All-over western countries, since a couple of decades there’s a clear trend, that leads to the dismission of religious buildings. The main reasons for that are the following: crisis of religious vocations; loss of faith; not regular frequentation of churches; and so on. For instance, in Italy about 17 parishes are suppressed or incorporated per year. The page is about what happens to eventual abandoned religious buildings.
The change of destination of religious buildings provokes the following eventualities: repurpose or conversion, either in the field of religion, or for irreligious activities, generally after a procedure of solemn desacralization; demolition; mere factual abandonment. Unluckily, mere factual abandonment is the eventuality more frequent, and unwanted consequences might derive. A list of improper uses of abandoned religious buildings: profane activities, in the field of businesses or housing; illegal occupation of squatters; vandalism; satanism and satanic rites. Sometimes, abandoned religious buildings might simply remain empty and out of duty. In those cases, normally there’s a lack of manutention, and a progressive ruin, that cause the structure to become dangerous, because subject to partial or total collapse.
As you can easily imagine, when faith leaves religious buildings, the religion itself is damaged. There are ideologies and philosophies affirming that “religion is the opium of people”, without considering that any illusive vision, of any kind, might have an analogue validity, at least on the ground of abstract rationality. In reality, conscious and informed consensus is the only source of relative validity, the unique kind of validity that the man can get, with notable efforts. There are many religions in the world, although the most followed are 4-5. Sadly, some religions, or religious authorities, don’t always teach non-violence, and moral rectitude. However, I think I can say that often religions popularize humility, prudence, and obedience, two virtues and one behavior socially precious. For that, the dismission of religious buildings is a sign of moral decadence, a social situation of peril for fundamental values. When certain values are lost or weakened, there’s room for more and more of envy and hate, the most destructive feelings of mankind.
Coming to music, the mix of the page contains songs talking about religious buildings, such as churches, sanctuaries, cathedrals, monasteries, abbeys, etc. The peculiarity is that a part of the buildings of the lyrics are mere figments of imagination, and represent elements of a metaphor. Of course, self-made sanctuaries make the mix highly suitable to the blog.
File name is “religious buildings subject to vanish, by Max Look DJ (Mar 2026)”, about 1 hour and 22’ of music dedicated to religious buildings, sometimes real, and sometimes imaginary.
Places for cults, the playlist:
Intro: Van Halen – cathedral (1982)
Beach Boys – chapel of love (1976)
DC Larue – cathedrals (Maurice Fulton extended mix, 2021)
Tenth Avenue North – cathedrals (2014)
Master KG feat Nomcebo – Jerusalema (2018)
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties – alone at St. Luke’s (2024)
DJ Oji and Una – we lift our hands in the sanctuary (DJ Spen MF mix, 2017)
The New Vaudeville Band – Winchester Cathedral (1966)
Renzo Mori – Madonina (1936)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – cathedral (1977)
Keane – she sells sanctuary (2007)
Big Big Train – keeper of abbeys (2013)
Lyle Lovett – church (1992)
Horrible Histories – the monks’ song (2010)
Welshly Arms – sanctuary (2018)
Green Day – church on Sunday (2000)
Ice Cube feat Snoop Dogg & Lil Jon – go to church (dirty, 2010)
Fall Out Boy – church (2018)
Jay-Z & Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream – no church in the wild (2011)
De La Soul – church (2004)
