Idolatry

[poliphilo]

Someone swung from a flag depending from the side of the Cenotaph, someone else chopped up the famous Glastonbury thorn. Cue widespread outrage.

The flag swinging was the exploit of a silly young ass high on adrenalin and who knows what else. No damage was done. The attack on the Glastonbury thorn may have been an act of revenge on the owner of the land- who is currently implicated in a case of serious fraud. The thorn has been chopped down before- and replanted. The current tree on the site- far from being of great antiquity as its mourners tend to assume- was planted in 1952- which makes it younger than I am. 

I despise cultural vandalism, but the best way to be defended against it is not to turn things into idols. The Cenotaph is a big block of stone, the Glastonbury thorn is just a tree. They are not the things they represent.  An idea- if it's a good idea-  survives the desecration of its symbols. 

Comments

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

Agree absolutely that there is a separate problem about unchecked mobs and mindless destruction - was simplistically addressing the question about idolatry - thank you for putting me straight about another aspect

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

The really, really long-term part of me thinks, well... Over the centuries and millenia, will it really matter? Continents shift, coastlines change, the buildings and monuments we fight tooth and nail to protect will end up as so much dust. My name is Ozymandias, etc...

Oh, dear. I'm all doom and gloom tonight. It's probably the news that the Scottish Government is imminently going to be rethinking the tuition fees issue themselves. Ah well, the last bastion of sanity is going to tumble:-(