Back in April, Wired magazine published a story on the history of a strange monument in rural Elberton, Georgia (“granite capital of the world”) known as the Georgia Guidestones. The monument consists of four 16-foot-high slabs of granite arranged around a central column and topped with a capstone weighing 25,000 pounds. Carved onto the face of each slab is a list of ten precepts for creating a better society, written in eight modern languages. On the four sides of the capstone are written the words, “Let These Be Guidestones to An Age of Reason” in Sanskrit, Babylonian cuneiform, Classical Greek, and Egyptian hieroglyphs. The central column and capstone are also equipped with holes, astronomically aligned so that the Guidestones can serve as a compass and clock.
The popular consensus is that these stones were meant to survive a global apocalypse and aid survivors in creating a new, enlightened society. Unveiled in 1980, and built by an unknown party, the monument has stood for nearly thirty years outside of town, attracting the curious to Elberton. However, in the last ten years the Guidestones have garnered the attention of conspiracy theorists, who see their message as anti-Christian and a call for a global government. This new reading of the Guidestones ultimately led vandals to deface the monument sometime in December 2008.
The official story of the Guidestones’ origin is that Joe Fendley Sr., president of the Elberton Finishing Company, was contacted in 1979 by one “Robert C. Christian” to commission a monument. Christian was a pseudonym used by someone representing “a small group of loyal Americans who believe in God.” Fendley has since died, but Randall Sullivan of Wired interviewed Wyatt Martin, the president of Granite City Bank and the only living man who allegedly met Christian. As the project’s banker, Martin allegedly learned Christian’s true name but will not reveal it. Martin claims he received letters and phone calls from Christian until “around the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks” and assumes Christian is dead; though some believe Christian never existed. While construction was still underway, Martin and Fendley were accused of perpetuating a hoax, either out of amusement or to promote Fendley’s business. Both men took lie detector tests, which they passed. Sullivan suggests that the hoax rumor may have come from rival granite workers.
According to Jim Miles (author of Weird Georgia), shortly after the Guidestones were unveiled, a local minister stated his suspicion that “Mr. Christian is not a Christian” and that the monument was designed for the worship of the sun as well as the devil. Contemporary Pagans, UFO buffs, and New Agers were naturally attracted by the mystery of the site. New myths were created that the monument was built upon a “power-nexus” or a place sacred to Native Americans. One legend holds that visitors who point both arms at the monument (one palm up, one palm down) will receive a psychic message from the stones. Another Guidestone admirer, Yoko Ono, composed a three-movement score entitled “Georgia Stone.”
In 2000, Dr. Reagan R. Davis, a Christian minister, visited the stones and concluded that the Guidestones may well describe the ten commandments of the Antichrist. Particularly upsetting were the precepts to “Maintain humanity under 500 million in perpetual balance with nature,” “Guide reproduction wisely encouraging fitness and diversity,” and “Let all nations rule internally, resolving external disputes in a world court.” Davis interpreted these messages as a call for a world government, a policy of state-sponsored eugenics, and the culling of billions of people. This new interpretation elevated the Guidestones from mere local curiosity to the subject of national notoriety among conspiracy theorists and Christian dispensationalists.
Conspiracy buffs were quick to point out the similarities between the pseudonym “R.C. Christian” and Christian Rosenkreuz, the legendary founder of the esoteric Rosicrucian Order. (Documents attributed to Rosenkreuz were signed “Frater C.R.C.”). Christians added that The Age of Reason is also the title of a book by Thomas Paine, which challenges the inerrancy of the Bible. Through numerous Web sites and talk radio programs, a narrative eventually emerged in which the Guidestones (along with ancient esoteric societies like the Masons, eugenics, perceived anti-Christian hostility, and globalization) were all part of a single monolithic entity known as the “New World Order.”
