The author of How Proust Can Change Your Life discovers that religion can too.
Religions, he thinks, have the buttons and know how to use them. His book considers the Catholic mass, early Christianitiy’s ritual of agape or love feasts, and Jewish Passover rituals to explore how religions encouraged us to overcome fear of strangers and create communities. He then tentatively imagines a so-called “agape restaurant” where, instead of dining with like-minded friends, you would be invited to eat with strangers. It would be the antithesis of Facebook
from “Alain de Botton: a life in writing,” by Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, 20 January 2012 :: via more than 95 theses
Jan 21, 2012, updated Mar 31, 2025