'Touchdown' Jesus Statue Destroyed by Lightning

[Ziggy Stardust]

Not really, since God doesn't exist.

 

[Aegis]

This is more a sign of: "Really tall metal objects in open areas tend to get hit by lightning."

 

[amadeus]

This is more a sign of: "Really tall metal objects in open areas tend to get hit by lightning."

He was a carpenter, not a meteorologist.

 

[Aegis]

I was referring to the church's pastor and the engineers who built the thing.

 

[Zack]

The real Touchdown Jesus is alive and well, I promise . . .

My thoughts exactly.

 

[_random_]

MONROE — A new statue in front of Solid Rock Church will portray Jesus Christ inviting followers to “Come Unto Me.”
Two Cincinnati artists have been chosen to design the new 51-foot-high statue that will replace the “King of Kings” monument destroyed when it was struck by lightning June 14.
The collaboration of Steve Brauch of Glasshand LLC and Tom Tsuchiya was chosen from six artists to design and sculpt the full-standing statue of Jesus Christ with an outstretched pose, said Ron Carter, administrator of Solid Rock Church, located at 904 N. Union Road in Monroe.
The church board chose Tsuchiya and Brauch — whose company’s previous work includes the fiberglass Big Pigs in downtown Cincinnati and Frisch’s Big Boy — over artists from Canada, Cincinnati, Colorado and Texas. “We liked the design. Also, the local aspect of it gives us an opportunity to review their work in progress so if there needs to be minor tweaks, we can do that,” Carter said.
The statue will stand on 11 feet of boulders and rocks with water flowing out of the rock into the reflecting pool in front of the statue. The structure will be constructed of a steel substructure with a lightning suppression system installed, he said.
The church unveiled an 18-inch tall replica of the statue on an audio visual screen to its congregation during services on Sunday.
“They responded very favorably,” Carter said, adding that he hopes the general public likes it as well.
“They can be inspired by it,” he said.
The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2011.
The two Cincinnati artists selected to design the new giant Jesus statue at Solid Rock Church say they are excited by the challenge.
“I never worked on a sculpture of this scale before, so from a sculptor’s perspective this is a really exciting piece,” said Tsuchiya.
Rebar and hardware cloth will cover the substructure defining the general detail of the statue. Urethane foam will cover the wire mesh and will be sculpted into the refined detail of the statue. It will be finished with a top coating of acrylic-based aggregate to resemble limestone.
“There’s a lot of preliminary work before the sculpting starts,” Carter said, including calculating how much steel will be needed for the statue.
Plans call on the artists to work on the head and hands during the winter months and to begin constructing the body in the spring, Carter said. The head and hands also will be attached to the body then, Carter said.
Tsuchiya said he and Brauch, whose company is located in Woodlawn, have known each other for about decade and have worked on some small projects together in the past.
“Basically, I’d design some sculptures and then he and his firm would fabricate my ideas. … Usually, we never did anything where they were joint projects; it would be me going to him to have something made,” he said.
Glasshand specializes in complex molds and limited production runs from public and commercial art to roller coaster bodies, according to the company’s website at www.theglasshand.com.

Link

Not the best art I've seen, but at least he won't look like he's drowning. It'll still be distracting as hell on the highway.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I find Touchdown Jesus to be a lot more inspirational.

 

[JollyRoger]

Habakkuk 2: 18 "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. 19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.

 

[Link]

Good for you. What better way to spread your message of love and helping people than spending money that could potentially buy food of medical aid on a statue?

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Wow. This type of blatant idolatry and decadence is part of why I've lost faith in the evangelical movement here in the USA. It really can't help but fail if this is the sort of stuff that they're spending money on. It looks like the Crystal Cathedral has filed chapter 11, in related news.

 

[Aegis]

The new Jesus looks like he's wearing spectacles.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

This is so disrespectful to the worshipers of Thor

 

[bhsup]

This is so disrespectful to the worshipers of Thor

You must hate Cristo Redentor. But yeah, my gut reaction is "Idolatry much?"

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

You must hate Cristo Redentor. But yeah, my gut reaction is "Idolatry much?"

No, Cristo Redentor stayed up after being hit, so fair play and I consider it Thor Worthy.

 

[Archbob]

God is furious that you decided to make the statue out of paper Mache rather than marble.

 

[Communisto]

The universe effing rules

 

[Dizzy75]

Kevin Jones said, "I'm thinking it's a sign from Jesus that we need to learn something, as Christians, as a whole, we're not doing something right."

Yes, it's a sign from Jesus that you need to learn something: Don't build a freakin' lightning rod if you don't want it to be struck by lightning! Seriously, it's the tallest thing within what looks like hundreds of yards, and clearly it can conduct electricity, so what exactly did they expect? You don't go out and play golf in a lightning storm...

 

[Formaldehyde]

You don't go out and play golf in a lightning storm...

Sometimes it helps to make a song to remember life's little rules.


Link to video.

Someone should email the current owner of Roger Miller's song and tell him to add a chorus about lightning rods in the midwest.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Poland scores victory goal against Touchdown Jesus and Brazil:

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/ap/november/170089/Giant-Jesus-statue-completed-in-Polish-town

SWIEBODZIN, Poland (AP) _ Workers in a small Polish town on Saturday lifted the shoulders and arms onto a giant statue of Jesus Christ that its creators say will be the biggest in the world.

After delays caused by strong winds, a towering crane lifted the massive piece and very slowly placed it onto the lower part of the figure's body. Later in the day, workers hoped to finish assembling the statue by hoisting the head.

The statue is the creation of a retired local priest, Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki. Many local residents and business people in Swiebodzin (shvee-eh-BOHD'-jeen) say they hope it will put their town of 22,000 on the map for Roman Catholic pilgrims and bring in money to their community.

"I'm thrilled," said Emilia Zoladz, a 58-year-old economist watching the statue being assembled as she took cover from chilly drizzle at a shopping center across the street.

"The statue will make Swiebodzin famous all over Poland."

Organizers say it will be the largest statue of Jesus in the world, rising even higher than Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue. However, different people working on the project gave slightly differing measurements for the statue, and it was impossible to verify the claim.

An artist who worked on the design _ which he said he modeled on the famous Brazilian Christ that towers over the beaches of Rio _ put the total measurement at 167 feet (51 meters), including a mound it sits on and a golden king's crown on the head. By comparison, the statue in Brazil's Rio is 125 feet (38 meters) tall.

The artist would only give his first name, Tomek, saying he was afraid of having his last name made public until he knew for sure the statue would go up successfully.

The priest also refused to talk to reporters until the project is completed. An assistant, Hanna Sergiew, said the 78-year-old was exhausted and agitated and would only talk once the head is mounted.

The project has faced numerous problems along the way, and the "builder priest," as Zawadzki is known, has had to persuade a skeptical bishop to let him go ahead with it. Government officials also suspended the project for some time, fearing the size made it unsafe.

More recently, an attempt to finally mount the figure had to be aborted because it turned out that the crane was not powerful enough to lift the arms and shoulders _ weighing 30 tons (27 metric tons) _ onto the standing body. A new crane has now arrived but further delays were caused this week by heavy winds.

A local resident watching the arms go on, Wladyslaw Greszta, said he was confident everything would work out. He lives just down the road and said he looked forward to having a view of the completed statue.

"This is a great thing," said Greszta, 57, a retired tractor driver. "And this must be successful _ there are no other options. Our priest has already had one heart attack and if this doesn't work out, he will die."

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: Moved to the Tavern on request.