The goal of the New World Order is the creation of a single world government and the destruction of national sovereignty and religion. A significant number of Christian dispensationalists subscribe to this view and believe that the New World Order was foretold in the Book of Revelation. In 2005, Mark Dice (using the pseudonym “John Connor” in reference to the Terminator film franchise) organized a Christian group opposed to the New World Order called “The Resistance” and began a campaign to have the monument destroyed. In 2007, radio personality and filmmaker Alex Jones released a documentary entitled Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement, outlining a plan by the Bilderberg group and other global elites to exterminate eighty percent of humanity. The Georgia Guidestones are cited as primary evidence of this plot.
The call of The Resistance was eventually answered with an attack on the stones by vandals who used a can of red spray-paint to write messages such as, “The elite want 80% of us dead,” “9-11 inside job,” “Obama iz a Muslim,” and “Council on Foreign Relations is ran by the Devil.” The stones were also splashed with polyurethane, which is especially difficult to remove. The vandalism has been celebrated on numerous Web sites discussing the New World Order’s agenda; with only a few dissenting voices pointing out that any assault on free speech, even the free speech of an anonymous cabal, threatens the rights of all. The vandalism of the Guidestones seems to be a classic case of an eccentric and lofty idea under assault by the hoi polloi. In fact, a letter from the monument’s benefactors printed by the Elberton Granite Finishing Company predicted just such a scenario. They ask that the people of Elberton County restore the stones should they be “scattered by people of little understanding.”
The short history of the Guidestones has parallels with the history of other mysterious messages and prophesies. It seems plausible that whoever invented the name “R. C. Christian”—be this an actual cabal or Fendley and Martin—had some knowledge of Rosicrucianism. (Fendley was active in the local Shrine Club where he could have been exposed to Rosicrucian lore.) There are interesting similarities between the Guidestones and the origin of the Rosicrucian legend.
A European preoccupation with the mysterious Rosicrucian order began in Germany with the appearance of two anonymous documents in the early 17th century: Fama Fraternitatis and Confessio Fraternitatis. Clearly someone wrote these documents although, much like the Guidestones, there is little evidence to determine whether these messages were a legitimate manifesto from a secret brotherhood or an elaborate hoax. But regardless of their origin, the excitement generated in the wake of anonymous messages is very real. Numerous modern esoteric groups claim a connection to the Rosicrucians just as conspiracy theorists regard the Guidestones as vital evidence of a demonic globalist agenda.
Another interesting parallel can be drawn between the Guidestones and the Book of Revelation. Both are texts of little-known origin warning of future peril. These conditions allow for historical-critical as well as dispensationalist readings of both messages. Scholars believe the Book of Revelation was written sometime in the first century and is a warning to early Christians not to conform to the evils of Greco-Roman society. Although the Guidestones were constructed relatively recently, they too have a historical context. The letter from the Guidestones’ benefactors describes the problem of global overpopulation and warns that, “Armageddon can be prevented.”
Whoever planned the monument in 1979 most likely imagined that Armageddon would take the form of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. “R.C. Christian” could not possibly have predicted the events referenced by the vandals, such as the attacks of September 11 or the election of Barack Obama. But Dice, and others like him, read the Guidestones much as they read the Book of Revelation: not as historical artifacts but as important clues to understanding current events. Stripping the messages of their historical contexts allows them to converge, so that they mutually confirm a dualistic cosmology in which Christians must battle the New World Order. Thus, evidence of the New World Order’s unfolding plot can be found both in the Book of Revelation and in the Georgia Guidestones. Likewise, Dice’s use of the pseudonym “John Connor” is very telling. Like the character in Terminator, he likely sees himself as one who knows the future and is fighting to prevent it from happening.
The history of the Guidestones is ultimately an interesting study in the heterogeneous nature of symbols. To build something so extraordinary with so little explanation created a vacuum of meaning. Much like the Guidestones’ inspiration, Stonehenge, this caused new meanings to be invented. The Guidestones are essentially a spiritual and political Rorschach test onto which any number of ideas can be imposed. Pagans and New Agers created new myths and rituals, imbuing the stones with sacred reverence. For others, the monument is not the marker of a sacred space but the evidence of a demonic plot. Should the Guidestones survive for centuries as their creators intended, many more meanings could arise, equally unrelated to the designer’s original intention.
