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The statue called Stairway to Heaven is currently in the public spotlight. The controversy regarding the statue showing the worship of three religions has gone viral again on social media in the midst of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.
The Stairway to Heaven statue displays the ways of worship of three religions, namely Islam, Christianity and Judaism. You can see at the bottom Muslims prostrating, above them Christians kneeling, and at the top Jews standing while praying.
This statue was displayed at the Spanish International Contemporary Art Exhibition, ARCO Madrid in 2010. This statue is the work of an artist from Spain, Eugenio Merino.
However, in 2022, this statue received criticism from the Israeli Embassy. They consider this statue an insult to the Jewish people, even though their position is at the top.
The reason is, they believe that if Muslims rise from their prostration, the two religions above them will fall and be destroyed. However, there are also interpretations that the public associates with the stereotype that Jews rule the world, feel they are the most righteous and closest to God, to anti-Islam. There are also those who argue that the statue looks like Jews are insulting Islam through or with the help of other religions.
Responding to the controversy, Merino, the creator of the statue, said that his work was not intended to offend any religion. This statue is purely his work which represents the three religions trying to reach God literally.
“This is not intended to offend anyone’s feelings. This is purely my idea, the coexistence of three religions that together are trying to reach God literally. The message is positive for me,” explained Merino, quoted from newsdelivers.com.
For your information, the Stairway to Heaven statue was made using human hair and silicon to make it look real. It is reported that the statue was sold to a European art collector for 50,000 Euros or the equivalent of 747.3 million rupiah.
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