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Starved prisoners, nearly dead from hunger, po...Image via Wikipedia

In response to the posting, “The Ratline of Escape of Adolf Eichmann, Josef Mengele Ran through Pope Pius XII’s VaticanIn which it explains how Germany is fighting to keep sealed the Adolf Eichmann files detailing the years the Holocaust chief logistical organizer spent on the run before he was captured by Mossad agents.

Those hoping to have a 50-year secrecy order overturned believe the government is embarrassed by details within that may prove German and Vatican officials colluded in his escape and freedom…..Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Gabriel Wilensky, author of Six Million Crucifixions writes:

Hopefully this will trigger further disclosure. Eichmann was not the only one the Vatican helped escape Justice. The notorious Vatican Ratlines also gave shelter and the means and logistics to escape to:

- Franz Stangl, the commander successively of two extermination camps, Sobibór and Treblinka, where more than a million Jews were murdered;
- Kurt Christmann, the commander of Sonderkommando 10a, which slaughtered tens of thousands of Jews in the Soviet Union;
- Walter Rauff, in charge of developing the gas vans used in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews before the gas chambers were used;
- Klaus Barbie, the cruel Gestapo “Butcher of Lyon” who was responsible for the torture and death of countless people;
- Gustav Wagner, commanding officer of Sobibór, where over two hundred thousand Jews were murdered;
- Alois Brunner, a brutal official in the Jewish deportation program in France and Slovakia, responsible for deporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths;
- Ante Pavelić, the head of the mass-murdering Croatian Ustasha regime, responsible for hundreds of thousands of gruesome murders or Orthodox Serbs and Jews;
And perhaps most infamous of all, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death,” Dr. Josef Mengele, responsible for unspeakable medical experiments and deciding who was to live and who to die in Auschwitz.

These were just some of the most notorious ones. There were many, many more Nazis as well as Croatian Ustasha with lots of blood on their hands that found safe haven outside of Europe thanks to the Vatican Ratlines.

—————————————————————————————————
Six Million Crucifixions:
How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust

Six Million Crucifixions examines the root causes of antisemitism in Christianity and how that prepared the soil for the secular antisemitism that culminated in the Holocaust. The book covers the last two thousand years of history, from the origins of this hatred all the way to the advent of modern antisemitism. It also covers the role of the Churches during the Third Reich, and the role of the Vatican in setting up escape routes for wanted war criminals after WWII. Six Million Crucifixions concludes by making the point that after the Second World War the Allies should have set up an international trial and put any and all clergymen who may have had a role in the defamation of and incitement against the Jewish people, as well as those who helped wanted Nazis escape Justice and other charges, on the dock.

Source: 6 Million Crucifixions

Follow Gabriel on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sixmillionbook
Become a Fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SixMillionCrucifixions

See Also Hitler’s Saint: An Unholy Alliance Between the Church and the Nazis

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the 44th President of the United States...Bara...
Image by jmtimages via Flickr

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

By Grant Lawrence

President Barack Obama has backed new drilling for oil and natural gas off parts of the US coastline as a short-term, but necessary, solution to the country’s massive energy needs…..Source: Sify News

President Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize winner that is into expanding war. He is also an environmentalist President that has recently given the green light to oil companies to expand drilling in coastal areas of the US and in Alaska. For his environmental work, he ought to receive a Global Environment Award. After all, he is President Obama and he makes us all so hopeful.

He makes us feel so good.

Although the Gulf of Mexico will be further trashed by President Obama’s decision, the good news is that supposedly America will have more oil so we can move beyond depending on foreign sources for our energy needs. President Obama, we are told, is helping to make America energy independent by polluting the coastlines. It is a dirty choice that but it has to be made. President Obama has to secure America’s energy needs and blah, blah, blah, and more blah, blah, blah.

So our peace prize winning, environmental President has to do what he has to do.

But what is not being mentioned by the managed sound bites and the spin in the media is that the oil that will eventually come from the coast or in Alaska will be sold by oil companies on the world market. Oil speculators can then drive up the prices for a barrel of the oil by reselling it over and over and over. The new American coastal oil, like our domestic oil does now, will likely end up all over the world because there is no rule on keeping the oil in this country. This is called capitalism and trade.

