Lightning strikes massive Jesus statue

Last night, lightning struck a six-story tall Jesus Christ statue north of my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, sparking a fire that burned the figure down to its steel frame. The end is nigh. From the Associated Press:

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 his arms were raised, as though reaching out to catch a football. 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.

"Gigantic 62-foot Jesus statue struck by lightning, destroyed" (Thanks, everyone!)

Jesus hit by lightning

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Blaine

Irrelevant commentary:

I thought he was called Touchdown Jesus because he looks like he’s signaling “Touchdown” using… referee… pantomime… or whatever it’s called.

There’s also one in South Bend, IN.
- Anonymous
  
  You’re right, I think. That’s like the first thing I thought of when I read this article.
Stefan Jones

The sculptor also created this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/us/05liberty.html
- Anonymous
  
  Wow, I read that article and judging by those guys’ habit of taking natural disasters as signs from above, they should be hiding under their beds right now
Anonymous

I live about 15 minutes north and it’ll be missed mostly as a kitsch highway side show. What’s sad is they want to rebuild it instead of spending the money on actually creating change.
RHK

This is proof of what I’ve been telling all of my Christian friends – the Rapture has already occurred and you’ve been left behind.
- jfrancis
  
  I have to use that :D
- hagbard
  
  The reason your Christian friends didn’t notice that the rapture has already happened is because not only did they not get taken, but no one they know got taken either.
Cowicide

10 points, gawd.
planettom

Having driven by this a number of times, I will say it was a pretty impressive sight from the highway.

Location here in Google Earth:
39 27.230 n 84 19.585 w

Though, it should be noted, that photo was taken in March 2004, seemingly before construction was complete.
Bonnie

Zeus sure is angry!
- Jonathan Badger
  
  Heretic! Not Zeus, of the wine-sodden Greeks. It is the work of the Great Hunter Haokah of the Lakota.
Brainspore

You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above…

I guess the big dude is getting more serious on enforcement for that one.
- eagleapex
  
  +1!
TheCrawNotTheCraw

“9-1-1 Operator. Please state the nature of the mergency.”

“Jesus is on fire! He just got hit by lightning!”

“Sir, have you taken any drugs, or been drinking?”
GraemeM

Thou shall not worship false icons (and I’m an atheist).

Is it me or is there a little terminator’esc in the remains.
IWood

No, you fools! You have to crush it between the gears of massive machinery to make sure it’s dead!
Sork

“nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way his arms were raised, as though reaching out to catch a football”

Isn’t it because it is the referee hand symbol for approving a touchdown?
Bill Albertson

Wow. $250k put into a gaudy statue that could have instead funded caring for numerous poor families, or bought several houses to be used for transitional housing, or as seed funding for a public clinic… nah, I can’t imagine why god might be upset enough to zap a big fugly statue of his son.

Well, if I believed god was some angry big hairy guy in a dowdy sundress, prone to dropping books on the heads of his worshippers so they could have the unequivocal truth from his mystic printing press in the sky, that is…
MoeJoe

This was on an NPR segment yesterday that had two hilarious quotes, both were similar to some BB posts above, although the intent was polar opposite. I’m paraphrasing here.

One guy said that Jesus once again died for our sins and took a lightning bolt meant for the church.

A pastor at the church said that Jesus is like the Terminator and “he’ll be back”.

Boggles the mind.
b1rd

A sad story for all of you.

I was in the area about a month ago with my boyfriend, attending the Hamvention. We drove by it a couple times a day to and from the con. We kept saying, “We should stop and get a picture, angled so that it looks like one of us is giving him head.” We’re quite mature.

We kept referring to it as the BJ Jesus, and made cracks about a mermaid underneath the water doing the deed. (The statue is coming out of a giant pond.)

When we got home, we googled it and realized it is actually called “BJ Jesus” and “Touchdown Jesus” by many locals, and is quite infamous. We had no idea, but it makes sense.

The day we left to go home, we completely forgot to take a photo, and were 40 minutes away by the time we remembered. We said, “If we come back to the con next year, we’ll take some pictures then.”

