Taylor Swift and the sacred feminine

All Hallows Eve 2024 is nearly upon us. A suitable time to reflect on the state of the western church. Where has existentialist theology brought us? Back to pagan religion, if Harvard University is any indication.

Monday evenings worship at the Harvard Memorial Chapel, the campus church of Harvard University, tells us all about it: “What can reading the texts that matter to us as sacred tell us about ourselves and our lives? Discover a new way to engage with the Taylor Swift canon that honors the important emotional and spiritual role her work plays in many peoples’ lives. Bring your favorite Taylor Swift song and we’ll bring the sacred reading practices!”

This is probably not what was meant to happen by the founders of the university, but then Harvard became Unitarian sectarian centuries ago, so what would one expect, I suppose? A little respect, perhaps, for those who are remembered by the memorial church, particularly in the week of All Saints?

As their website says: The Memorial Church is the church for Harvard University, dedicated on Armistice Day 1932 in memory of those who died in World War I, a gift of the alumni to the University. Memorials have been added to remember those who have died in the wars since. The church stands opposite Widener Library as a visible reminder of the historical and spiritual heritage that has sustained Harvard for nearly four centuries.

The first separate building for worship at Harvard University was Holden Chapel, built in 1744. The college soon outgrew the building, which was replaced by a chapel inside Harvard Hall in 1766, then a chapel in University Hall in 1814, and finally by Appleton Chapel, a building dedicated solely to worship sited where The Memorial Church now stands.

Indeed, once the site of Puritan religion, now a centre of the worship of postmodern man. Beg your pardon, woman. Or does that pose a conflict with the prescribed faith in gender identity at Harvard? OK then, your inner Taylor Swift.

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