The Georgia Guidestones: America's Stonehenge

Four chunks of polished granite, each sixteen feet tall, under a 25,000 pound capstone, arranged into a star formation, stand waiting in Georgia's Northeast county of Elberton. What are they waiting for? Why, the apocalypse, of course.

At the time of its construction, and many would argue still to this day, Elberton County is the granite capitol of the world. It was chosen by a man who called himself R.C. Christian (a pseudonym) to be the location to commission the building of and the placement of what would come to be called the "Georgia Guidestones". The stone monument would serve the world through its written message. The message was written in the eight major languages of the world, with the translation of each major language taking up an entire side of each sixteen foot tall slab. Christian contracted the work of Elberton Granite Finishing to produce the massive monument and discussed the plans for the monument with Joe Fendley, the company president at the time. At first, Fendley almost brushed off Christian on the grounds that his company would only deal with wholesalers, not the general public. Fendley became interested in the project when he realized exactly how big the monument would be. At that time, in 1979, no other monument of the size that Christian was requesting had ever been quarried.

Even though Fendley spoke directly with Christian, it became obvious that Christian wanted as much anonymity as possible. The most detailed information which Christian revealed about himself to Fendley was that he represented a group of God fearing Americans who wanted to leave a message for future generations. The message to be inscribed on the monument would not be sectarian, nationalistic, or political. The monument would also function as a clock, calendar, and compass. This was accomplished through carefully placed holes carved through the granite at specific locations which would utilize the light of the sun to function properly.

The only person Christian revealed his true identity to was a man by the name of Wyatt C. Martin, then president of the Granite City Bank. The information which Christian revealed about himself to Martin was used to conduct a personal and financial background investigation to ensure that Christian could indeed pay for such a project. Christian agreed to reveal his true identity on the conditions that a confidentiality agreement be signed by Martin, that Martin be the sole intermediary for the project, and that any documentation of the project be destroyed upon its completion.

The location of the monument was of great importance to Christian. He wanted it to be in an area of remoteness, far from tourists. He also wanted it in an area of fair weather, so as to be given the most opportunity to last throughout the ages. Christian finally settled on a five acre plot of land on a private farm about eight miles north of Elberton. In exchange for the five acre plot, the farm owners received a fair cash payment, grazing rights for the farm owner's cattle, and granted the contract to lay the foundation for the monument to the construction company also owned by the farm owner. When the location was decided on, Christian cut off contact with Fendley and communicated only through Martin. When contact was made, it was through written correspondence, always originating from a different U.S. city, to maintain anonymity. Shortly after the project began, Christian communicated to Martin that he wanted ownership of the land to be transferred to Elberton County.

On March 22, 1980, the unveiling of what has been called the American Stonehenge was conducted. It was a public affair, witnessed by some 400 visitors. Some were skeptical of the monuments. Many believed that the whole project was dreamed up by Fendley and Martin as some publicity stunt. Accusations became so deafening that the two men agreed to a lie detector test to prove that they had nothing to do with the idea of building the monument. Both men passed. Others felt that the message scrawled on the surface of the monument was "the devil's work", worried that devil worshipers and other pagans would make the monument a sort of "Mecca" for drunken orgies and sacrifices.

Christian and Martin did keep in touch through written correspondence. The two men became pen pals of sorts. Every once in a while, when Christian was back in Georgia, he would call Martin from a pay phone, and the two would meet for dinner and conversation. Christian successfully maintained the anonymity of the group of Americans which he represented throughout all those years of correspondences and dinner meetings. Eventually, Martin just stopped asking. Martin has not been in contact with Christian since around the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It is very possible that Christian has since passed away.

The message on the monument is written in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, and Swahili. The original English translation, as found on the large slab of granite on the five acre plot of land in Georgia, is as follows:

"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 message of the monument seems to be one of a peaceful world government, united by one language and one world court to handle disputes (instead of war). It also advocates a respect of nature and recommends that in order to maintain harmony with nature; the human population should be maintained to fewer than 500,000,000 at any given time. The importance of nature to the group represented by Christian is emphasized by the fact that the sentence "Leave room for nature" is repeated at the close of the passage. Note that these rules are not for a new spiritual beginning, but a human one, so that the Earth may live and strive for our future generations of children.

Plenty of conspiracy theories are floating around the web as to what group Christian represented. A simple web search of the Georgia Guidestones will reveal those who note Satanic cults, the Masons, and various other
ancient holy orders as being responsible for constructing the monument. There also exist various groups calling for the removal and even demolition of the monument, calling it a work of evil.

Whoever R.C. Christian really was, and whoever he represented, this was the message that he and his group wanted the world to hear. For the most part, the Georgia Guidestones advocates an overtly peaceful existence for the human race. Whether or not this existence will ever be realized, it may be too soon to tell. It would be fair to say, though, that the current "green revolution" taking place in America, and the rest of the world, would put a bit of a smile on Christian's face. Coincidence or not, the green revolution isn't a bad start for a monument that's only been standing for about thirty years.

Sources:

America Unhenged. Roadside America.

Randall Sullivan. American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse. Wired Magazine.

The Georgia Guidstones. Radio Liberty.