DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Big Butter Jesus Is No More

Apparently struck by lightning during Monday night's storm ......







For those not familiar with Big Butter ......

Wow.

We use that as a landmark, letting us know we are close to the hotel we use when we go to Cincy for my son's soccer tournaments.

Wonder how much popcorn they used to absorb the mess?

Doesn't someone on here have that statue in their sig?

Link

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.

Nothing like a giant flaming Jesus to reach the hearts and minds of sinners.

What a waste of money it was in the first place. That $700,000+ could have gone to a good cause. That church was embarrassing. I hope they dont put something as equally tacky up.

I guess the Big Guy upstairs thought it was tacky too. He wanted it gone. I'd take it as a sign to not rebuild.

And yes, wasted money when considering the church could have helped A LOT of familes instead of building that worthless statue.

His name was touchdown Jesus, who called him "big butter Jesus"?

I heard $700k on the radio this morning, breezed through the article. Like I said above, religion and faith bring ppl to a church along with followers of that church. A huge jesus seen from the highway is ridiculous. I would be embarrased to go to that church.Even if its $250k, that could have gone to help people in the neighborhood or other great church charities/functions. Instead it goes to big gawdy jesus. Thats my opinion.

I agree DC. My Facebook wall is full of the "should have helped the needy instead" posts. For all anyone knows the church does indeed help others. Besides it's their church and their money.

@ BuckDawg ... check out the second vid for the Big Butter reference.

I've found that, when you read figures like that, they're almost always exaggerated by 100%. For example, when someone says "they spent a million dollars!", they likely actually spent $500,000. It's an interesting phenomenon.

I think itsd funny to think what would the person they're making the big staue in his "image" (aka because based on scientific data that is not what jesus would have looked like at all, then again science/reason and the bible never seem to mix) would have thought about that big statue. My guess if any of the bible stories are true, he would not have approved. Church FAIL.

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Like I said above, religion and faith bring ppl to a church along with followers of that church.

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There are lots of things that bring people to a church.. is a mega Jesus statue one of them? I don't know.

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I would be embarrased to go to that church.Even if its $250k, that could have gone to help people in the neighborhood or other great church charities/functions. Instead it goes to big gawdy jesus. Thats my opinion.

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And its a valid opinion.. one that I can't really dispute. My only point is that if that Jesus somehow drives membership, somehow brings people in.. and those people in turn are active in the church and donate so that things CAN be done in the community, then it's worth it.

Look, the mission of a church is much different than a private business but they have to be run in a similar fashion, if nobody is coming through the doors, if nobody is spending (donating) money then you are out of business.. so if mega Jesus is bringing people through the doors, then I can understand it..

A big Jesus statue is no different than a huge Catholic Church, or Stained Glass windows, or Giant Crosses, or those mega-churches, or...etc.

If you have boil things down to bare necessity you don't really need a church at all. Its not like God on only listens when you are in an arbitrary building at an arbitrary time.

Poor Touchdown Jesus. That church is always getting publicity....and it's never good.

While I agree with this, a church is more than a place to talk to God, it is a place for people of similar faiths/views to come together and gather and churches serve a purpose as well. Gives old people something to do , they do great work in the community, etc... I know some people really get something out of church, while others don't. I think I have a fairly unbiased view as I am not a religious person, but in some instances it can prove to really help. I just think the giant the TD jesus is hypocritical of the christian belief system and a waste of money. I suppose its besides the point as it is now gone, lets hope they find something more worthwhile to spend their money on. Perhaps this publicity helps drive donations and they can help poor families/animal shelters in the area. Thats my hope.

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A big Jesus statue is no different than a huge Catholic Church, or Stained Glass windows, or Giant Crosses, or those mega-churches, or...etc.

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Sort of, but if you have 5000 people show up every Sunday, you need a place for them to sit.

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If you have boil things down to bare necessity you don't really need a church at all.

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If you boil things down you don't really need to go to school to become a physics scholar either, you can just read the texts, study and learn it on your own.. yet oddly enough, most people that want to learn physics go study under somebody that has already learned physics.. just like the Bible.. if you want to understand it, the resources are out there for people to self-teach.. it is, however much easier to learn by getting together with other people, some of whom have made it their profession to study the Bible.. and learn from them.

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Its not like God on only listens when you are in an arbitrary building at an arbitrary time.

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This is true.

Great now I have the Big Butter Jesus song stuck in my head!!!!

Yeah I was mainly talking to a poster who said they didn't really need a big Jesus and they could have spent the money wiser. I was just saying that you could go without a lot of the staples of the church (the examples I listed). IMO whatever helps a person keep their faith is fine with me.

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Doesn't someone on here have that statue in their sig?

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Where is Dawgmanincincy?
He must still be grieving.