An atheist 'temple'

Okay, with this, Alain de Botton is really going too far:

De Botton's most recent book, Religion for Atheists, calls for unbelievers to copy the major religions and build grand architectural masterpieces to inspire a sense of perspective in people. He argues that a temple doesn't need to be dedicated to a religion: "You can build a temple to anything that's positive and good. That could mean: a temple to love, friendship, calm or perspective".

He added: "Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land? It's time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals. A beautiful building is an indispensable part of getting your message across. Books alone won't do it."

If this doesn't sound strange enough, you ought to know that de Botton is serious enough about his 'atheist temple' project to actually begin designing it. According to Wired:

Putting his money where his mouth is, De Botton has begun work on just such a temple. The first has been designed by Tom Greenall Architects, and is a concept for a 46-metre-tall black tower, sat in the City of London. The height is symbolic of the 4.6 billion-year age of the Earth, and right at the bottom will be a millimetre-thick band of gold that represents humanity's brief existence within that life.

The way in which de Botton's atheistic religion-envy has manifested itself is unusual indeed. Temples, among other staples of religious life, are completely unnecessary for non-believers, and for other reasons beside the obvious lack of any desire to gather together and convince ourselves of what we believe for another week. It just seems completely ridiculous and contemptible to me — the whole thing. I'm in no position to say if this enthusiasm stems from de Botton's love of architecture or religion, but I'm inclined to say the former. But it's all awfully strange, isn't it?