Touchdown Jesus struck by lightning

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said. The fire department would release a monetary damage estimate Tuesday, he said.

Travelers on Interstate 75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by former horse trader Lawrence Bishop and his wife. Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation and they spent about $250,000 to finance it.

I didn't believe in the Bible Code until I read that post! So many random numbers!

I fixed it

God must not be terribly fond of folks who try to rip off Notre Dame.

Stuck by lightning?

I bet he used his own name in vain!

My mom said that's what happens when you do that.

What, you mean like William Shakespeare?

I'd like to have been a fly on the wall in the meetings when they were building this thing. I can't imagine a statue depicting him buried to his armpits was anyone's first choice. I'm sure there were structural (and probably cost and maybe even zoning) issues with the scale they wanted to do the bugger in but I'm guessing they'd already gotten a start on the top so they just said "fuck it" and did a bust. And really, who does a bust with arms? That is bizarre.

A structure 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide, made of foam and fiberglass over a steel frame attracted a lightening bolt?



Lucky it lasted six years.

Sounds like Thor expressed his displeasure at the pale, sickly Christ.

But this begs the question: What the fuck are the Muslims getting bent out of shape over if they don't know what Muhammed looks like? In my opinion, since the representations of Muhammed are so likely to be off (from what I've seen, they look like Generic Angry Muslim to me) that it can't be blasphemy.

Don't be silly. We know what Jesus looked like. Surely you've seen all the Renaissance paintings of him: tall; light brown hair; pale white skin; small nose; blue eyes.

You know, just a typical 1st century near eastern Jew.

He looks just like Max von Sydow...or was it Jeffrey Hunter?

I somehow see it as a combination of zoning regs and running out of funding. And I'm imagining the number of locals driving past it, shaking their heads in dismay, and muttering "Aw, Jesus, would you look at that thing?"

"You may remember him as the actor who was replaced by William Shatner on Star Trek. Apparently Mr. Hunter was good enough to die for our sins but not quite up to the task of seducing green women."

Neither, obviously.

Every intelligent person knows he looked like Ted Neely.

What, no Jim Cavaziel?

No way he was that pretty.

Two very Germanic Jesuses, to be sure.

But, if you're going to cast a white, Anglo-type as Jesus, just go all out and get Robert Powell's slightly creepy version...

or possibly

Hmm, hadn't seen that one. But, yeah, just on the basis of looks...another blue-eyed Anglo pretty boy.

Meh. Vampires weren't pretty, either, until this guy did Broadway:

Actually, Robert Powell is my favorite. I also consider the "Jesus of Nazareth" miniseries to be the best of the bunch.

Chuck, Chuck, you buried the lead!!

Their God burnt the thing down with a lightning bolt, and they want to piss him off all over again.

So, okay, let's recap.

Hurricanes, tsunamis, caused by butt-fucking, therefore be an utter shit to homosexuals.

Lighting burns down your goofy Jesus statue, you don't bat an eye, and just rebuild it.

The statue cost several hundred thousand dollars the first time. In this economy, millions of families are going hungry or are homeless. What church in their right mind would want to rebuild a several hundred thousand dollar statue with another similar several hundred thousand dollar statue? What purpose does it serve? If this were a time of prosperity, sure! However, thousands of people within blocks of the church haven't seen a decent meal in months. Many of them are homeless, jobless, in need of assistance, and the church says "we're going to throw good money after bad and rebuild this statue!"

Especially one God doesn't approve of!
Why...it's as if they don't really believe!

Either that, or they only believe the whole "struck by lightning" thing when it's convenient.

"Tsunami hit India! God's wrath!"
"Lightning incinerates 62 ft Jesus statue!... God must want us to build it again!"

God's testing their faith. They're gonna prove they have it by sacrificing their time and money rebuilding it.

Nevermind that the Argentians did it right when they did it...

It probably won't cost that much this time around; the steel frame is still in place, and it doesn't need to be designed.

He really looks more like "Fuck, quicksand!" Jesus than anything else.

The steel frame has been charred, there's really nothing left, and in her own words, Darlene Bishop (Co-Pastor) said, "This time, we're going for something more fireproof." The initial structure cost $250,000 in 2004.

Well, on the bright side, it might provide at least temporary work for some of the local unemployed...but it would be funny if as the structure got higher and higher they all started speaking in tongues.

God as art critic...