Awhile back there was an export ban on Alaskan North Slope oil, but the oil lobbyists lined some political pockets and don’t you know in 1995 the ban was overturned.

Doesn’t this make you want to go shoot a moose or some other critter?

Seattle Times columnist Jon Talton explains some of the economic realities:

“B)ecause oil tends to trade in a world market, we will find ourselves bidding against every other nation. Some will also try to protect domestic supplies, as was happening before the Great Recession. In any event, most oil is controlled by national entities, leaving the American majors — who sell in the world market — with a small share….“Source: mlive.com

Thus coastal and Alaska oil is going to be sold globally, so the drilling won’t have anything to do with limiting American energy dependence on foreign oil.

But what is an environmental President to do?

He could tell the American people the truth and explain that besides playing President he has to serve the interests of big monopolistic international corporations. That means if Big Oil wants to expand business opportunities by polluting America’s coastlines and trashing more of Alaska then he is obliged to do it.

Or he could tell the American people a little white lie. Like we have to kill marine life and destroy the natural habitats of many sea creatures, while polluting the coastlines, because we need to make America energy independent.

Barack Obama, being a good politician, has decided to do the bidding of his corporate masters while lying to the American people. But we expect that here in America.

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A 2005 photograph of James Lovelock, scientist...
Image via Wikipedia

James Lovelock is wrong about one thing. We don’t have a Democracy to put on hold. What we have is an Oligarchy controlled by Corporate and Financial interests. This elite group of Economic Fascists are the ones to blame for the lack of action. The politicians are merely their puppets.

As far as humans being stupid?

I think we are brainwashed by the government, corporate, media complex into believing stupid lies. That is probably more dangerous than just being stupid, since education cures stupidity.
But education is often not enough to move people past brainwashing.

Grant

See Also Climate Scientists Make Tiny Island Vanish beneath the Waves

James Lovelock: Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change

In his first in-depth interview since the theft of UEA emails, the scientist blames inertia and democracy for lack of action

Read the full transcript of James Lovelock’s G2 interview with Leo Hickman

Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaia theory.

It follows a tumultuous few months in which public opinion on efforts to tackle climate change has been undermined by events such as the climate scientists’ emails leaked from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit.

“I don’t think we’re yet evolved to the point where we’re clever enough to handle a complex a situation as climate change,” said Lovelock in his first in-depth interview since the theft of the UEA emails last November. “The inertia of humans is so huge that you can’t really do anything meaningful.”

One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is “modern democracy”, he added. “Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.”

Lovelock, 90, believes the world’s best hope is to invest in adaptation measures, such as building sea defences around the cities that are most vulnerable to sea-level rises. He thinks only a catastrophic event would now persuade humanity to take the threat of climate change seriously enough, such as the collapse of a giant glacier in Antarctica, such as the Pine Island glacier, which would immediately push up sea level…..MORE

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Then and Now (II/II)Image by Crashworks via Flickr

Grant Lawrence

ADRIAN, Mich. – The FBI says agents have conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and at least three people have been arrested…..Source: Yahoo News/AP

Federal agents conducted raids over the weekend in Lenawee and Wastenaw counties that reports say may be related to some members of Hutaree, a Christian-militia group in Michigan…..Source: Detroit Free Press

The FBI raided a Christian Group called Hutaree in Michigan and in other states. I am not sure what ‘Hutaree’ means, but evidently it is some doctrine. They say they are preparing for end time battles or so their web site proclaims. They believe that they belong to the body of Christ and through their faith they are going to fight to the end against the Antichrist (Click for Videos). They have evidently identified the agents of the Antichrist as the Federal Government.

The group is also working for a Colonial Christian Republic. These scholars, evidently, have never heard of the separation between Church and State.

I know this area of Southwestern Michigan since I lived very close to it nearly all my life. It is an area in which a lot of poor Appalachians migrated from the mines of Kentucky and West Virgina to work in the factories of the surrounding areas. They brought with them their Charismatic Christian Religion that places faith in the Bible above any form of education or reasoning.

Although much of this area is rural, many of the people living there relied heavily on industry for their standard of living. This area, like the rest of the rust belt, has been hit very hard by economic globalization that decimated the factories and industries that used to flourish in Toledo, Ohio and in Monroe and Detroit Michigan.

