57/366 Inside Dome Westfield SF

57/366 Inside Dome Westfield SF, a photo by bobmendo on Flickr.

Not a church, but the icon of worship in the modern world. A shopping centre. I'm not sure that Frank Lowy in Sydney who is the founder of Westfield or Abraham Levitt and his sons, William and Alfred, who created the shopping mall as we know it, in Levittown NY and Levittown NJ in the USA, would agree with me. They saw the mall as a place to find stores and consolidate shopping for customers. To make life easier for the consumer.

But I aver that the mall (and in 2nd place the sports arena) is the new 'house of worship.' Consumerism has replaced 'divine worship.' Sunday shopping has replaced liturgy (the work of the people).

It was scandalous in the 1950s when "Blue laws" were enacted to allow stores to open on Sundays. Today, however, closing shops on any one day of the week in compliance with biblical standards is shocking to many, and certainly disallowed by Westfield or Levittown centres.

Welcome to the new cathedral. The dome inside Westfield makes sense as a place of worship now, doesn't it?