Silentium Est Aureum

My Saturday afternoons are usually filled with long walks around SoHo, desperately trying to acquire new clothing. This part of the city has always had a special place in my heart. I usually pay more attention to the street art that decorates and revitalizes the often-boring facades of the buildings. It was, therefore, during my long-lasting journey, between the purses and the shoes, that I found myself stumbling upon this extremely fascinating mural.

This controversial piece of art depicts what I believe is the Virgin Mary, holding in one hand the holy cross marked with a discrete dollar sign, and in the other, a gun equipped with a silencer, and engraved with the Latin words: “Silentium Est Aureum”. She stands upon America, and by her feet, is located a human skull, most likely symbolizing death.

The first thing that stroke me, was the sharp paradox between the alleged holiness of Christianity and the overwhelming presence of death and censorship. This mural seems to portray the two faces of Christianity.  The beautiful woman covered in stars holding on to the cross seems honorable and highly respectable, but the gun that she is pointing to America only seems to reveal signs of fear and corruption. People will come to wonder if ultimately, Christianity is a hypocritical religion, preaching about love and liberty, while secretly hiding behind a mask, trying to conceal the thousands of deaths it has generated.

This mural reminded me of the various readings we had covered this semester, shedding light on the many debates that had risen regarding the sincerity and legitimacy of Christianity. Through Douglass or Baldwin, the many sides of this problematic religion have been discussed thoroughly, especially by the African-American community, who has always shared an intricate and delicate relationship to that religion. As Christianity was taught to the slaves by the ruthless slave-owners, it is almost impossible to dissociate this religion from oppression and cruelty. How could people attend mass every Sunday, cherish the idea of love and respect, while still beating, raping and humiliating an entire community?

People often forget the ties that Christianity shares with its colonial past. People overlook the harsh reality, in which hundreds of communities were colonized, too many cultures destroyed and thousands of people killed, in the name of Christ. This mural ultimately wants to break the silence that has often been cherished amongst the elitist preachers of this religion. Silence is not golden, it can never be. It is a dark veil covering the truth. And the truth will always find a voice, through which it will make itself heard.  Whether it be through art or literature, people can never ignore the extremely heavy weight of the dead bodies that Christianity must forever carry.