Pursuant to my crisis of faith in art….
“Christians Demand Removal of ‘Satanic’ 10 Commandments” is the title of this news article at worldnetdaily.com Read it if you like (there are some hilarious bits I don’t touch on here) basically it says that a Christian organization called “The Resistance for Christ” is pressuring a community in Georgia to tear down a monument built “under a cloud of mystery” that sits on private land. The commandments that are sand-blasted into granite tablets are:
* Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
* Guide reproduction wisely improving fitness and diversity.
* Unite humanity with a living new language.
* Rule passion faith tradition and all things with tempered reason.
* Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
* Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
* Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
* Balance personal rights with social duties.
* Prize truth beauty love seeking harmony with the infinite.
* Be not a cancer on the Earth leave room for nature leave room for nature.
The article goes on with a lot of speculation from all sides that casts the stone’s origins to an almost Lovecraftian conspiracy.
Now whether or not I agree with any of these “commandments” the real question is this: why was this monument erected? Was it for art’s sake alone? Was it a literal monument to faith – a modern day religious artifact? Or a combination of both? To me, this smacks of social commentary more than sermonizing, and the fact that the answer to this question is not 100% clear is its greatest merit.
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