The people there claim they have faith but they are evidently losing hope. Thus, many militia groups are going to flourish in these environments.

In America, unfortunately, there are a lot of screwed up crazies like the Hutaree. Their ‘faith based’ movements, as I have continually warned, will be fueled by an unjust society and economic system that takes advantage of the poor, the working and the middle classes, and nearly everyone else for the benefit of the few.

There is a dangerous under current of violence talk against various groups in our society. The anger that people feel is real and they are resorting to methods that they think will get them results. Unfortunately, the political system is a sham so there will be more groups like the Hutaree that see their only option in violence. They will cloak their anger in religion and spirituality, but deep down they are angry about their lack of power and their economic status.

Sure there needs to be the arrest of dangerous groups that will pop up. But on a deeper level, there needs to be systemic change in the way society is organized and a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources. If there is not real systemic change, then the ‘Hutaree’ mindset of violence and killing will spread further into the general populace.

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Martin Luther King leaning on a lectern.Image via Wikipedia

By Grant Lawrence

Source: Grant Lawrence–Bodhi Thunder

A US Marine writes a warning to those calling for Civil War in the US. He says it is an article he wishes he didn’t have to write. He wants those calling for an uprising to stop and think.

He says that Marines are ready to defend the Constitution. That those calling for Civil War have no idea how tough the marines are, what its like to be scramble from semi-automatic fire, or to face other weaponry of war. Not only that, he points out those calling for the civil unrest are out of shape. Not like those that will be sent in to kill them.

The Marine writes in ‘An Article I wish I would never have to write-To those calling for a civil war, this Marine wants you to stop, and think’

.… There are no second chances, no time for regrets, and no do-overs. This is not Call of Duty.

Now I ‘d like to disperse a myth here – many of you think that US military would not fight civilians. I can’t speak for all, but in my case – the moment you declare civil war, you’re no longer civilians. The moment you attack the constitution, you’re now enemies of that constitution. And I swore to defend and support and if necessary give my life for that Constitution and utilize every tool, technique, and weapon at my disposal to do so. And trust me, I’m not alone.

I hope some of you heed my words and cool the rhetoric and focus on achieving your goals diplomatically instead of physically. It would never want to receive a frag order to Maryland, or North Dakota, or Texas, but it is an order I will follow no matter how much it pains me to do so…..Source: Newsvine

There is no name attached to the article but it does say he is a Sergeant. We really don’t know if this is a from a real US Marine, or some sort of psy-ops ploy. But the supposed Marine makes some valid points on the military mindset and what would happen in a insurrection. The military will be used effectively against any outbreak of civil unrest.

There used to be something called Posse Comitatus which “prohibits most members of the federal uniformed services (today the Army, Air Force, and State National Guard forces when such are called into federal service) from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain “law and order” on non-federal property (states and their counties and municipal divisions) within the United States.(Source: Wikipedia) That act doesn’t seem to apply anymore since the military and military equipment are used in protests and other civil demonstrations and disruptions. In any case, Posse Comitatus will not protect citizens from the American Military in case of a Civil War civil unrest.

For well over a decade the American military has been engaging in training exercises in US cities. The Military claims it is preparing for wars in cities because that is where the wars will be fought. They are almost certainly correct.

According to Veterans for Peace, Perspective on Military Exercises in Urban Areas, “The Marines claim a need to practice counter-”terrorist” operations in coastal cities. They argue that the “battlescapes of the 21st century” will arise from problems in increasingly congested urban areas where eliminating an “asymmetrical enemy using the city as a shield” will require new tactics and techniques.”

There is no doubt these training exercises intimidate the citizenry and perhaps that is there goal. To see these urban war games occurring in urban areas create an atmosphere of fear and tension which serves to inhibit people.

But there is also likely something more going on in these urban war simulations.

It is also likely that the Military Industrial Complex understood several years back that the pressures of economic globalization, the fascist turn toward corporatization, and the loss of freedoms would not likely make many Americans happy. Americans have watched their economy dismantled and moved elsewhere, they have watched nearly all of their wealth given to the financial class, they have experienced unlimited wars for that elite class, and they have been subjected to the loss of personal freedoms.

The plan of Empire, Fascism, and Globalization only benefits the few at the expense of the many.
Obviously, the military would become trained to take care of the unhappy, unfortunate that might take to the streets to fight back.

