I am dumbfounded by the silliness going on in my rural

[murielm99]

county.

Before any of you get upset, I am a farmer's wife. I come from farmers on both sides of my family.

We have a new courthouse/judicial center. A local group of sculptors has commissioned and donated a statue of Demeter to put in front of the new courthouse. There was some heated discussion at the county board meeting about approving this statue to grace the new courthouse.

The sculptor was questioned closely about Demeter. A goddess of agriculture? One board member said he did not see it at all, and he has been a farmer for 52 years.

Another member felt the issue should be tabled until people had time to discuss it. He felt uneasy about putting an idol up in front of the courthouse.

A local pastor apparently thought that there were many active Demeter-worshipers in our county. He opined that if a statue of Demeter was going to be erected, then other religions should have their statues in front of the courthouse, too.

It is a good thing that I did not attend the meeting. I only read about it in the paper. If I had been there, I would have been hard-pressed to behave myself. I would have been whooping with laughter and wiping my eyes.

Anyway, the statue was approved 16-6. But we have not heard the end of it. I expect letters to the editor and heated coffee shop discussions for weeks to come.

I am acquainted with the reporter who wrote the account of the meeting. She really missed the great potential of this story. I must ask her if she has any sense of irony.

[laheina]

1. "A local pastor apparently thought...

...that there were many active Demeter-worshipers in our county. He opined that if a statue of Demeter was going to be erected, then other religions should have their statues in front of the courthouse, too."

I didn't know that there had been a revival of the Eleusinian Mysteries (Demeter worship) outside of ancient Greece. Maybe you should suggest to said pastor that he should put together a missionary trip?

:sarcasm:

[Mythsaje]

2. I know many of my pagan friends

including my witchy wife, will be quite interested to know that a statue of Demeter is going up in your rural community.

What someone needs explained to them, obviously, is that there's a difference between idolatry and symbolism.

[WePurrsevere]

4. Agreed... "there's a difference between idolatry and symbolism"

If this were in Salem, MA I'd lean toward Demeter actually representing the Goddess as a Goddess but considering that it's in farm country I'm 99.9% sure it's intent is the symbolism... although you never know with us artsy types. ;)

[Mythsaje]

8. If people started leaving offerings in front of it

THEN I'd start to wonder. :D

[laheina]

3. I'm sorry.

I was being sarcastic about the "silliness" as you called it, and I just noticed that you posted this in the Rural/Farm duscussion group. In actuality, I can see the reason why a statue of Demeter would be a thoughtful addition to adorn a civic building in a rural town.

Ancient Greece was the cradle of Western Civilization. Our democratic system is based on their original. Our legal system (with later improvements by the Romans and English) was greatly influenced by theirs. The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek (the lingua franca of the time,) and much of our Christian theology stems from St. Augustine having used the philosophical ideas of Plato to interpret the New Testament. That says absolutely nothing about art, math, philosophy,etc..

I don't know what, if anything, that the Ancient Greeks contributed to agriculture, but they obviously respected it. It is the source of life, then as now, and they saw fit to put a major goddess figure in charge of it.

In short, I see the appropriate use of Demeter as an object of art and a symbolic link from the root of Western Civilization (in Ancient Greece) to the height of Modern Western Civilization (in the USA.) It connects us not only to our beginnings, but also to the achievements, grandeur, and longevity of the Ancient Greek Civilization. We continue that tradition today, and it makes a statement not only regarding the place of our culture in the world, but also the importance of farming in that culture.

(I hope that makes sense. It is late, and I just lost my whole first version when the server went out. I hate it when that happens!)

Sorry again! :hi:

[RC]

5. Demeter

Demeter
by Micha F. Lindemans
The Greek earth goddess par excellence, who brings forth the fruits of the earth, particularly the various grains. She taught mankind the art of sowing and ploughing so they could end their nomadic existence. As such, Demeter was also the goddess of planned society. She was very popular with the rural population. As a fertility goddess she is sometimes identified with Rhea and Gaia.
>MORE<

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/demeter.html

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Apparently the residents assume that the statue of Demeter will encourage

bad Greek myth behavior such as wild, drunken Dionysian revelries, followed by orgies, and the obligatory female virgin sacrifice. Yeah, bringing in a good crop will necessarily lead to this kind of behavior.

Actually if one did a small amount of research, one would find that Demeter was a very somber goddess and was a power to be reckoned with.

[Divernan]

7. Just so John Ashcroft can cover any naughty bits with blue draperies!

Public buildings in DC have lots of symbolic marble statues - non-Christian, pre-Christian, whatever. And what about all those museums with statues of ancient gods and goddesses? The fundies have been falling down on the job not to be out protesting those!

[AnneD]

9. Sme folks have lost their

ever loving minds (or are totally ignorant-I can't decide which).

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. Demeter is fine. However, I wouldn't object to Saint Isidore either.

Is it reasonable to question if I'm within my rights to place a statue of the Catholic patron saint of farmers in front of the courthouse?

I don't know.

edit spelling. Doh!

[PATRICK]

11. pagani= rural

The rock ribbed earth rooted conservatives of the Roman world while the urban based Christian slaves fought the decadent collapsing syncretist empire with its state religion of mad elitists were probably the last to "embrace" Christianity. Through many centuries homespun devotions to the old gods, especially connected to farming co-existed with overlaid Christianity.

And now, with no sense of irony or continuity there it is again, with even a hint that the some suspect there are still lurking "pagani". It reminds me of suddenly seeing a visionary sweep of history like some James Michener novel dramatically encapsulated in some tangible symbol, some now completely forgotten connection.

Weird, funny, meaningful. And no one is asking if anyone is keeping private little talismans of ancient earth religions, superstitions or whispers echos of "classical" pastoral values over the newly planted crops.

Rural Americans are presumed to be the rockbed conservative god-fearing Christians. This is a reminder of older faiths and the way of life that persists under a thousand sincere, borrowed or imposed faiths.

[jody]

12. A statue of Cain may be more appropriate. He was the first farmer and his work was also rejected. nt