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Church Erects "Statue of Christian Liberty"
Posted by wizeGurl
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 A church in Memphis, TN, is spending approximately $260,000 to erect a 72-foot-tall version of the Statue of Liberty, only holding a cross instead of a torch and carrying tablets containing the 10 Commandments instead of the "Give me your poor, your tired, your hungry...."
It's really great that these 12,000 church members can't think of any better uses for 2.5 million dollars than building a statue commingling religion and nationalism. After all, there probably aren't any poor or sick people in Memphis to tend to, as Christ asked his followers to do. |
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Apostle Alton Williams -- the pastor of World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church -- says people can't drive by the church without thinking of their relationship with God.
As Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 25:
Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me, *and instead you wasted your money on a giant, useless statue.'
Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
*not actually in the Bible, but maybe it should have been. |
Get more info on the statue. (NOTE: other sources list the cost of the statue at $260,000, not the $2.5 million listed in the new item linked here.) |
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Priest
Posted by Stephen P Newton,CSC on 2006-07-04 13:57:51 | | Jesus wept. |
| Posted by Anonymous on 2006-07-04 14:05:51 | Yay, lets just start the crusades over in Iraq. There is a reason religion is kept seperate from nationalism. Because historically those that mixed the two would turn into barbarians.
It is amazing the blood that has been shed in God's name, the same God that said "though shalt not kill." |
| Posted by Anonymous on 2006-07-04 14:30:49 | | The "Give me your tired..." stuff is on the pedestal. The tablet contains the date "July 4th 1776" written in roman numerals. |
Um...
Posted by Angel on 2006-07-04 14:55:09 | ...hey - most websites are saying it only cost $260,000 to make, NOT $2,600,000.
Not that the money isn't still wasted, but double-check your facts. |
More Xtian Crap
Posted by Father Paul on 2006-07-04 14:59:39 | | Get out of our lives!!! Geez. |
| Posted by Anonymous on 2006-07-04 15:09:52 | Jesus had just finished teaching at the temple at Jerusalem and was exiting, and his diciples brought him around to show him the temple grounds, saying "Look at this lovely temple! Isn't it gorgeous and grand?"
Jesus answered: "Verily I say to you, that the day will come, when one stone of these buildings will not stand upon another, but all will be thrown to the ground. Invest in the Kingdom of God, and in the everlasting, not in buildings doomed to destruction."
I always enjoy reminding "Christians" of the words of their own Saviour when I see stuff like this... |
Hmmmm
Posted by Matt on 2006-07-04 15:11:55 | The bible says to share your religion above all else. Helping people is just a form of sharing it...
And before anyone says this statue 'forcing' our regligion on you... this statue will force religion on you like a spoon forced two hundred pounds of fat on rosie o'donald. |
Re: Hmmmm
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-07-04 15:20:34 | Matt, "the faithful" continually attempting to remind us of their religion is forcing it on us. It's great that they believe what they want. I don't want to hear about it. Period.
Freedom of religion is also freedom from religion. |
Isn't this a "Graven Image"?
Posted by Moses on 2006-07-04 15:21:26 | | Seems funny that the very commandments this church wishes to immortalize contain a prohibition against creating statues. |
why not just...
Posted by piltdown on 2006-07-04 15:41:33 | | make a golden calf? |
Wha?
Posted by Anonymous on 2006-07-04 16:13:35 | To the first anonymous poster - believe it or not, this story is not about Iraq and killing. Where in the world did that come in? Did you even read the story?
To 'Father Paul', I totally think this is crap, too. I think it is a waste of money, especially after reading last night in the NT about Xians taking care of widows and orphans. However, how in the world is this statue 'in your lives'? Don't be so sensitive. You're allowed to express your beliefs, whether theistic or non, and that doesn't mean it's 'in my life'. Take a deep breath; it's all going to be ok.
And 'Moses', yes, we're told not to make graven images. How in the heck to you translate that as 'a prohibition against creating statues'? That's quite a stretch. As a Xian who disagrees with this church, I can say there are far better arguments than that. |
what were they thinking?
Posted by john painter on 2006-07-04 16:22:03 | ummm....good story. I would have liked to be a fly on th wall for that church board meeting....
