Not that I disagree it CAN be a distraction, but more for the sake of arguement, this is the same logic that prompted the removal of all the stained glass, statues, and reredos in many American churches. That stuff was “distracting” from the mass, and we need utilitarian blank worship spaces since we all suffer from collective ADD and couldn’t possibly concentrate if there were something else around to look at.
/QUOTE]
I see your point, but I see a difference in the application of this logic, namely that the original purpose of the stained glass windows, statues, etc. was to help with the worship at Mass, not to distract from it (and these were used centuries before we all got collective ADD
), whereas I can’t see how placing raffle tickets and advertismements in the pews could be seen as helpful to concentrating on the Mass. The discussion on this thread reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Lisa converts to Buddhism, because the Christian church in Springfield becomes very commercialized (complete with a money changer at the entrance
). While that’s obviously an exaggeration, nevertheless, as others have pointed out in their posts, we have to be careful to keep our places of worship sacred.
