About

Georgia Guidestones Destroyed or Georgia Guidestones Explosion refers to the destruction and bombing of the Georgia Guidestones in July 2022. Also known as the American Stonehenge, the X-shaped granite stone tablets were constructed in the 1980s under mysterious circumstances, which led to conspiracy theories forming in the following decades that ultimately led to them being targeted by right-wing and conservative leadership in Georgia. Their destruction inspired a viral discussion and memes on social media, mostly in regards to a "time capsule," suspicion of the "New World Order" and a campaign video created two months prior by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor.

Background

Origin of the Georgia Guidestones

The Georiga Guidestones are located in Elberton, Georgia (U.S.) in Elbert County near the border with South Carolina.^[1] They are known to many as "American Stonehenge" due to their resemblance to Stonehenge in England.

The Georgia Guidestones were unveiled on March 22nd, 1980, but were first conceptualized in the summer of 1979 when a man named R. C. Christian came to Elberton in search of a granite firm to execute his monument design and a suitable site for the construction of it. It should be noted that R. C. Christian was not the man's real name but only a pseudonym, chosen because it represented his religious beliefs and those of the organization that planned and funded the project.^[1] As of 2022, it is still unknown what Christian's real name was or who built the Georgia Guidestones.^[1]

The stones are inscribed with what is referred to as "wisdom for the ages," being, "suggestions or directions that would lead humanity into an 'age of reason.'"^[1] Eight languages are represented on the four stones: Arabic, Chinese, English, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, Spanish and Swahili. The engraved messages fall into four major areas: governance and the establishment of a world government, population and reproduction control, the environment and humankind’s relationship to nature, and spirituality.^[1]

Additionally, the Georgia Guidestones have 10 principles listed on them, offered to "ensure humankind’s future survival." These 10 principles are shown below via a screenshot from the New Georgia Encyclopedia.^[1]

Conspiracy Theories

R.C. Christian disappeared shortly after the Guidestones' construction and only one man named Wyatt Martin, an Elberton banker, knew his real name.^[2] Martin died in December 2021 without revealing who Christian really was.^[2]

The Guidestones have since been a point of controversy and conjecture for over 40 years among Georgians and Americans. Some people believe that they were built by the New World Order, Freemasons or the Rosicrucians.^[2] Others have also referred to them as "Satanic," such as a recent candidate for Georgia Governor named Kandiss Taylor.

As a part of her mayoral campaign, Taylor released a video that essentially manifested this Satanic conjecture. The video, titled "Demolish The Georgia Guidestones," was made in May 2022 and is available on Taylor's website^[3] and on Rumble^[4] (shown below).

Targeted Bombing in July 2022

Around 4 a.m. on the morning of July 6th, 2022, a targeted bombing took place on one of the Guidestones' wings. Surveillance videos of the attack were posted to Twitter^[5][6] on July 6th by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. One showed the suspected car driving up to the scene, earning roughly 379,000 views in one day (shown below, top). The other showed the bombing taking place, earning roughly 589,600 views in one day (shown below, bottom).

(2/3) The videos show the explosion and a car leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. No one was injured. pic.twitter.com/8YNmEML9fW

— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) July 6, 2022

Although only one stone was bombed, the GBI said the rest of the structure was demolished for safety purposes, uploading an image of the entire demolition via a third tweet^[7] on July 6th, earning roughly 2,400 likes in one day (shown below).

Before they were completely demolished on July 6th, Twitter^[8] user sdaws5MUFC uploaded a video that showed only one of the stones destroyed, earning roughly 2.2 million views in one day (shown below). Additionally, sdaws5MUFC captioned the video, "Can somebody please finish the job 🙏."

⚠️Georgia Guidestones ⚠️ 💥Can somebody please finish the job 🙏 pic.twitter.com/injSrfmZ0T

— Steve (@sdaws5MUFC) July 6, 2022

As of July 7th, 2022, the GBI has not announced a primary suspect.

Online Reactions and Memes

Besides Twitter^[8] user sdaws5MUFC who stated, "Can somebody please finish the job 🙏," others online also reiterated similar pleasure following the announcement that the Guidestones had been attacked. For instance, on July 6th, 2022, Twitter^[9] user MogTheUrbanite captioned a photo of the Guidestones with, "Damn bro, someone cast down your idols, that crazy," earning roughly 1,900 likes in one day (shown below, left). Also on July 6th, 2022, Instagram^[10] page sarcastic_liberty_ posted a Leonardo DiCaprio Toast meme that celebrated the destruction, earning roughly 2,100 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Other memes and reactions surfaced on 4chan shortly after the news. For instance, a thread started on July 6th, 2022, within the /pol/ ^[11] imageboard led with an image of the Guidestones including multiple memetic references, such as Abigail Shapiro and Dancing Joker, among others (shown below). The post also referenced the conspiracy theory regarding the Guidestones' creation supposedly being linked to the Rosicrucians.

Many creators on 4chan also inserted Pepe the Frog into Guidestone image macros. For instance, one meme shared in a July 6th thread on /pol/^[12] showed a construction worker Pepe blowing up the monument (shown below).

Conspiracy Theories and Rosicrucian Time Capsule

More discourse took place on Reddit's /r/conspiracy subreddit about the Guidestones' destruction. For instance, on July 6th, 2022, Redditor BrightInsight made a post to /r/conspiracy^[13] that speculated about "who ordered/paid to have the remnants of Georgia Guidestones torn down (and SO quickly – the very DAY of)." They additionally speculated about the cost of the heavy machinery, which alluded to them receiving the alleged help of outside funding. In less than a day, the post received roughly 2,100 upvotes.

Other users on 4chan's /pol/^[14][11] continued to namedrop the Rosicrucians, labeling the Guidestones a Rosicrucian monument and referencing a "time capsule" built underneath it. Diagrams and images of the supposed time capsule's location were posted within /pol/ threads spanning into the days following (shown below).

There was additional criticism levied on 4chan regarding anons buying into the theories. For instance, on July 6th, 2022, an I Support The Current Thing meme was shared on /x/^[15] that poked fun at 4chaners buying into the Guidestones' conspiracy (shown below).

Search Interest

External References