The US Marine’s letter, whether real or not, serves as a warning that the military option will be readily used against American citizens. The Marine is correct that Americans cannot win in a Civil War. But the American people can employ other options.

There is clearly no such thing as Democracy in America. Elections will not produce any change when the choice is the same. Instead Americans have to consider work stoppages, sit downs, and other peaceful methods to help create an atmosphere of social and economic justice in the US. If the troops are called in to kill people, the blood will be on elite hands (their hands are bloody enough) and not on the hands of the American people.

We already have a pattern for real, peaceful change. That pattern can be found in the words and actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. The power structure is prepared for Civil War and they will win easily. But they will have a harder time fighting the ‘Soul Force’ of the people.

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Lazzy Feet on a Blue Ocean Beach vacation
Image by epSos.de via Flickr

By Grant Lawrence


The uninhabited territory south of the Hariabhanga river was known as New Moore Island to the Indians and South Talpatti Island to the Bangladeshis.

Recent satellites images show the whole island under water, says the School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta.

Its scientists say other nearby islands could also vanish as sea levels rise…..Source: BBC

This is an incredible story.

Those same climate scientists that have been lying to all of us about global warming have found some way to make a whole island disappear into the Bay of Bengal.

Nearly every climate scientist has warned the world for the last couple of decades about the earth heating up and the terrible effects that will have for life on earth.

Thankfully the oil and coal companies and those agents of NeoCon activism have been working to expose the lies of global warming here in this country. They have attacked the science of global climate change by putting a lot of dollars into the hands of pro-industry groups and politicians.
As we all should know, money nearly always controls science. When there is a dispute between money and science–money almost always wins.

So the big oil and coal money is winning here in the US. Now in Europe, there is a big business being created by trading in carbon offsets and that appears to be another scam to appease the global warming alarmists. But that is another story.

The really big story here, however, is how those pesky global climate scientists found a way to actually make a whole island disappear just to prove a theory that has been proven wrong by the oil and gas companies.

I don’t know how they did it. But I call for a Congressional investigation to find the hoaxers and to expose their dastardly deeds. I think we should get America’s top climate change denier, Senator Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, to hold a hearing on how the climate scientists caused the ocean to rise and swallow up that island.

Hey, I wonder if Senator Inhofe is America’s number one climate change denier politician because he comes from a big oil producing state?

Nah, there can’t be any connection.

At any rate, I am certainly glad there is nothing to get alarmed about. The science of climate change isn’t science but a lie perpetrated on us by scientists and Al Gore. My only concern is that if these science guys can make islands disappear into the ocean then they may find a way to sink vast parts of continents into the ocean. Or maybe these climate change scientists will start creating more deserts and massive species die offs.

Wow!

We better hold a hearing on these science crazies before they destroy the whole planet.

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Image via Wikipedia

By Grant Lawrence

As outrage mounted over the latest Catholic Church sex scandal, writer Christopher Hitchens called for the arrest of Pope Benedict XVI, and singer Sinead O’Connor said the pope should face a criminal investigation.

Protesters rallied outside the Vatican, angry that an office under his command had stopped the prosecution in 1996 of Wisconsin priest Lawrence Murphy, who admitted molesting 200 boys at a school for the deaf where he worked for 20 years…..Source: ABC News

Here we have the Archbishop Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict) that sends out a letter to Catholic Bishops asking for secrecy in claims of child sexual abuse cases.

See A ‘Pontifical Secret,’ Ratzinger’s 2001 Letter Ordered Bishops to be Quiet on Sex Abuse

Instead, these cases should have been reported to law enforcement and all of the documentation should have been turned over to the police. In the US we have strict laws in most states on child sexual abuse reporting.

….Every State, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have statutes that identify persons who are required to report child maltreatment under specific circumstances.1 Approximately 26 States currently include members of the clergy among those professionals specifically mandated by law to report known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect.2 In approximately 18 States and Puerto Rico, any person who suspects child abuse or neglect is required to report.3 ..Source: Child Welfare.gov

But Archbishop Ratzinger is into secrecy, even when tens of thousands of little children suffer.

Now that is not only christ like, it is immoral and illegal in most states not to report sexual abuse (even if you are a priest, counselor, psychologist, etc.) .

