Parallel war on " modernism " in Catholic Church and your war on architectural modernism

     Dave, I  always appreciated your " war " on modernism in architecture. It's just a gut feeling for beauty, elegance, and grandeur. I cannot always follow your specialized knowledge. For me it oddly resonates with the war on " modernism "  within the Catholic Church. Here it assumes many forms.  Not just the end of certain beautiful rituals-like the Latin Mass( forget about theology here-it's just aesthetics ) .  Only a dead soul will not appreciate the splendor of the old European cathedrals. And yet in the era of Vatican II even the architecture of newly constructed  Catholic churches was hideously corrupted. When I attended my brother Ray's funeral mass at St. Stephen's on Warwick Ave. in Warwick,  I was more than distracted by the profane design of the building- like a college gymnasium or a circus tent. Does it not reflect the spiritual deadness of the architect ?
        Does not all this hideous architectural " modernism " that you protest against so often reflect a whole civilization in an advanced state of decay ?   Is there anything reactionary about pure beauty ?    Keep up the good fight  here ! ( even if politics is hopeless )


   Ron, I refer to such profane ecclesiastical edifi collectively as the Church of St. George Jetson. Without wanting to politicize my discourse, I've written quite a bit about how valid it is to compare modernism with moral erosion, corporate excess, totalitarian rule, etc., etc. There is a lot of that on my blog (now independent of the Journal). For example, a piece called "Is beauty conservative?" and another more recently called "An ecclesiastical mood." If you would like, I will add you to my send list, if you are not already on it.

    Dave