"how's about we'ins build us a big old statue lak that'n they got up north, but with a cross and them commandments?"....
"well bubba, what about the commandment about idols?"....
"hmmm.... i reckon that only applies to statues that aren't praising christ..." |
You know..
Posted by Cody on 2006-07-04 17:10:51 | I happen to live just down the street from this place, I'm not a native Memphian, but I've lived here for about three years now. I can comfortably say, without conviction, that I think the statue is a waste. The only people who are going to enjoy it, are A.) the poor sods who paid for it B.) Folks who have'nt thought this whole thing over well enough and of course C.) us, we the internet junkies who enjoy talking about how messed up this is.
I'll give it a week before it's tagged by every graffiti artist in Memphis.Oh, hey John Painter , about your post, your confusing rednecks with white trash, Memphians generally don't sound like that. |
What's a decimal point?
Posted by wizeGurl on 2006-07-04 18:16:41 | At the time of writing, the only source available online was the article linked to in the story. It said $2.5 million.
Angel is correct that most stories now list the amount spent on the statue as "only" $260,000. I am changing the amount in the article, but that's still a lot of money in my book. |
WTF
Posted by bIGTIME WizeAss on 2006-07-04 18:40:05 | | So, I guess there's no such thing as separation of church and state anymore? |
Defacing and mocking a national treasure?
Posted by Azrael Levith on 2006-07-04 19:07:22 | | Oh what level the holy rollers will go to to push their unreal god to a living status. This only proves one thing: THAT THEY'RE FRIGGIN MORONS AND DON'T KNOW THEIR ASSHOLE FROM A FRIGGIN HOLE IN THE GROUND! And that they are not only defacing a national treasure, which most of you should know was a gift from france; but also mocking the statue and all she stands for. I think someone should try and stop this shit. |
Sauce for the goose.
Posted by Afrika Islam on 2006-07-04 19:18:44 | | So it'll be OK if I build a 100 ft. Statue of Liberty replica outside my mosque, veiled and holding up a copy of the Holy Qur'an? Would that be alright? Somehow I don't think it would be. Still be just as stupid, though. |
what would jeebus bomb
Posted by jeebus on 2006-07-04 19:27:50 | | $2.5million? Wouldn't that be better used to help people in the area.Holy rolers got got shit for brains. |
religion is tearing us all apart
Posted by steve on 2006-07-04 20:28:24 | Afrika Islam
Great freakin' point
where do we draw the line ? i used to be hardcore Xtian. now im just a good person with no particular 'Religion'
and FYI im a MUCH happier person for it |
WTF
Posted by JESUS on 2006-07-05 00:30:51 | | WTF...THAT F**KIN' GEY...GO BE STUPID SOMEWHERE ELSE...AND BY STUPID I MEAN FAT...F-BOMBIN' BIBLE HUMPERS...GO F**K YOUR JESUS...AND GET THE F**K OUT OF MY SIGHT...BY OUT OF MY SIGHT...I MEAN OFF MY INTERNET...STFU AND CARRY THE CHALICE...ZOH MY GOD...Kupa, mutha fu*ka! |
Command
Posted by Geisel Drache on 2006-07-05 00:33:01 | | Thou shalt not make an idol. |
I've noticed, Steve, that -
Posted by Afrika Islam on 2006-07-05 02:08:42 | - the people who are often the most sincerely religious are those who make the least public show of it. Interesting, that.
Hmmm. Instead of a veiled Statue of Liberty with the Qur'an, how about a nice big eight - armed Goddess Kali? With her T!ts out and a necklace of severed heads? LOL |
| Posted by The Athiest on 2006-07-05 06:41:00 | | and still doesnt prove god exists. |
| Posted by michele on 2006-07-05 09:19:59 | anyone can tell that pic is fake.
and most 'christians' are christians of convenience.
that money would have been better spent on the poor instead of trash like that. |
Do like the Aussies did!
Posted by Delbert on 2006-07-05 10:50:44 | | We of America were born into the land where the people started this country as one nation under God. If you don't like the idea, then why do you live here? You are free to leave and live somewhere else! If you can live peacefully amoung us then fine, we can accept you! But if not then, freely leave and live where you would feel more comfortable. And don't try to change our way of life! |
| Posted by FrackingKiddingme on 2006-07-05 13:16:42 | Delbert:Unless you have odd version of American history, my copy says "one nation under god"
Hummmm Didnt say which god did it?
