Remember Jesus on a trailer hitch? Now he's Touchdown Jesus...

[DeepModem Mom]

and, once again, I don't think He's pleased.



NYT: On Ohio Flatland, a Megachurch's Eye-Catcher Dominates
By CHRIS MAAG
Published: November 17, 2005

MONROE, Ohio - Jesus first appears in a flash, a white statue rising from the flat cornfields 40 miles north of Cincinnati. Then he is gone, hidden behind a gas station.

Drive another quarter-mile up Interstate 75, past the billboards for Bristol's Strip Club and Trader's World Flea Market, and suddenly the image appears in all its full dimensions. Jesus, depicted from the waist up, is six stories tall and seems to burst from the ground, as if he might gather a tractor-trailer in his Honda-size hands and lift it to heaven.

After dark, the figure is illuminated by spotlights from below. "It sort of looms out at you, especially at night," said Aaron Andrews, a trucker from Milwaukee.

The statue, erected in 2003, was the inspiration of Lawrence and Darlene Bishop, evangelical Christian pastors of the 3,400-member Solid Rock Church here, which spent $250,000 on a project that did not go smoothly....

***

There is also a running disagreement over the statue's name. Postcards for sale in the church's gift shop refer to it as the King of Kings. Many locals call it Touchdown Jesus, since, a bit like the famed mural at the University of Notre Dame, it resembles a robed and bearded referee signaling a score at the goal line. Others call it Super Jesus, MC 62ft Jesus (for the technomusician of a similar name) or simply Big J....



http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/national/17statue.html?hp

(Mods -- if this is a religious post, please feel free to move.)
:)

[joeybee12]

1. Went to Notre Dame, and there's a mural of Jesus on the library,

visible from the football stadium. Yes, Jesus has his hands up like he's signaling a touchdown. Been there at least 35 years, I think.

[ohio_liberal]

4. This one isn't as comical as the one in Ohio

Notre Dame's Touchdown Jesus:




I'm so embarrassed for my state sometimes, though I do live in the slightly sane part of it.

[tridim]

2. How about Jesus in a sidecar?

[unrepuke]

6. How in Hail's he do that ona motorsickle? It's a MIRACLE!

O8) say hal-looya

That big ol' white dude looks more like Kenny Rogers to me, ya know - The Gambler...

[GreenInNC]

19. men who look like Kenny Rogers:

http://www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com/

[ohio_liberal]

31. OMG, that website is a hoot!

The names they gave the Kenneys in the hall of fame pictures had me laughing so hard my belly's hurting. :D

[spanone]

3. It's a big, old, goofy world.

:hippie:

[Lerkfish]

5. this is close to where I live in Dayton, even more bizarre...

I think (could be wrong) but I think this church is built on a landfill.

[skinfusionz]

9. not a landfill...

to my memory it's not built on a landfill, just some farm land. However, to my understanding, this church is a cult built on coke money.
Local rumours say one of the founders of this church spent some time in prison for cocaine trafficing.

I know a few people who have been victims of the cult-like conditions there. They show classic brainwashing symptoms.

None of the above information may be correct, just some local rumours for you all.

[AntiCoup2K4]

30. I can top that for bizarre......

...The church my grandmother went to was built on the site of a missile silo!

(The missile was long gone, of course. Otherwise that might be one Hell of a rude interruption to the sermon if someone ever hit the wrong button!)

[atommom]

7. It looks to me as if he's trying to escape!

And I can't say that I blame him.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Like he's saying: HELP ME! nt

[katamaran]

11. Or he's throwing his arms up and saying "JEE-ZUS Christ!!!"

[katamaran]

10. Kinda looks like he just tossed something into the air...

...a baby, a dachshund, a beachball...

"Here God...catch!"

[wildeyed]

12. I can imagine driving past it at night,

groggy and out of it, and then just losing it in surprise. How many accidents has that thing caused?

I lived in the DC area for ages. Coming around the beltway at night and seeing the Mormon Temple all lit up was kind of like that. Someone graffiti 'surrender Dorothy' on an overpass in the vicinity 'cause it looked like OZ poking out of the trees.

[bunkerbuster1]

26. It was weird enough driving past in broad daylight

as my family and I did earlier this year. Very weird.

Then we all laughed. My kid called it "Giant Jesus."

[Dead_Parrot]

13. I'm sure Jesus would love it.

So much better to have a f-cking giant fibre-glass Jesus than, say, spending a quarter mil on healing the sick, housing the homeless or feeding the hungry. :puke:

As an aside, is it just me who think it looks like Abe Lincoln without the hat?

AbE: Ahh, that's it. It's Abe trying to catch his hat in a strong wind.

[ohio_liberal]

14. I usually don't bash "art"

but that looks like a piece of amateurish papier mache.

[snippy]

15. Don't forget "Jesus of the Week."

http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/

Balloon Jesus #2 is one of my favorites.



And please take note that the Jesus of the Week site also features that very, very special "Jesus of the Moment" resurrected on demand merely by hitting the refresh button on your browser.



But Jesus on a Trailer Hitch will always have a special place in my heart.

[Karenina]

16. Muslims have more real respect for

Jesus as G_d's prophet than do X-tian fundies...

[FreedomAngel82]

23. It's kind of sad

People who supposivley love and respect Jesus love to exploit him.

[Mist]

17. Well, isn't that "special" ? When will someone do

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick?

[Dead_Parrot]

20. These guys come close:

http://www.divine-interventions.com/

Warning - Adult site!

[smirkymonkey]

18. None of them compare to the genuine "Cheesus"

COMING SOON!!

Swiss Cheesus
It's the Hole-iest

Port Wine Cheesus

and
The Gouda Buddha

[Bluebear]

21. "Jesus, hidden behind a gas station."

There's something in that...

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Don't all these people

read about the hypocrites Jesus talks about? :eyes:

[B Calm]

24. Big deal, Effingham, Illinois has a 198 foot tall cross on I 70!

[Ladyhawk]

29. Did Paul Bunyan crash and die there? n/t

[AntiCoup2K4]

32. Isn't that the Washington Monument??

With arms??

[B Calm]

35. ha ha, I think you described it to a tee..

[Fenris]

25. GOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ohio_liberal]

27. Jesus is actually Andres Cantor LOL

http://eteamz.active.com/rosetreerockets/sounds/gooooal.wav

[Bluebear]

34. GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Earworm!

[No Exit]

28. $250,000 could have fed, clothed, and housed a lot of people. n/t

[JesterCS]

33. I live in monroe

everytime we pass it in the car i have the urge to scream ' Touchdown Jesus! '

But i hold my tongue cuz im Christian =p Solid Rock Church is a cult tho.. they require 10% of ur paycheck to become a member, even have to sign paperwork so its autodeducted from ur paycheck i beleive.