Georgia Guidestones - Modern Monument Destroyed

An enigmatic monument has stood in rural Georgia since 1980. This mysterious structure was commissioned by an unknown man, on behalf of a secret group. The Georgia Guidestones were supposed to function as a kind of calendar, clock, and both a moral and physical compass. While the monument was designed to withstand catastrophes, it couldn't resist the powerful explosives set by vandals on 6 July 2022.

These erect stones offend me, I challenge them to a duel!

Controversial Message

Before we dive into the mystery of the construction of the Georgia Guidestones, let's take a look at the message that got it destroyed. This message takes the form of ten commandments, reminiscent of the Decalogue from Judeo-Christian mythology.

This decision to make a new set of ten commandments might have been the first step to destruction for the Georgia Guidestones. Christians have been known to be sensitive to what they perceive as religious persecution, or mockery. If the message of the stones had been wholly inoffensive, its format wasn't, at least not to some.

The monument consists of four massive upright granite stones, a massive capstone, and one explanatory tablet. Upon each of the eight sides of the upright stones, the new commandments were written. Each face of the monument had the same message written in a different language. The languages were chosen to represent most of the human race, while Hebrew was added as a nod to the creators' own faith. When the Georgia Guidestones still existed it carried its message in Swahili, English, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi.

Here are the ten commandments as they once appeared on the Georgia Guidestones:

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

2. Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.

3. Unite humanity with a living new language.

4. Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.

5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.

6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.

7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.

8. Balance personal rights with social duties.

9. Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.

10. Be not a cancer on the Earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.

"Absolutely despicable," Modern Don Quixote

Most of the commandments seem benign enough. But some seem to hint at a dark agenda. The most obvious of which is number 1. According to the Georgia Guidestones, the human population should not exceed 500 million. That's a big reduction from our current total of 7.9 Billion people. Are the stones calling for genocide?

The second commandment seems to point to a form of eugenics. If this commandment was to be implemented, couples would be selected to breed according to physical health and to maintain genetic diversity. No mention of genetic manipulation, but definitely selective breeding. That's a bit of a no-no, it was particularly popular among the Nazis.

Uniting humanity with a new living language could also be interpreted as a perversion of Judeo-Christian beliefs. According to their mythology, humanity once had a shared common language. This changed when the humans cooperated a little too well and were struck with a multitude of languages as punishment.

This new living language thing has been attempted already, and it failed spectacularly. Esperanto was supposed to be a universal language, but it never really caught on. I guess convincing everyone in the world to learn one new language was a bit of a stretch.

The fourth commandment says to rule passion, faith, and tradition with reason. This would mean that society should be run on logic as opposed to what people feel strongly about. Some might take offense to the idea that reason, or science, should govern faith, or religion.

Number five and six argue against systemic oppression and war. Both of these seem entirely benign and commendable. Number 7 may offend bureaucrats, and seems to hint at the Libertarian beliefs of the Georgia Guidestones' designers.

The 8th commandment argues for people to take responsibility for themselves within their society. It seems to be about pulling your own weight and not being a burden unto others. Number 9 is a bit vague, and some might be offended by the thought of "seeking harmony with the infinite". People tend to get offended by vaguely spiritual messages.

Lastly, the Georgia Guidestones command its viewers to "Be not a cancer upon the Earth". This view is a purely environmental one. Humanity's destruction of nature is nothing new, and reasonable people have been against it for a while. Nothing weird here.

Satanic Altar - The Georgia Guidestones Stole My Baby

Satan loves erect stones

Like most things that aren't overtly Christian, the Georgia Guidestones have been decried as Satanic. This is perhaps due to the aforementioned references to the Judeo-Christian Decalogue, or to the social control commandments. The stones fit snugly into the New World Order (NWO) conspiracy theory.

Everything being the work of Satan is also part of the Satanic Panic. This moral hysteria originated in the 1980s, just like the Georgia Guidestones, and has never really ended. To this day, Christians fear that the devil is secretly trying to sneak into their lives through things like energy drinks, cartoons, and cooperative games.

People that buy into and truly believe in conspiracy theories like these can be quite dangerous. While there definitely are some actual conspiracies out there, I find it unlikely that the devil is behind them. The most likely culprit is usually money, and the pursuit of greater wealth.

This brings us back to the NWO and the Georgia Guidestones. Where common sense would hold that the stones were erected as a tourist attraction, that doesn't seem to be the case. The Georgia Guidestones were erected in a field in the middle of nowhere, near a tiny town, and according to their creator's wishes there was to be no tourist-based commerce performed on the site. All of this secrecy and apparent desire to avoid monetizing the landmark seem suspicious, if you are obsessed with money.

Who doesn't need money? That's right, the New World Order!

Mystery of the Monument

The Georgia Guidestones were commissioned by a man named Robert C. Christian in 1979. He hired the Elberton Granite Finishing Company to create the monument on behalf of "a small group of loyal Americans".

Mr Christian was using a pseudonym, of course. He claimed that the name was a reference to his religious faith. This faith is likely where he got the idea to have ten commandments inscribed on his "American Stonehenge".

Joe Fendley, the proprietor of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company, believed that Christian was a "nut" and he quoted him an exorbitant amount for the project. Much to his surprise, the "nut" accepted the quote without batting an eye. The local bank, represented by Wyatt Martin, checked if Mr Christian actually had the funds to pay for the project.

