Representation by Neo Rose
- Date submitted
- 11 January 2019
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
It is of the gravest importance for us not to destroy or tamper with major sites given magical significance. I know you are unlikely to take this seriously, however I must press its urgency regardless. The history of the colonial empire destroying or messing around with sacred artifacts in countless culture; aboriginal australians, native americans etc. has resulted in massive disruption and negative effects. The trope of building upon an 'ancient indian burial ground' and resulting in negative effects has become exactly that; a trope. However, with the state of contemporary anthropology (look up 'Ontological Turn') increasingly these things are taken seriously; i.e we take /seriously/ the claims of other cultures about their sacred artefacts and places. We do not simply accept that that is what they believe but ourselves believe it not be true, we actively respect and believe it ourselves. There is a major, major danger to messing around with sites and artefacts that people within those cultures hold to be exceptionally sacred. Stonehenge, in all its mysterious, has manifestly been one of the major sites of spiritual significance in this country, and this is upheld by all of those in the pagan, druidic and so on. cultures. Respect this, and do not foolishly build a tunnel underneath it - for the sake of a slight road benefit, do not even risk the major disruption that it may cause. I know that your personal, Western, probably Christian or Atheistic worldviews (apologies for assuming perhaps incorrectly) do not incorporate such things into your ontology, but please don't have the hubris to potentially wreak massive damage, as the people to whom this site is important believe it will (and how the history of site tampering has resulting ie as aforementioned in Australia, America, but also all across Africa from the colonies). Your understanding of reality is not complete and even if your belief in Science or in Jesus tells you that this is ludicrous, I do not think that you really understand either of those things enough to really have the confidence (other than hubris) to drill a road tunnel under probably the site of the most major spiritual significance in this country. Even if it has been allotted this significance because there is some scientific explanation for it and destroying undoes this, please be careful. The amount of sacred sites that have been destroyed by hubristic westerns across the continents that have caused massive destruction are countless. Thank you for your time, apologies for any brashness, it is simply the result of feeling exceptionally concerned about your plans.