Religion and Common Sense. -Dimeji Sodeke.