Tags: anti-christ, book of revelation, dispensationalists, georgia, georgia guidestones, native american, new age, new world order, rosicrucians, thomas paine, wired magazine
Mr. Laycock, I really appreciate your comments on using the historical-critical approach to both the Guidestones and the Book of Revelation. That helps put this whole thing into perspective wonderfully. And I like your phrase about the "vacuum of meaning" that surrounds symbols, so that the vacuum can then be filled in with whatever meanings an interpreter likes. Thank you for an interesting article.
Since the article only mentioned a few of the tenets, I was curious about the rest. I'd heard of the Guidestones, but knew little about them. They actually seem more like a distillation of common sense on a global scale, to me.
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
- When I was small, in the 50's, there were about 2bn people on earth. And while our level of technology was a long way off, in many ways, life was good. With fewer people, resources went further, and the middle class flourished, unlike the neo-feudal society of today. The earth could sustain 1-2 bn people, I think, but NOT what we have today, and rapidly increasing. (Read the old Frederic Pohl "Space Merchants" classics for a look at what we are becoming.)
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
- And this is wrong, how? Some people really should NOT have children. I constantly hear well-off people on the Right saying health insurance is a privilege and not a right, and poor people and old people deserve to die off. So making parenthood a privilege and not a right would be so bad? At least you are not depriving existing people of their right to life through callous neglect.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
- This might be hard to do, and though I see a rationale for it, I would hope it would not stamp out all the rich cultural heritage inherent in language. Perhaps it would be an engineered language learned as a second language...
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
- EXCELLENT advice!!! And very much the view of Deists.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
- What's not to like about this? I think it is the ideal toward which all governments should strive.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
- Far from suggesting a "New World Order", I see this as encouraging sovereignty and discouraging wars. Would it not have been better to negotiate between Iraq and the US than for us to invade a sovereign nation with disastrous consequences? This would also help nations protect their own resources: no more blood for oil.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
- Amen, amen. Doesn't this sound a bit like the Libertarian view? Bloated bureaucracies and voluminous lawbooks are a result of bloated population, not of government per se.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
- Excellent! Don't most people believe this is the right path? We just don't tread there often enough. We tend to polarize towards one or the other, depending on how authoritarian our personality is.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
- Again, this sounds a bit Deistic - at least of the panentheist branch (Spinoza's God). Back in the 60's and 70's, when the world was speeding up, there was a movement to "Take time to smell the flowers". We need that even more today. Now I will go read "Desiderata" again, LOL. It was my guide back then.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.
- Humanity IS a cancer on the earth in the present numbers, especially the part of humanity that lives the "First World" lifestyle, happily destroying Nature for profit. Fewer of us, living more lightly, and living more slowly, would be so much better, but our whole outlook would have to evolve away from competition and to cooperation.
If you do the calculations you will find that the Earth can sustain 14 billion. Population control is an excuse of the rich to hoard the world's resources without having to share while pretending to help people.
God gave everyone the right to procreate. He has sovereignty over human life. The human race is not a cancer, it was created to care for creation, not to destroy it without just cause. Religion isn't the problem, it's evil people who use religion as an excuse to do evil. These precepts speak of an Orwell 1984 totalitarian society where everything is regulated bu the state.
If the entire world is under a totalitarian regime that thinks it is God and can have his sovereignty over our lives, there will be nowhere to hide, and that is exactly what these precepts are mandating- control of the world by people who think human beings are a disease. The real disease is sin. Sin happens when we chose what is best for us at the expense of everyone else and God's laws
People tell me they are happier when they obey God-He cares about everyone. He doesn't pick and chose who he'll help and who he'll leave to rot
Well, if the poor, uneducated, cancers of society are procreating like wild rabbits who will care for the offspring? The rich with their tax dollars and their charitable contributions.
Here in my neck of the world, E.TN, we have a large problem with uncontrolled procreation. Our Orphanages are full, our foster care system is maxed out, and the H.S. drop out rate climbs every year. Kids are starving and dieing right here because of the "God Given Right to Procreate".
BIRTH CONTROL NOW!
Calvinists would disagree with that God picks who will rot and who won't. Quite deliberately in fact.