Now I will never get that picture of me giving Jesus a BJ. The world weeps.
WalterBillington

The end is definitely nigh if people are building 62′ tall statues of jesus.
Anonymous

Whoever wrote this is not truthful. Touchdown Jesus is outside Dayton, Ohio almost three hours away from Cinci. We used to make the drive from Louisville to Dayton to take our friend to his Air Force Reserve obligations and seeing TDJ was a landmark letting us know we were getting close to Dayton. We would snap pics of TDJ and photo shop them to look like a referee, a soccer goalie, a man tossing pizza crust… the list goes on…
Phikus

Touchdown indeed.
Roofwalker

The best bit (according to the BBC radio news report I heard earlier) is that the insurers have said it’s an act of God.
- b1rd
  
  If that is correct, that is brilliant.
  
  I mean, of course I want their insurance to cover it, that’s what they paid for insurance for and all, but the irony is quite delicious.
- prof_jellis
  
  I laughed out loud when I heard that from the BBC.
  Think that means no insurance payment ?
  - Anonymous
    
    The insurance company will be paying up if Billy Connolly has anything to say about it.
    
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268437/
mao tse-tim

@RHK – That’s brilliant. I’m stealing that.

I wonder how the christianists will spin this. My guess is that they say it’s just one of those things and not a sign of Cheebus’ wrath.
paulj

If we’re going with old-time religion, I think PerkÅ«nas (the Lithuanian thunder god) may be behind this.
Anonymous

Opps it was me i burped.
D.Evil
Antinous / Moderator

Try not to get worried
Try not to turn on to
Problems that ignite you
Oh, don’t you know
Everything’s alright
Yes everything’s fine
And we want you to burn well tonight
Let the world turn without you tonight
If we try
We’ll get by
So forget all about us tonight
- mtreighie
  
  Oh my sweet buttery lord?
Anonymous

Obviously God didn’t view this as fair use. That’s some takedown notice!
Anonymous

I believe this is what Christians call ” AN ACT OF GOD”……. I hear the porn shop a block away was unharmed.
Anonymous

â€œI canâ€™t believe Jesus was struck,â€ said his brother, who noted the giant Hustler Hollywood sign for the adult store across the street was untouched. â€œItâ€™s the last thing I expected to happen.â€ – Seth Walsh, as reported by the Dayton Daily News.
- Anonymous
  
  In fairness, the Hustler store isn’t exactly “across the street.” It’s a good five miles away, although both the church and the porn store are off the same exit.
planchette

@GraemeM â€¢ #6 â€¢ 2:26 PM Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010 â€¢ Reply
“Is it me or is there a little terminator’esc in the remains.”

It has me thinking of mechagodzilla, …and oil cans.

definitely an improvement. and way less scary.
SpaceGhost

In irony news, last night Jesus was destroyed by an act of God.
dalestinian

Christ.
What an asshole.
Anonymous

Jebuss musta been jealous of Zozobra and wanted to get in on his action!!!
Anonymous

Anon #17, you forgot “Burst of Jesus”
Anonymous

Perhaps Loki was involved?
jeraliey

Here’s Haywood Banks’s song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq01UYiMyHg
Zadaz

Churches shouldn’t be able to buy insurance polices that protect against acts of God. No matter which side you’re on (theist or atheist) one is scamming the other.
oasisob1

Touchdown Jesus?

Torchdown Jesus!
blinkers

This happened because the real Touchdown Jesus is at the University of Notre Dame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_Stadium#.22Touchdown_Jesus.22

There can be only one!
headfoo

Jesus NOOOOO!!!
UncaScrooge

I, for one, welcome our new steel frame overlord.

Sorry, it had to be said.
andyhavens

Watching the Heywood Banks video/song with my (then) nine-year old was an excellent chance to discuss the relative merits of satire vs. idolatry.
Anonymous

In my circles it was more commonly known as the Big Butter Jesus because of its yellow color. Heywood Banks wrote a song about it.

Big butter Jesus
Sweet cream Jesus
Oh country fresh Jesus
Unsalted Jesus
Oh Promise Jesus
Imperial Jesus
Canâ€™t believe itâ€™s not Jesus
Oleo Lord.
- Anonymous
  
  I’ve heard “Big Butter Jesus” on the Bob & Tom Show .. pretty hysterical!
- Anonymous
  
  The new chorus: â€œBig fireball Jesus, flaming shot Jesus, charbroiled Jesus, Opa! Jesus, extra crispy Jesus, bananas foster Jesus, Iâ€™m put out itâ€™s not Jesus, Charcoal-y O Lord.â€
mtreighie

Where are the -BoingBoing has no balance! I bet if it was a 60 foot steel and foam rubber statue of Darwin with a butterfly net that was struck by lightning we wouldn’t have even seen this here- comments?
- JackOfAllTech
  
  Somehow lightning striking a statue of Darwin would just lack that touch of irony.
- Anonymous
  
  Fair enough, but keep in mind that Darwin or his followers never spoke of striking down his disbelievers with bolts of lightning!
- therationalpi
  
  That would have been natural selection at work, obviously.
- Mark Dow
  
  When there is a 60 foot steel and foam rubber statue of Darwin with a butterfly net it will be featured here. No intelligent smoting required.
- dbarak
  
  You’re right, but:
  
  1. There aren’t too many atheists out there praying, but there are plenty of Christians who are more than happy to chastise non-believers, and worse.
  
