Saturday, June 14, 2008

Not something I can believe in

I'm watching Stonehenge Decoded on the National Geographic Channel (which I will NOT call Nat Geo because I think it is a stupid nickname they made up for themselves to sound hip). The program uses dramatized simulations to tell a story of Stonehenge. I'm currently watching a segment in which they are attempting to explain how each 45,000 ton stone was brought from the only place in modern times where the stones found, which is 25 miles from Stonehenge. (Why no one has imagined that maybe there were stones CLOSER to the site is beyond me...perhaps the landscape looked different 4,000 years ago?) The archaeologists are inferring that each stone is alleged to have deep spiritual meaning, and the process of bringing the stone part of a spiritual pilgrimage. While explaining this supposition, the narrator suggests that the supposed engineering process could have taken anywhere from months to YEARS to bring EACH stone to the site.

What a minute.

Maybe YEARS? To bring ONE stone? Out of an estimated 60 stones that made up Stonehenge in its hengey-hey day? So at least 60 years to just get the stones to the designated spot?

I'm not sure there is anything I believe in that much that I'd be willing to put that much physical labor into, for a payoff that I most likely would not benefit from. Maybe that is ego speaking, or laziness. But I cannot imagine living in a time where that would be considered a plum spiritual assignment. Give me Unitarian coffee hour duty any day. Coffee hour, that is something I CAN believe in.

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