SIR,-1 wonder whether James Hosking has seen for himself the
cathedral he so readily denigrates? SIR,-1 wonder whether James Hosking has seen for himself the cathedral he so readily denigrates?
'Artists inspired by their interpretation of art in connection with an academic sense of piety.' What on earth does this mean?
Obviously, Mr. Hosking is a sentimentalist, which explains his muddleheadedness.
Sentimentalism is the blight on religion in our country.
It makes Englishmen drool over old cathedrals and village churches although they are not in- terested in the Church's difficulties amidst a sel- fish, materialistic society.
Sentimentalism is the basis of the play-a-straight- bat 'religion' of most of the public schools.
It inflicts on us those dreadful C. of E. memorial services at which there is an orgy of back-patting in an atmosphere of beery (or brandy) cheerfulness.
And it must be blamed for Mr. Hosking's mon- strous statement that Coventry lacks the deep reli- gious sincerity of the old cathedrals.
The impact of Coventry Cathedral on the Chris- tian, and the 'fringer,' is sharp. At every turn the visi- tor meets a challenge and receives a message.
Since, even to please the Hoskings, Coventry could not be provided with an old cathedral, the alternative to Basil Spence was sham Gothic. Thank God, we have been spared that.
Previous page
