13 Sep 2004
The Attack on Ancient Sites

I ran across the article below on the plans to build a WalMart next to the ruins of the Aztec temples in Mexico City this weekend and was suitably appalled. We in the West go somewhat spastic when zealots like the Taliban destroy ancient sites for misguided religious reasons, but apparently such desecration is OK for our corporate and economic interests at home.

In Ireland, the Hill of Tara, ancient seat of kings, is fighting off a freeway. In the UK, local citizens of Thornbourough are battling an expansion of a local quarry that threatens to submerge some of the oldest henges in the British Isles. And the White Horse Stone was recently spared the indignity of having a cell tower erected next door.

As a culture, we are in danger of forgetting where we come from, and consequently who we are. All for the convenience of a faster drive or a lower price.

Burning incense and sounding a conch shell horn, residents of an ancient Mexican city protested on Saturday at the construction of a Wal-Mart store on the edge of the ruins.

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link