A Drunken Angel

This is a fenced-off courtyard on the grounds of the Union Baptist Church in Philadelphia. The famous Marian Anderson sang in the church as a child. This little yard, and possibly the whole property, is empty now. I've been past this place countless times but I've never noticed the statue.

The statue shows an angel boy raising something to his mouth, presumably a horn, but the horn has been broken off. Thus it looks like a young drinker, raising a bottle to his mouth. This weedy, derelict little park with a broken and drunken-looking angel at its center caught my interest right away. It's a shrine to public drunkenness. I'm not sure whether the horn's stub is small enough to fit inside a bottle's neck, but I am very sure that many people have thought of putting a bottle on it, so as to complete the sculpture. The park benches add to the effect.

No, I haven't gone religious, nor am I writing this to be cute. I just wanted to record the thought because in this society, the only correct way to discuss alcohol addiction when sober is in the smarmy, God-smeared terms presented by Alcoholics Anonymous. And whenever I point out that issue I get some flack in one way or another. This is not the time to complete the polemic (as I've been meaning to in writing), but it staggers my mind to think of all the troubled people who have gone without the moral support they sought, only because AA is encrusted with Christ, and that is sickening.

Perhaps this shrine will fill up with drunken souls who will degrade every grain of their humanity at the angel's feet. Today, I won't be joining them.