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By Brent Simon
Antigua has always had statues. Stone reminders of people most of us never met, achievements we barely remember, and empires that never cared for us.
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They stand quietly on church facades, in public parks, and in the hallways of power — the marble faces of saints, politicians, and colonizers alike. Nobody calls those “graven images.”
Nobody starts a crusade. Recently , an Antiguan artist has sculpted something original — something that doesn’t come from Europe’s imagination or government order — and suddenly the island’s moral compass starts spinning like a broken fan.
The latest uproar over the statue on All Saints Road isn’t about religion, art, or national pride. It’s about control. It’s about who gets to define what is sacred and what isn’t.
The irony is blinding: we live in a country where corruption, deceit, and violence barely stir a whisper, but a piece of sculpted stone brings out the marching orders.
For context, the verses being thrown around — Exodus 20:4–5 and Hosea 4:6 — have been lying dormant through centuries of colonial statuary and religious decoration.
Nobody quotes them at the Cathedral, nobody preaches them when they walk past the likenesses of men who helped write the nation’s inequality into law.
But the moment an Antiguan dares to sculpt his own interpretation of prophecy, everyone suddenly becomes a theologian.
Let’s be honest.
The outrage is pathetic. Antigua has never been a society deeply immersed in art or symbolism. We don’t have the habit of questioning what we see, as a matter of fact, it seems that in our society that “good people”, don’t rock the boat, and that’s why anything thought provoking orunfamiliar gets branded as evil.
This isn’t about blasphemy — it’s about discomfort. A local artist contracted by a religious leader and led by BIBLICAL descriptions, dared to stepped out of the narrow box this country reserves for “acceptable expression,” and that alone was enough to trigger the self-righteous.
Meanwhile, the same voices decrying a statue as “ungodly” stay conveniently silent on matters that actually degrade this island: greed masquerading as governance, exploitation dressed as opportunity, and mediocrity baptized as tradition.
The moral theatre is endless — people who can’t manage decency in daily life performing outrage over a rock.
What should have been a proud moment — an Antiguan sculptor producing something daring, interpretive, and locally rooted — has instead become a spectacle of insecurity.
Because the truth is, many of us still can’t tell the difference between art and idolatry, expression and offense, reflection and rebellion.
And that ignorance, not any statue, is the real graven image carved into our collective conscience.
The problem isn’t that the statue stands; it’s that we, as a people, refuse to.
We shrink behind borrowed morality whenever we fear thinking for ourselves. We talk about righteousness but can’t handle reflection.
We claim to defend faith while betraying reason. The country has become a cesspool of convenient conviction — loud, brittle, and easily offended.
So let the so-called faithful rage.
The artist has already done what few in this place ever attempt — provoke thought, awaken conversation, and, in doing so, expose the deep rot beneath our polished hypocrisy.
The statue doesn’t mock faith; it mirrors us. And maybe that’s what really offends.
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The biggest outrage for me really is the hypocrisy of it all. There is nothing Christian about this country. NOTHING. There is the brainwashing that we suffered at the hands of the colonizers who used the white-washed specially written King James Bible to control us and convince us that the white man with blue eyes and blind hair, was our God and all people who lookd like him was better than us.
Today only the elderly cling to that religion as they are convinced that there is a heaven and hell.
And all, I say ALL, the leaders of churches in this country behave like Gods and lord their power over their followers.
What is the difference between a sculpture and the living image of these Gods.
Can the writer tell us which statues of colonizers grace the halls of buildings etc??? To my knowledge the only statues I’ve noticed are ones of National figures.
Well said!!….
This is a powerful opinion piece that strikes at the heart of the selective morality plaguing our nation. I wholeheartedly agree with the author who brilliantly exposes the stench of hypocrisy. The sudden, fierce outrage over a thought-provoking, locally-produced sculpture—one rooted in biblical prophecy and contracted by a religious leader, no less—is simply a convenient distraction. It’s a spectacular instance of a society mistaking discomfort for blasphemy.
The loudest voices now railing against a “graven image” on All Saints Road are the same ones deafeningly silent on the issues that truly degrade and diminish our people: rampant corruption, economic imbalance, and profound immorality. The annual pilgrimage to the VC Bird bust on the first Monday in May, where concrete is practically worshipped as we pay homage to the “Father of the Nation,” offers a blinding comparison. That is a statue of national pride, yet the blind spot to the idol worship in that ritual is astounding.
The self-proclaimed “theologians” are not guided by reasoned faith, but by a fear of the unfamiliar. They jump onto an uninformed bandwagon to condemn a work with deep biblical context, without ever seeking an explanation from the artist or understanding the prophecy it interprets.
As Helen Keller said, we “have eyes but lack sight.” The very prophecies the artist is exploring warn us that the kingdoms we set up for ourselves will fall. Yet, we remain an unempathetic lot, loudest on religious platitudes while ignoring the profound social ills affecting our brothers and sisters.
This statue hasn’t triggered a religious crisis; it has exposed a crisis of conscience. I commend the artist for having the courage to provoke the very conversation this country desperately needs.
The hypocrisy is palpable. We rush to condemn a thought-provoking piece of art—an Antiguan interpretation of prophecy—while remaining shamefully silent on the true ‘graven images’ degrading our society: corruption, economic exploitation, and a staggering lack of empathy.
The outrage is a theatrical sham. We have national icons like the VC Bird bust, which draws a yearly ritual of homage that could easily be branded as idol worship, yet the nation’s “theologians” are conveniently silent. Suddenly, an Antiguan artist dares to sculpt a prophecy, and the moral compass spins out of control. The issue isn’t the rock on All Saints Road; it’s the deep-seated hypocrisy that ignores genuine ‘graven images’ like corruption and apathy, but performs over art that forces us to think.
I endorse this post. Well penned
I’m not really a biblical person, so I do not know much about the statue and what it represents, all I know if that statue remains its not going to engage in corruption, nepotism, cronyism or thievery so it’s the least of my worries, the self righteous will kick up a storm but do nothing about the people who have us in this quagmire
This is truly ON POINT……
Well said Brent! well said! I can read and will read this piece again and I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts and sentiments. Well said!!!!!
Antigua is nothing without hypocrisy, the Black people were once not allowed to be in God’s churches. Soon after they got to enter but had to sit in a particular area. God’s people not only killed the natives of this land but also bought and worked slaves to death for gain.
Blacks wanted to be good slaves and denounced their own beliefs so that they could be recognized as Christians and trust worthy. The sad part is Antigua a hub for lies and hypocrisy because all the churches that serves this very God of the men that conquered this land in the name of Jesus are the ones that set the foundation for the main religion celebrated in this nation to this day.
Nicely put, Thanks a lot