That's where the only link to the truth of R.C. Christian comes in. He had to prove to Mr. Martin that he had the required funds, and as such he had to provide the banker with his real identity. The funds were verified, and the bank gave Joe Fendley the go ahead to begin work on the project.

Nothing but cold rational things happening here

Martin and Christian would keep up their correspondence for decades.

Mr Christian claimed to represent a group that had been planning the monument for over 20 years. He allegedly gave the contractors a shoebox containing a wooden model of the Guidestones along with 10 pages of detailed plans for its construction.

Several theories have been put forth concerning this group of loyal Americans. One of the most prominent is that R.C. Christian represents the Rosicrucian Order. R.C. obviously stands for "Rosy Cross". This Order became popular in the 17th century. They believe that certain ancient secrets exist that can grant insight into the spiritual realm, nature, and mankind itself. The Rosicrucians are a popular target for believers of the NWO conspiracy theory, along with others like the Freemasons, Illuminati, Lizard People, vague Global Elites, and probably every other thing you can imagine.

The Georgia Guidestones were unveiled by Doug Barnard Jr., a congressman. Few people knew of the stones' existence, and the grand opening of the monument only attracted around 300 people. The master of ceremonies read a message written by R.C. Christian to be gathered spectators:

"In order to avoid debate, we the sponsors of the Georgia Guidestones have a simple message for human beings, now and for the future. We believe our precepts are sound, and they must stand on their own merits."

Despite the lack of publicity, the Georgia Guidestones would grow to be a tourist attraction. The monument attracted as many as 22,000 people annually at the time of its destruction on July 6, 2022. This tourism would have benefitted the Elberton county financially.

Mr Christian transferred ownership of the Georgia Guidestones to the Elberton county shortly after the monument's erection. Someone claiming to be R.C. Christian published a book titled Common Sense Renewed in 1986, in which he had this to say about the monument:

"I am the originator of the Georgia Guidestones and the sole author of its inscriptions. I have had the assistance of a number of other American citizens in bringing the monument into being. We have no mysterious purposes or ulterior motives. We seek common sense pathways to a peaceful world, without bias for particular creeds or philosophies."

While all the conspiracy theories can be fun to think about, the likely answer to the first commandment is that the designers thought nuclear war was imminent. They lived during a time when the USA and Soviet Union could spark the end of the world at any moment. Perhaps they thought that the monument could lead the survivors of humanity to a better future post nuclear holocaust. Or they were Nazis, either way.

Was it Kersten or Christian?

What is it with old men and keeping every letter they ever received in a suitcase?

In 2015 a documentary titled Dark Clouds over Elberton: The True Story of the Georgia Guidestones claimed to have discovered R.C. Christian's true identity. The documentarians interviewed Wyatt Martin and convinced him to show them some of the letters that he had received from Mr Christian.

They managed to take note of the return address on one of the letters. R.C. Christian had written from a house in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Another piece of mail that Wyatt had kept was addressed to Mr Christian. This letter was from a Mr Merryman. The last letter that Wyatt Martin received from R.C. Christian was in 1998. Mr Christian stated in this letter that he was 78 years old.

The documentarians got in touch with the publishers of R.C. Christian's book, Common Sense Renewed, and learned that it had been published by a man named Robert Merryman. By digging around in Robert Merryman's disclosed political campaign finances, they found a man named Herbert Hinzie Kersten. Kersten owned the address in Fort Dodge that the letters had originated from.

According to the documentarians, the name Kersten is a Low German variant of Christian. They also discovered that the two men had been friends, at least in the account given by Merryman's nephew, Kurt Wilke.

Kersten died on 10 July 2005, and his obituary read:

"a naturalist who was very involved in environmental and world population issues"

A local historian named William Sayles Doan claimed that Kersten had been well known in the community for his views on population control. Mr Doan also said that Kersten was a notorious racist and had been friends with infamous eugenics advocate, William Shockley.

Built to Specification - Astronomical Features

The devil's in the details, or it's Space

The stones weren't impressive simply because they had multilingual rules etched into their surface. Neither was it the fact that they were 19 feet tall and weighed several tonnes. Other features had been specified and crafted to line up with astronomical events, much like ancient monuments.

A channel bored into the stone indicates the celestial pole, the point at which the Earth rotates about its axis. Another slot, in the capstone, lights up at noon throughout the year. There is also a slot to track the annual travel of the sun.

These astronomical feutures are clearly an attempt at imitating Stonehenge and other monolithic sites from history. Strangely, this modern attempt seems a bit crude by comparison.

According to the Explanatory tablet, there was a time capsule buried six feet under the monument. The date to unearth the capsule was left unetched. This leaves only one question, if the Georgia Guidestones were meant to be so resilient as to withstand global catastrophe then how would the survivors be able to remove it to get at the time capsule?

Dig it up whenever, see if we care

Boom! Goes the Dynamite

On July 6 2022, in the early morning, neighbors felt and heard a massive explosion. Security footage caught the vandalism and a car fleeing the scene shortly thereafter.

The explosives failed to completely destroy the monument. Only the Hindi/Swahili slab was destroyed, but the capstone was severely damaged in the blast.

Authorities tore down the remaining stones later that same day for safety reasons. They also dug underneath the monument in search of the time capsule, but were unable to find it, so it may never have existed.

Or did they find it, and the secrets held within were too dangerous to release to the public?! Probably not.