  2. This is ironic, a flaming Darwin isn’t.
  
  3. This is a WHOLE lot funnier.
  
  By the way, my Captcha phrase is “pounded tsunami.” I hope this isn’t a bad omen for Buddhists.
- Anonymous
  
  think the response to something like that would be..”guess it’s time to evolve”
Anonymous

I’m pretty sure it was THOR.
Brychanus

Farewell, Big Butter Jesusâ„¢. I’ll miss cringing at you whenever I take I-75.
ill lich

That’s too bad. . . woulda been nice to try and kick some field goals through his arms, knowing that he would automatically be signaling “it’s GOOD!”
Anonymous

In other news, my 70 ft steel and wood idol of Ba’al is still standing.
Anonymous

Don’t worry, guys. I’m sure they’ll have him back in action…probably in about 3 days time. Amirite?

I’d rather see them use the cool quarter mil that it cost to put him up to do something along the lines of what they say jesus taught, like helping the destitute and stuff. I went to UC and know for a fact that money could be well spent helping people in Over the Rhine.
Derrick

This is proof that God has good taste. That statue was creepy as all get out.
Yamara

I’m glad only self-important egos were hurt.
Anonymous

It’ll be back in 3 days.
pjcamp

So now it’s a giant cockroach statue?

There IS a god!
Orion Salvaje

No rapture, no angry god, they made a styrofoam giant grotesque figure so a Valencian passerby thought it was a falla so he cremated it
Anonymous

Proof that God hates tacky sculptures.
- Anonymous
  
  God hates styrofoam, it’s in the new Testament, in the appended on-line wiki version.
Duffong

I can say with absolute certainty that these types of stories really do make me happy. Extreme irony with religion wins every time in my book.
Taniwha

hmmm – it appears that Big Butter Jesus has his own website at

http://www.jeeeb.us
benher

It’s still moving! Run!
Anonymous

The irony to this is that there is a Hustler Hollywood super store about two exits up.

I hear they are changing their billboard to

‘Ha You Missed!’
scaught

When I heard about this, I was immediately disappointed it was caused by a lightning strike instead of some black metal dudes.

It should also note that it was painted a few times. It sounded like a recipe for flammable.
Lucifer

nobody ever gives me the credit
- dbarak
  
  There aren’t enough pluses in the universe to give you a high enough score for that comment. Bravo.
- hagbard
  
  Maybe you need more representatives on Earth to explain why you do things — people of Westboro Baptist Church caliber.
  - Anonymous
    
    I thought there were plenty of BP executives.
dbarak

If they want to prevent a repeat of this incident, they should erect a lightning rod… shaped like a crucifix I suppose.
mattmoore

Art critic?
Ugly Canuck

It seems that the Almighty has recently become a more active critic of sculpture:

http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/03/lightning-strikes-merlion.html

In the case of the Touchdown Jesus, judging from the photos of the un-destroyed work, IMHO this lightning is proof of God’s mercy: for by removing that eyesore, He has relieved the suffering of our eyes.
Anonymous

hehe this looks straight from a simpsons episode
Ugly Canuck

I actually think that the steel frame remains are more aesthetically pleasing and interesting than the big Jesus was. Must be the post-industrialist in me.
- Pantograph
  
  You, me and the LORD UC. We like our sculptures made out of steel tubing and vaguely inspired by Giacometti.
  - Ugly Canuck
    
    It occurs that I ought to have used the term “armature”.
    
    I prefer the armature to the finished work.
    I am gratified that I appear not to be alone in this judgment.
Art Carnage

Atheists 1
Christians 0
Anonymous

Reality steals a scene from “Caddyshack”
Anonymous

From the pre-strike picture…looks like Jesus was asking for it…and he got it! Ask and thou shall receive :)
SKR

Burning Man … Burning Man
mao tse-tim

I read elsewhere on the intertubes that the nearby billboard for the Cincinnati Hustler store is unscathed, but I cannot confirm this yet.
redesigned

I guess GODâ„¢ is finally enforcing the IP rights over his images.

