Monument to syncretism or somethng else?
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Via NYer at Free Republic is this monument sponsored by Les Jésuites de Sudbury.
Peace represented by a dove, a Christian Cross and the symbols in each of the letters A(lpha) and O(mega) represents the 12 current religions.
Well at least the is Cross is distinctly at the top. Instead of seeing this as a monument to syncretism we can give this monument other names such as "The Hierarchy of Truth" or "One faith to rule them all." Now those would be great plaques. I am sure some of my readers can come up with their own.
I must admit to not knowing what all the symbols stand for. Though one commenter at FR points out that the "hand on the dress" symbol represents Jainism (though they left off the swastika). I thought the "hand on the dress" symbol was the official religion of Bill Clinton.
Of course the symbols for Judaism, Islam, Buddha, and the Yin Yang are easily recognizable, less so are the ones for Baha'i, Omkar and I am not sure about the others.
Though being a fan of Led Zeppelin I am rather upset that they forgot this one especially considering that this monument is on Grotto Mountain. I mean for a monument of peace who can forget Led Zep's classic song Whole Grotto Love and of course Stairway to Heaven?
The Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie is the source of the pictures. Their parish directory is really helpful. They have some email addresses I have been looking for for a long time such as:
holyspirit@diocesessm.org
holytrinity@diocesessm.org
motherofgod@diocesessm.org
staugustin@persona.ca
stambrose@diocesessm.org
stfrancoisxavier@diocesessm.org
stgabriel@diocesessm.org
stjerome@diocesessm.org
stpiusx@diocesessm.org
I just hope my requests for intercession don't get rejected as spam.
Known as 
Given that this is "modern" art, so to speak, and has a certain panache that announces a prediliction to such esoterica as astrology, it seems to be missing a symbol for Scientology. Given our current high state of civilization, it seems barren without it.
In offending no one and including everyone, you say nothing, you challenge no one, you go nowhere. Seems funny to spend time and money on something like this - all to say nothing.
It's like these polls where you call in to vote, and there's a small fee. The answers are "I agree" "I disagree" and "I don't know." Who in the world pays money to say "I don't know."? There's always a few of them. Maybe they're the same ones pushing this kind of art.
Yeesh.
I thought that the symbol in the middle on the left side in the second image was actually part of that radio signal we sent into space back in the 1970s.
Maybe it's supposed to be in honor of folks who think our religions were given to us by aliens. They suggested as much in The X-Files, so it must be true, right?
Yuck. Let's have a monument to math, sort of like this:
2+2=4
2+2=3+1
2+2=IV
2+2=5
2+2=3.7
2+2=22
2+2=5923
2+2= 123989812398123738883814991991990023001
2+2=cotangent
2+2=(all numbers except 4)
2+2=peaches
2+2=I HATE YOU
2+2=(I don't care about anything, including myself)
Such a thing would be dull, and misleading.
Perhaps it is a template like the "WingDings" or other such fonts. Even a dictionary has strange juxtapositions, heaven before hell, death before life; judgement comes after condemnation and before mercy...
Speaking mathematically, the cross is the sign of reality as only real numbers give positive squares - all others are imaginary or complex. So I wonder when - ah - certain people - will protest the ASCII for 0x2b.
Chesterton has lots more on the cross as symbol and those who fight it; see his The Ball and the Cross for a good discussion.
I think it looks great.
If you like dumb things.
The symbol on the right just under Buddha is the sign of the Sikh faith. We have quite a number of them in Silicon Valley. Their men wear turbans (and ceremonial knives, iirc,) and neither the men nor women cut their hair. Just in case you're curious... :-)
BTW, does that Sikh symbol remind anybody else of the Rebel Alliance logo?
I think most sheet metal fabricated sculpture -- the cheapest of all mediums, with exception to dung -- is pretty embarassing looking. When you combine it with a shallow concept the only thought it provokes in me is: "I wonder if it'll fit in the 'aluminum only' recycle bin down the street?"
Actually, the Cross isn't on top. The dove is. (At least, I think that's a dove. Perhaps I should say, I hope that's a dove.)
It seems depressingly predictable that the dove is not descending, but rather in a sort of horizontal or perhaps slightly ascending attitude.
Peace,
--Peter