I for one think that the christian concept of god is fictional, based on a book filled with scientific and historical inaccuracies, and contradictions.
Destroy creation without just cause? My friend, we destroy the planet, we destroy ourselves, and it will live to tell the tale.
Perhaps the Earth CAN sustain 14 bn. But imagine the quality of life - or, rather, the lack of it. We already have a downward spiral because there are more people than jobs, and poverty is resulting. It doesn't help that the people who are procreating at the highest rate are those at the bottom of the economic food chain. Life was better from a shared resources point of view when the population of Earth was 2 bn, and I can remember those days.
"God" did not give anyone the right to act outside of reason. Of course, if you believe the creation myth, you probably believe that no matter what a hash we make of things, "God" will return and make it all right. He will practice his own form of population control, right?
People are happier when they "obey God"? Hmm. Well, which God? Does it matter? I suppose a devout Christian and a devout Hindu are both sipping the same Kool-Aid, different flavor. How about using one's reason to determine which course benefits both self and society/environment?
I do believe in evil, but I don't believe in the Biblical concept of "sin". Sin is there to provide control over the masses, and whether it is the state or the church doing the controlling doesn't seem to matter all that much.
Do read Frederic Pohl's "Space Merchants" books for a glimpse at runaway population and consumerism.
Excellent analysis! I hope you don't mind that I have copied your response and sent it to several people. Wonderful research!
thanks
Wierd things are happening in the run up to the second coming of Jesus Christ upon this earth. There will indeed be a new world order, but it will be good. It will be the fulfilment of the petition in the Lord's Prayer, that the Kingdom of God be definitively established upon this earth, that God's we be accomplished upon the Earth as it is in Heaven. No same-sex marriage, no pornography, no divorce, no crime, no murder or robbery or rape or anything else that is bad. No abortion.
God will clean up our act.
Prepare for the removal of satan from his throne upon this earth.
Good will triumph over evil. And unmarried men will stop fornicating with their girlfriends.
Libraries with chuck out all those pornographic novels.
Pray and be patient, and don't be deceived by those New Age misguided people.
You have your version of the truth, and I have mine, and everyone else has theirs. There is no universal Truth, unless it is that summed up in the Golden Rule, "Do unto others...", which shows up in pretty much every religion - including Pagan ones.
Perhaps it is you that is "misguided"???
LOL, like most Christian Fundamentalist/Literalists, you concentrate almost all of your "shalt nots" on sexual issues. Jesus didn't talk much about those, evidently, but Paul sure did. Maybe you are really a Paulian, and not a Christian?
Maybe a Christian view of Heaven on Earth would concentrate more heavily on no poverty, no pollution, no hunger, no war, etc., and not on no sex.
I've never seen a "pornographic" book in a library - at least not a public library! Maybe your definition of "pornography" is a little more broad than mine, though.
Does your post imply that men like Mark Sanford, a bible thumper, will quit his getting down with it? And men like Ted Haggard? How about folk like Richard Roberts? Gary Aldridge?
Maybe what you are saying is that the so called church might actually remove the forest from their own eyes before mentioning the speck in some one elses.
www.christiananswersforthenewage.org expands on this topic!
Christians don't have answers for this age, let alone the new age!
jesus blew it.
If the author is looking at these comments, I'd like to formally ask for the source(s) of the assertion that Fendley was a Shriner.
Thanks.
Hi Terry,
The Wireless piece has a link to a PDF version of a document about the Guidestones. On p. 6 it states that Fendley was "a very active member of the Shrine Club" and suspected that Mr. Christian's proposal was a prank by another club member.
Thanks. Much appreciated.
I find it curious that there are 10 of these values or attitudes and that it is constructed in the shape it is constructed. I can see from the responces that people of all beliefs come to this post. I can only speak as a christian as that is my belief. I do believe the the bible is the word of God and it is living. That doesn't give me much wiggle room. Until someone believes that there is no meeting of the minds.
I don't see that any of these are in contradiction to the Christian Bible. I think you really have to try to read into them to find such contradictions.
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