If only they’d licensed the rights for public display first this all could have been avoided…silly mortals.
Anonymous

Is it just me or does anyone else see the head of a goat in that fireball?
… Just wondering.
Anonymous

Didn’t the Israelites raise their arms when they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem when they came out of Babylon? There were over 22,000 poor souls celebrating the reopening of the temple during the 7th Hebrew Month and Mordecai the Jew should have been there as well, book of Esther. Wasnâ€™t it a tradition of the Jewish people, i.e., descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to honor the burnt offering provided to Abraham by GOD.

It does say GODâ€™s Word is a consuming Fire. Moses saw the burning bush, most likely in Arabia where Jethro his father in law lived in the land of Midian. Take off your shoes, for where you stand is Holy Ground.. Didnâ€™t the Jewish disciple John say In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with GOD and the Word was GOD. Isnâ€™t Jesus a manifestation of The Word from Spirit to flesh.

We of the people in the world are the most miserable. Jesus/Yeshua appears to sit on a mercy seat and at the right hand of GOD, but we cannot see him with our flesh. By faith we are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast, some Jewish person called Saul/Paul said that just the day before yesterday if one day is a thousand years and a thousand days is as one day to The LORD. Psalm 22 is from an earthly king called David. My GOD, My GOD, why hast thou forsaken Me?â€¦ read the whole psalm to understand.

The irony of it all is the perversity of the society and place it happened in. Yeshua came to save the lost. Abraham was given a full grown male Ram caught in a thicket in exchange for his son Isaac as a sacrifice on a hillside that became a city called Jerusalem around 2100 B.C.., the irony of a burnt offering. Moses was instructed to make a burnt offering as part of the protection from the plagues put upon Egypt so their First Born would not die. Moses sacrifice was to be eaten with bitter herbs during the exodus, i.e. Passover to save the first born. King David purchased a threshing floor from Onran for taking a census that was killing thousands of innocent Israelites and he gave that piece of property to his son Solomon who built a temple there. The Ram caught in the thicket showed up in person, around 2100 years after Abraham, in the same physical location. Yeshua was that burnt offering. Irony of irony, â€œno one comes to the Father but through meâ€â€¦ Yeshua quoted it correctly. In the end times we are turned to fables and foolishness, like Noah before the flood.

YeshuaGOD Bless! What a burnt offering we have in exchange for our sins so we might have eternal life without sin. The Love of Christ passes all worldly understanding. Iâ€™d rather have just a drop of the Holy Spirit to keep me out of the lake of fire for eternity than all the worldly foolish we wallow in daily.

Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Vincelette
Anonymous

Torchwood Jesus?
Anonymous

I hope that the insurance refuses to pay due to it being “an act of God”, which they frequenctly have exceptions for :p
GatoRanch

Ride the Lightning:

http://lolmetalhead.tumblr.com/post/703205101/in-case-you-missed-the-news-watch-these-videos
Anonymous

http://www.betterbuiltcs.com/project-item.aspx?CategoryId=5&ProjectType=0
Crispinus211

Everyone’s a critic!
Anonymous

ALLAHU AKBAR…..
kip w

Don’t care if it rains or freezes
Long’s I got my plastic Jesus…
Derek C. F. Pegritz

My name is Touchdown Jesus, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level Ohio stretches far away.
Cynical

Is this the divine equivalent of a takedown notice? Seems a bit dickish to me; I mean, yeh, it’s His image but given all that “..for you to use” stuff in Genesis, you would have thought God would be a bit more into the GNUPL.

I guess it was pretty derivative though…
Anonymous

the lesson i take from this incident is to stop wasting time and money on statues, and instead use the money to help the poor. as a non-Christian, what always bemuses me is how Jesus lived a life of poverty, but so few Christians today emulate that aspect of his life and prefer to live a life of luxury.
Gijs

I’ll be back
Anonymous

Meanwhile, ten miles down the road in West Chester, the Hustler Hollywood Store was left completely untouched by God.
- Anonymous
  
  Actually the Hustler Hollywood is only like a mile or a bit more away on the otherside of the highway, they’re both off of the same exit and yes it’s still there.
Anonymous

This be interpreted as proof that God does not approve the propaganda we spew in the name of Jesus.

Or this can be interpreted that he does not exist.

Choose you interpretation.