New Los Angeles breathes with the seasons. As organic as its people, the city is layered with modernism built on the detritus of the past. Like Jerusalem or Rome, NLA’s history is right underneath all who walk its streets.
From above, its symmetry reminds one of an upside down chandelier. Countless lamps and mirrored windows bounce light in all directions. The city sparkles and shines its luster polished in the night sky. NLA’s towering buildings push skyward like fingers. The most popular being the famous Tower of Man. An engorged symbol of man’s achievement over the gods, this two hundred and fifty story colossus serves as a beacon of humanity’s dominion in the universe.
Built by billionaire real estate mogul and Reverend Pious McNally, the Tower was an answer to the god’s loss of grace. In excess of 450,000,000 dollars, the monolith is now the most sprawling and ornate structure in the world. Upon its completion, it was immediately a topic of conversation and compared to the Freedom Tower in New York City and the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia.
In design, the Tower is a marvel of angled mirror panels that twist around giving the impression of a helix. From outside, one gets the impression of movement. As if the Tower is rotating counter-clockwise. It’s base is adorned with a vertical beam and lintel not dissimilar from the Lion Gate in Mycenae. Alongside this are gaudy fountains and floral designs all meant to invite the passerby through its doors.
Stepping inside is like stepping into a Roman Basilica. There is a pronounced temperature change that one feels immediately. The coolness is accented with a silence common in cathedrals. But the crown jewel of the Tower is its 75 meter x 25 m mural called ‘Ascension of Man.’
Painted over a three year period by popular artist Giovelli Cortan, the mosaic depicts mankind in all its glory. A human man stands exalted as the center of the universe. Galaxies with all their suns and planets surround him and cover him like celestial clothing. His head is back and his arms wide and beckoning. His lithe body and delicate features give him a feminine countenance. Blue eyes couple perfectly with brown locks and sensual smile. He gazes outward, at us, as we admire him and his place in the universe.
On either side of are representations of the religions of the past. Jesus Christ, Krsna, Buddha, and Moses all gaze up at him adoringly. Their faces bliss., they’re hands outstretched, deities of the past now worship the ascended man. But behind these relics are demons that are slowly devouring them as they revere mankind. Meant to show that dogma will eventually be their downfall, the gods of yesterday are being eaten, Their eyes plucked out, dismembered, devils clutch their genitals, winged serpents flick tongues in their adoring open mouths. Some are on fire, others being torn to pieces. But always they wear a beautiful adoring smile. The Ascended Man looks outward to all his admirers watching the scene unfold. His piercing gaze the hope for the future.
For the past three years, the Tower of Man has also served as a meeting place and head of operations for Pious’ Church Of Man. A religious order founded by the Reverend and boasting three hundred thousand members, the church places humanity as central role in the creation and maintaining of the universe.
Leaving traditional doctrine behind, the human soul is exchanged for human achievement. All aspects of an afterlife filled with ecstasy and misery are replaced by human life experience. For the church of Man, humanity and only humanity is deserving of worship. A grace once exclusive to the gods now bestowed solely upon mankind.
Discarding all forms of religious text or ritual, the Church as it is commonly called, simply chose to perform ritual that governed Man’s place as creator and arbiter of the cosmos around him. There is no longer a need for deities outside of ourselves because they too are now experiencing the human endeavor. The Church of Man provides a service the gods can no longer perform. With Pious acting as prophet and CEO, he is accompanied by two acolytes that organize weekly sermons and daily activities. The church has become a booming conglomerate of business savvy and media oriented entities all used to further the message of ‘Man’.
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