Last updated on 05/26/2020
On Saturday, May 28th about 150 people gathered in front of the “Musica” statue on the roundabout at the bottom of Music Row to protest the “sexual permissiveness” of American Culture and the subsequent “Holocaust of the Unborn.”
Wearing blindfolds over their eyes, and red duct tape on their mouths, the protesters sat down with their backs turned to the “Musica” statue, by artist Alan Lequire.
Musica is a thirty foot plus bronze statue with several nudes in various states of dance which was placed at the center of the Music Row roundabout last year and has been the subject of controversy.
The group, which calls themselves the “Pure Life Revolution” insisted they were not protesters or opposed to art, but rather were rather praying for purity in Nashville and speaking out for the unborn.
Interview with Matthew Stark of Pure Life Revolution
What are you doing here today?
This is Pure Life Revolution. It is a prayer and repentance movement on behalf of purity, justice, righteousness. We are a moral outcry for society. We are a coalition of numerous different churches and six nations out here praying today. It is not just one group or one church praying.
We are not protesting and want to make that clear. This is a prayer and repentance movement first on behalf of ourselves within the church and the city.
We are not out here against art or against the artist, we just thought this was a great place to cry out to God and pray for purity in our city.
We are right here in the Media Center on Music Row on the main circle. Most of the Christian publications come from Nashville as well as most of the recordings and Christian worship music comes from Nashville so we thought this was a pivotal place to cry out for that (purity in our city).
What specifically are you doing here?
First of all they have blindfolds over their eyes. That is symbolic to signify “I’ll set no vile thing before my eyes.” (We are) shutting out the media madness, the social injustice, just everything that has been going on.
(They are) consecrating themselves to god. Second Chronicles tells us if we humble ourselves and pray and seek god’s face then he will hear from heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land.
The eyes are the gateway to the soul and into the spirit, everything comes in through the eyes and they are just setting their eyes unto the Lord for a time. They have tape over their mouths that says “Life” and that is symbolic for speaking up for those who can’t speak up for themselves. It is identifying with the silent screams of the unborn.
There have been 52 million babies aborted in the last 30 years. That is half of the generation of 30 and under has been systematically murdered because of that. So it is a stand for the culture of life and against the culture of death.
I heard you were also making a stand against the adult entertainment industry . . .
Nashville has more strip clubs and porno shops, adult businesses than any other city in America for the size of our population. We also have more churches than any other city for the size of our population.
We think those two are opposite of each other. Someone needs to stand up and cry out against these things. It is one of the things that is continually destroying the family unit. We are stepping up and saying enough is enough.
Why did you choose the Musica statue? Are you opposed to this statue?
This is the second place we have done pure life revolution. We are not opposed to art. We feel that this is a visual manifestation of the spiritual climate of nashville. Right here in the main part of the city almost the heart of the city is where it lies so that is why we are coming here and praying for purity.
Who are these people?
It is a coalition of several different churches around Nashville and the United States as well as six different nations. It is a group of people joining together under one voice one banner saying enough is enough. We have got to stand up for what is right we have to make a difference.
Do you think anyone might look at you and think you are opposed to art?
They could very well think that but that is not our purpose for being out here. I don’t think that we should be forced to look at things if we don’t choose to. That is not the main reason we are out here to debate art or to go down that road. We are here to cry out and pray for repentance.
Your participants have the word “Life” duct-taped on their mouths. Can you tell me more about that?
Well we are teaming up with Lou Engel and the Cause USA. They are the ones that originated that up at the Supreme Court in Washington DC before the elections. They have been praying that god would overturn abortion in this nation.
They have been standing up and saying we can’t allow this, the shedding of innocent blood. It is really speaking up for those who don’t have a voice yet.
That is the main goal of it. You can say a lot more with your mouth closed sometimes, than standing up and protesting. We are not protesting, we are praying. We are appealing to a higher court on behalf of this nation.
What is Pure Life Revolution?
Pure Life Revolution was started here in Nashville back in December so this is the first year of its existence. We have had one other event at the Supreme Court here in Nashville. We called it the twenty one day turn off.
We stood for twenty one days calling out for purity on behalf of our city. We know this city has global impact and global influence. It touches the world. Whatever comes out of Nashville touches the world. If that is purity then that is a far greater message than what we have been preaching.
Do you think Roe Vs. Wade will be overturned in the near future?
I think it has a possibility. It is coming up before the supreme court. It is coming back up on the docket and that is why we are standing and crying out for that.
Do you think that some people might just see this statue as art?
We are not out here to debate art. Some things are better seen in a museum. That is fine. We just don’t think that certain things should be displayed. I shouldn’t have to explain to my children what this is. I am forced to basically. We are not out here protesting art, we are here praying and appealing to God for our city.
What kind of response have you gotten?
A lot of people are for what we are doing. The basic general overview has been favorable. We haven’t had any real problems. There have been a few hecklers that have driven by but that is expected.
Does your group belong to a specific denomination?
There are several different denominations. It is all about Jesus. It is about having a relationship with Jesus Christ, not just a religious identity.
Do you have any future activities planned?
We have tonight on the Shelby Street Bridge a gathering from 5-7. We will be launching pure life revolution across the united states. We have got Lou Engel in from Washington DC. Radiant Revolution will be there.
Where can people find out more about your organization?
They can check us out at pureliferevolution.net