So the right thing for the Ratzinger and the Church was to follow most legal requirements and report suspected child sexual abuse.

But we also have a specific example of hundreds of boys being molested at a school for deaf students and it was reported to the Vatican and Ratzinger’s office numerous times.

Nothing was done.

See Warnings of Sexual Abuse by Priest of Deaf Students fell on the Deaf Ears of Ratzinger

It is clear the Pope is outside of the law of the United States. But he is not outside of our moral condemnation and judgement. We could say this is a church matter and leave it at that. But that would obviously be wrong.

When the actions of the Catholic Church have injured so many children across the globe then it is up to all people to condemn the Church and to demand justice for those abused.

The abuse and cover-up has clearly been going on for decades and it is time to end it all now at the beginning of this decade.

A good first step would be for Catholics to demand that the Pope and the Church be held to accepted standards of ethical behavior. The Pope, at the very least, should resign and there should be an open investigation of the Church and its conduct by an outside governing agency. This would go a long way toward showing the public that the Church is serious about protecting the little ones and correcting crimes against humanity.

Jesus is quoted as saying, “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the little ones, the poor, the downtrodden, the suffering and it should be the Church’s responsibility to protect and to serve those of the Kingdom–not to abuse them or to cover up that abuse.

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Pope Benedict XVI during visit to São Paulo, B...
Image via Wikipedia

As reported previously, the Vatican had a policy in 2001 of hiding the sex abuse by priests. This policy was issued by Archbishiop Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict).

This is all quite disturbing.

Just as disturbing is the story below.

Numerous warnings went to the Vatican, including Ratzinger, in the Mid 90s about an American pedophile priest. Those warnings fell on deaf ears at the Vatican as the pedophile priest continued to molest deaf students at school.

See Also

Man accuses pope of ignoring pedophile priest at school for the deaf

Source: Raw Story

ST FRANCIS, Milwaukee — A US man claiming he was abused by a predator priest accused of molesting scores of deaf boys said Thursday Pope Benedict XVI knew about the latest sex scandal to rock the church and should be held accountable for it.

“The pope knew about this. He should be held accountable,” Arthur Budzinski said outside the Archdiocese of Milwaukee after a New York Times report said Vatican officials, including the future pope, failed to act on warnings that Father Lawrence Murphy was abusing boys at a school for the deaf here.

Murphy is believed to have molested as many as 200 boys at St John’s School for the Deaf in Wisconsin between 1950 and 1974.

The New York Times published documents Thursday which show that top Vatican officials, including then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who was elected pope in 2005 — never took action against Murphy, despite many warnings from US bishops.

Budzinski, who is deaf and attended St John’s, said in sign language, which was spoken to reporters by his daughter, that Murphy would come into the boys’ dorm at night, take them into a closet and sexually molest them…..MORE

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There are many varieties of commercial dog foo...Image via Wikipedia

….This year, the system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes, an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, said that while the Congressional projection would probably be borne out, the change would have no effect on benefits in 2010 and retirees would keep receiving their checks as usual…..Source: New York Times

Let’s see if I got this right.

You can give the banksters an estimated 12 to 24 trillion, if necessary, and no Congressperson raises a stink (with the exceptions of Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, and a few others).

But when Social Security falls short from a major depression that these same banksters created, then the propaganda is that there is a need to curtail or end the program.

This is not even to mention that the cost of the Terror Wars are leading up to a trillion or 2 dollars. Or at least that is what the government will admit to. This is also not to mention the 2 or 3 trillion that the Pentagon lost and can’t account for. Moreover, we are not even taking into account the black budget and the other ‘defense’ related Pentagon costs.

So we are being bombarded by pure propaganda to privatize and destroy what is left of a great social program. This is all done to make the super rich even super richer and to take away what little the people have.

But think about what would have happened had Social Security been privatized and Wall Street would have went bust. The oldsters would be lucky to be able to afford a can of dog food.

I am glad the American Managed Media and the Puppet Politicians have their priorities straight.

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Georgia GuidestonesImage by The Rocketeer via Flickr

Recently the Guidestones have been vandalized. A lot of New World Order types and fundamentalists get extremely upset about them.

I think the Guidestones are not all that awful. In fact, there seems to be some excellent advice. However, the one that gets people fired up is bringing humanity down to 500 million people.