I always love it when christans assume "under god: means the christan god and no other" |
Save me, Jebus.
Posted by Mike on 2006-07-05 13:20:55 | It's simple, Delbert. I live here because I was born here and also because I believe in the things for which Lady Liberty stands. Christianity is not one of them.
I'm not looking for you acceptance, but I appreciate the offer.
By the way, unless I'm very much mistaken, the "one nation under God" quote is from the Pledge of Allegiance, not the Constitution. The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a Baptist minister in 1892. It didn't originally contain any reference to god, by the way; it was only after the Knights of Columbus whined at Congress that the asinine religious reference was added - much to the original author's chagrin.
Count it. |
| Posted by Josh on 2006-07-05 13:48:29 | Delbert the idiot does not realize that "under god" was added in the '50s. As for our coins, they too were not officially to mention god until much much later after our country was founded.
Also, the constitution is a Godless document, the word God is never mentioned. |
Delbert's Just Referring to All the Completely
Posted by GKRev on 2006-07-05 17:30:19 | | Bogus quotes the (ir)religious right keeps putting in the mouths of the founders. Too bad he doesn't have a clue how they really felt about Christianity, nor does he seem to recognize that the greatest founder of the Baptist church in the U.S.(Roger Williams) demanded that the Bill of Rights contain the non-establishment clause which is the foundation of the separation of church and state. Williams must be rolling over in his grave considering what the Baptist's and their friends like these yeahoo's are doing. |
idiots
Posted by sh1tb1rd on 2006-07-05 19:12:56 | | Before spouting off about history it's better to actually go read about it. Start with Thomas Paine if you want to understand a bit about the founding father's view on religion.... then go take the "One Nation Under God" bs and shove it. Can anyone explain to me why any church so blatantly comingling religion and politics shouldn't have their tax exempt status revoked? |
Ya gotsta unerstan
Posted by slorider on 2006-07-05 21:18:22 | This be a Memphis thang.
Elvis mostly laffing |
Messenger of Righteousnous in the Last Days
Posted by Lastnoah on 2006-07-08 08:53:14 | | Thank God for the Law of Liberty found in JESUS Christ! Some would have us to believe that showering money on the poor is the only responsibility of the Church. Pointing souls to Calvary is the only way that the human condition will ever be changed now and eternally. If the men of this nation would humble themselves and pray, God would heal the ills of our land and no weapon formed against us would prosper! |
| Posted by Mike on 2006-07-12 13:54:41 | | Would I be completely out of line if I asked the author of the previous comment to just shut up? |
yes
Posted by micah on 2006-07-12 17:52:37 | | yes, you would be out of line, because the "Law of Liberty", namely Romans 14, is (in my opinion) a biblical basis for separation of church and state. "Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." Romans 14:3-4. It is my interpretation that this is one of quite of few pieces of biblical evidence that Christians have no business trying to make policy based on their values. "The Law of Love" and the countless epistle chapters on law and the Colossians chapter entitled "Not Legalism but Christ" are other examples. So thank the Goddess for the Law of Liberty indeed! :) |
or...
Posted by christian guy on 2006-07-24 18:34:07 | | you could also just go by Jesus saying "my kingdom is not of this world". pretty straightforward IMO. |
Clergy
Posted by Dee MAN on 2006-07-27 21:35:12 | | What a conviction, to spend that much money to make a statement. Well the Israelites throwed their gold in the fire to make a GOLDEN CALF |
OMG
Posted by nikki niki nikki on 2007-05-16 13:56:49 | | I LOVE IT IT IS SO COOL! MT SISTER WENT THERE BEFORE & SHE LOVED IT! |
| Posted by Anonymous on 2009-11-25 04:53:44 | | If this is true....it is pretty sad. |
Why
Posted by Who cares on 2017-12-31 23:34:32 | | What douse it matter why this church built This? They agreed to build it by the members I think its a good thing and impressive but the meaning of it and reasoning seams to be way above some peoples intellectual level of understandings. It was built on there property with there money. |
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