美国国家公共电台 NPR--A Georgia monument was destroyed. Locals blame conspiracy theories

A Georgia monument was destroyed. Locals blame conspiracy¹ theories

Transcript²

Usually when Daniel Graves visits his local coffee shop for breakfast Wednesdays, somebody asks him about the Georgia Guidestones.

"It's usually some new Facebook post, or some new YouTube video, or some quirky little thing" that pops up, said Graves, the mayor of Elberton, Ga. His typical response is that he's proud to have them.

For more than four decades the Georgia Guidestones served as an unusual rural roadside attraction and a testament³ to the region's granite⁴ industry.

Until somebody decided⁵ to blow it up this month. Around 4 a.m. on July 6, someone placed an explosive device at the base of the granite monument just outside of town and demolished⁶ one of the 19-foot-tall slabs⁷. For safety reasons, the rest soon followed.

"My initial reaction was heartbreak and anger, frustration," Graves said. "And I think that's consistent with the community's reaction."

"America's Stonehenge"

To call the Guidestones unique is to be guilty of monumental understatement. Picture, if you will, several granite slabs, also dubbed⁸ "America's Stonehenge," with cryptic⁹ messages carved in multiple languages like "Be not a cancer on earth" or "Avoid petty laws and useless officials."

Some people keyed in on other guides like "Keep the population below 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature" and to "Guide reproduction wisely." That's led to protests, plenty of conspiracy theories about ties to Satan and sometimes, light vandalism.

"There's been numerous occasions that people have come over and spray painted it, they've put the NWO - the 'New World Order' — they've sprayed that on it a bunch of times," Mart Clam¹⁰, the owner of Clamp Sandblasting. The Guidestones are a bit of a family affair for him.

"My father sandblasted all of the lettering into the Guidestones, and for the last 25 years I have maintained the Guidestones any time somebody came up that graffitied or did any kind of damage to them," he said.

Clamp points the finger for the bombing at the recent trend of monument removals – sanctioned and unsanctioned – plus a fringe candidate for governor calling for the demolition¹¹ of the Guidestones as her top priority. "It sets the mood for the crazies to come out and do their thing," Clamp said.

That failed candidate, as well as others who believe conspiracies¹² about the Guidestones, have falsely claimed that God struck the monument down with righteous lightning — despite surveillance video showing a person planting a device and running away.

Elberton Mayor Daniel Graves says his county is a solidly conservative and religiously observant, so outside voices claiming Satan's hold on the stones don't add up. "Our view of righteousness is not an Almighty¹³ God that needs zealots to do his dirty work and destruction," Graves said. "That's hatred¹⁴ ... all the dynamite¹⁵ in the world can't change a man's heart."

Conspiracy theories spilling over into real life

Conspiracy theories aren't a new phenomenon, and neither is people acting¹⁶ out on them in real life. But Jared Holt, an extremism researcher with the Institute for Strategic Dialog, said the Guidestones are a perfect example of how pervasive¹⁷ conspiracy thinking has become.

"Whether it's elected officials appealing to online conspiracists or online conspiracists trying to become elected officials, we're really starting to see the effects of that in clear and obvious ways," he said.

The line between posting things on the internet and doing them in real life is blurring¹⁸ more and more, and the current political climate often rewards extreme rhetoric¹⁹. And when these events do happen, "they have really disproportionate effects and the damage can last well beyond and certainly extend much past any property destroyed," Holt said.

That's certainly true in Elberton, billed as the "Granite Capital of the World." The Guidestones were a major tourist draw to an otherwise isolated²⁰ area. That means fewer people eating at local restaurants, shopping at local stores and sleeping at the town's hotel.

"I do think that we will slowly start to see just how big of an impact they had, because it will affect our tourism," said Rose Scoggins, editor of the Elberton Star. "I think we will unfortunately see that decline."

Scoggins was in disbelief when she went to cover the scene of the half-demolished monument. The paper put out a special section about the stones just days later, complete with personal letters and memories and righteous anger at their destruction.

Beyond that, community members are coming to terms with the loss of the monument's other meaning for a place built on generations of granite. "It was honestly a part of their family legacy," Scoggins said. "It showed how much work and craftsmanship²¹ that the granite industry, those in the granite industry and their descendants put into it."

For now, law enforcement, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation²², is still searching for those who planted the explosive device. The GBI released surveillance videos from the site but have not shared any other details.

Local prosecutors²³ have suggested the bombing comes with a steep sentence of at least 20 years in prison, since the stones were owned and maintained by the county and considered a public building. And the residents of Elberton are left picking up the pieces — literally²⁴ and metaphorically²⁵ — after the bombing.

1 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

4 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

7 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

8 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

10 clam   

n.蛤，蛤肉

参考例句：

• Yup!I also like clam soup and sea cucumbers.对呀！我还喜欢蛤仔汤和海参。
• The barnacle and the clam are two examples of filter feeders.藤壶和蛤类是滤过觅食者的两种例子。

11 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

12 conspiracies   

n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was still alive and hatching his conspiracies. 他还活着，策划着阴谋诡计。 来自辞典例句
• It appeared that they had engaged in fresh conspiracies from the very moment of their release. 看上去他们刚给释放，立刻开始新一轮的阴谋活动。 来自英汉文学

13 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

14 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

15 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

18 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

19 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

20 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

21 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

22 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

23 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

24 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

25 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。