Post date: 14-Oct-2010 20:13:23
There is a proposal to build a Museum of Religion in Birmingham, UK which raises some questions. The museum is said to be not artefact based but will have representatives of religions to explain something to visitors. Of course, what they will explain depends on who appoints them since all religions are divided into schools, sects and cults. However, if all religions are properly represented it is probably just as well there will be no artefacts because this will make room for ten-thousand tour guides.
I was worried when I heard there were plans to build this museum. Most of the existing museums in the UK are already home to fine examples of religious artefacts and art and I doubt if they will be willing to share what they have acquired by foul and fair means with some idealistic newcomer. However, since the newcomer is not going to be collection based then existing collections will not be tested and one hopes there will be no need to plunder religious sites for their treasures more than they have been.
What worries me more is that religions are living, breathing and changing creatures that hardly seem suited for the stasis which museum implies’. I might be less happy with a more logical suggestion to build a zoo of religion, although, it would at least be more appropriate for the behaviour of some representatives of religions. In fact, the thought of them prowling in cages is more appealing than I at first thought. So let’s have a zoo of religion! At least it will be more fun to discuss before the idea is dismissed.
Individual religions spend fortunes on places of worship, antiquities, reliquaries and archives. They decide for themselves how to be defined and what represents their history. Where others disagree the discussion is in the fields of archaeology, anthropology and history, each already provided with museum and archival resources. Neither religions nor academics need the curator of a museum of religion to second guess them so perhaps the people supporting this proposal might do better to put some effort into producing religious studies syllabi that give a genuine opportunity for young people to learn about religions. It is often asked in interfaith assemblies “where are the young people?” Perhaps, as my experience of Mosque and Church communities suggest, they are out living their faith and faith encounters and not treating it all as an object fit for a museum vault.
At a time when departments of Theology and Religious Studies in our universities are fighting for survival the thought of spending several million pounds of anyone’s money on a sham museum sickens me. To hold the thought of spending so much money on a pointless effort to flatter the egos of the interfaith industry when millions of worshippers are without food or water or schools or the means to fulfil the least of their ambitions is simply an affront to religious sensibility and humanity. Let’s keep our hands clean and spend the money where it will do some good on the people that governments and religions are supposed to care for.