Now keep in mind in 100 or so years (with no reproduction) humanity would no longer exist. So if people were to limit reproduction it would be pretty easy to get to 500 million people in 100 years.

But is that desirable?

I think that we definitely need to put a check on population growth and we need to do it humanely. Whether humanity stays at 6 or 7 billion or drops to 1 or 2 billion, we do need an enlightened leadership to promote responsible family planning (that to me, doesn’t have to involve abortion). I think it should involve education and public policy to promote a sustainable human population.

Grant

What the Guidestones Say…

  • Maintain humanity under five hundred million 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 an useless officials

  • Balance personal rights with social duties

  • Prize truth, beauty, love…seeking harmony with the infinite

  • Be not a cancer on earth…leave room for nature…

Source: Dr. David Regan

See Also


Waiting for the end of the world: Georgia’s 30-year stone mystery

By Elberton, Georgia (CNN)

– In the beginning, there was the stone.

The blue-gray vein of granite that courses through northeastern Georgia spawned jobs in the quarries and finishing sheds of Elberton, where generations of stonecutters have turned slabs of rock the size of refrigerators into statues, tombstones and tile.

And one day, it brought a visitor who gifted the town with a landmark that leaves visitors scratching their heads decades later.

The nearly 20-foot high series of granite slabs known as the Georgia Guidestones are inscribed with a series of admonitions for a future “Age of Reason.” Billed as “America’s Stonehenge,” it’s an astronomically complex, 120-ton relic of Cold War fears, built to instruct survivors of an Armageddon that the mystery man feared was all too near.

The identity of the man who called himself “R.C. Christian” is a secret that Wyatt Martin, the banker who acted as his agent in Elberton, vows to take to his grave.

“He told me, ‘If you were to tell who put the money up for this, it wouldn’t be a mystery any more, and no one would come and read it.’ That had to be part of the attraction, to get people to come and read his 10 rules that he came up with,” Martin said.

People in Elberton, about 100 miles east of Atlanta, are proud of their eccentric landmark. But 30 years after its dedication, it has drawn the attention of a new generation of conspiracy theorists with very different fears.

“There are a lot of people who don’t feel about it the same way we do,” said Phyllis Brooks, president of the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce.

The four vertical slabs that dominate the Guidestones are inscribed back and front with Christian’s 10 principles, each side in a different modern language. The capstone is inscribed in the alphabets of early human civilizations — Egyptian hieroglyphics, Babylonian cuneiform, Sanskrit and classical Greek.

The center column has a slot through which the transit of the sun throughout the seasons can be observed, while a hole higher up focuses on Polaris, the north star. Another hole in the capstone focuses a beam of sunlight onto the central pillar at noon. Those features would allow the survivors of Christian’s feared apocalypse to reproduce three of the basic tools of civilization: the calendar, clock and compass.

Loris Magnani, an astronomy professor at the University of Georgia, questions how useful the Guidestones would be to survivors of civilization-ending cataclysm. The devices incorporated into the stones are “relatively easy stuff” that most human societies have developed early in their histories, he said.

“Don’t get me wrong. As a monument, it’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with doing that,” Magnani told CNN. But he added, “Every decent civilization going back to a couple of millennia before Christ has figured this out. How to make gasoline? Now that would be useful.”

But it’s the written messages of the Guidestones that have drawn the most criticism.

Most are innocuous, calling on readers to rule their passions with “tempered reason,” avoid “petty laws and useless officials” and “prize truth, beauty, love … seeking harmony with the infinite.” They end with the advice, “Be not a cancer on the Earth — leave room for nature.”

But the first two — which call for limiting human population to half a billion, less than 10 percent of today’s numbers, and guiding reproduction “wisely” — have led some to call the Guidestones a call to genocide and the “Ten Commandments of the Antichrist.”

In recent years, the monument has been hit by vandals who see in it the creed of a shadowy “New World Order” bent on subjugating humanity. It has been tagged at least three times since 2008, leaving scrawls of “God is stronger than the NWO,” vague threats of destruction and various crudities across the granite.

“The worst was they put a two-part epoxy over two faces,” said Mart Clamp, whose father helped carve the stones. “You just can’t pressure-wash it off, you have to get in there with a hammer-type tool and beat it off.”

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