Two words..
teach science.
Lightning bolt smites 60ft Jesus statue
The faithful of Ohio were left contemplating a message from above this week after a bolt of lightning hit a 60 foot high statue of Jesus, reducing it to a smouldering steel skeleton. The King of Kings statue at the Solid Rock Church had previously stood 64 foot high, and 40 foot wide, making it something of a landmark for the …
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Monday 21st June 2010 09:25 GMT Disco-Legend-Zeke
Interesting To...
...note that the facades of Las Vegas casinos are constructed this way, stryofoam shapes with a thin coating.
However, these monuments to sin are protected by lightning rods.
Contrary to popular opinion, the pointy type lightning rods are NOT intended top attract lightning, but rather to stream electrons either into or out of the air, preventing voltage buildup.
The mushroom tipped type, on the other hand, are designed to accumulate a large charge and attract lightening, carrying it "safely" to ground. The big advantage of the domed tip is that rooftop workers are less likely to be skewered by them if they fall.
In a demonstration sponsored by the makers, they proved their mushroom design was superior, because lightning never hit the pointy ones!
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 14:01 GMT Across-the-pond Scum
High-5 after a touchdown.
Same doofus that thinks that evolution needs to be banned from schools. Science was clearly not one of she/he's strong points and hopefully he didn't build any houses either.
What would it have taken to put in two lines of copper--one in each middle finger? Just think of the AWESOME photo op as lightning strikes the hand of Jesus, repeatedly over time no less AND next to a highway. Like a spiritual High-5 from father to son. LOL
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 22:16 GMT TimeMaster T
Title!
Yep, this Paul Wright is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
The lightning hit a STATUE, not what ever God he claims to worship, or was he worshiping the idol that went up in flames and not the concept behind it? Maybe that was the message from "God".
Fire, cause a Burning bush was once seen as a visit from God.
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 12:38 GMT Graham Bartlett
Not really news
Ever since lightning conductors were fitted to church towers, Christians have (rightly) put their trust in science protecting their property, rather than relying on divine intervention. Like the joke about the guy who drowns in a flood saying "Jesus will save me" and refusing all help - Jesus says to him, "I sent you policemen, firemen and a lifeboat, what more did you want?"
Which is why Pastor Darlene Bishop is aces.
"Honey," she says, "it's just some fiberglass."
More like her and less like Pat Robertson, please...
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 21:09 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Graven
@AC
It all depends on how you enumerate the 14-or-so rules which make up the "10" commandments.
*Worshipping* something else breaks one rule. Making a graven image breaks the very next one. Or perhaps the same one. Or perhaps not.
This kind of thing was a bone of contention between the early protestants and the Catholics (the early protestants shunning crucifixes in favor of crosses for exactly this reason).
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 14:00 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Lightning conductors
Yes, the idea is that the lightning conductor forms a protective shield that is the same polarity as the storm above, so reducing the liklihood of a strike, but in case there is one, they are designed to take the instantaneous current without damage.
(Example, a negative cloud above repels the electrons in the lightning conductor, which leaves the lightning conductor positively charged. This then attracts negatively charged particles in the atmosphere above the conductor, giving a negatively charged "shield").
Handy to know should you want to recharge your Delorian.
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Thursday 17th June 2010 08:38 GMT Anonymous Coward
The clue's in the name
Having read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_conductor, I now am an expert (obviously). OK I've only skimmed it, but I've not seen that theory expressed there.
Surely the clue's in the name Lightning Conductor - not Lightning Preventer, but conductor.
Or am I missing something?
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 12:56 GMT lansalot
damn....
but what would you put on the insurance form: Act of God, or "fillicide" ?
Maybe J has been acting up and Dad has him on his last warning or something...
" Get back there and have that second coming you promised "
" In a minute! Gonna level up on COD4 "
" Do as you're told! "
" No! You're not even my real Dad ! "
" Right, this is what you've got coming - and don't say you weren't warned, m'laddo !! "
*zap* etc etc
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 13:20 GMT frank ly
Thank You
" ... The flameout has inevitably prompted wailing and gnashing of teeth as locals ponder why a bolt of electricity would choose to light on a six-storey high structure with a steel skeleton standing in a predominantly flat area.
“I think it’s a sign of the end of the world,” Paul Wright, told the Dayton Daily News “If lightning is going to strike God, then there’s no hope.” ... "
Oh how I laughed at that. (Does this mean I'm cruel and cynical?)
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 13:21 GMT Anonymous Coward
I don't want to be a grammar nazi . . .
(or do I?)
"The King of Kings statue at the Solid Rock Church had previously stood 64 foot high, and 40 foot wide, making it something of a landmark for the town of Monroe."
When was the plural of foot deprecated? Did I miss the memo? Is this a Merkin thing?
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 20:54 GMT The Indomitable Gall
Weights and measures...
It's traditional for the singular to be used with weights and measures -- using the plural is a relative innovation, and there's still plenty of people who will describe something as "3 pound 95" rather than "3 pounds 95".
And there's certain measures that never take a plural after a number: dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions etc may exist, but 24 is "two dozen", 200 is "two hundred", and so on.
Funny how "purists" are just as likely to defend neologisms as anachronisms. The only logic behind "correct" English is that it's whatever the person doing the correction speaks....
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 14:00 GMT Hugh Jorgen
Interesting......
Lets all agree with the local inhabitants and encourage this act of God as the sign the end of the world is here......and God's starting the apocolypse in backwater USA. Convince them to move somewhere less evil where God's going to last....buy up the land and property really really cheap......
...........then flatten the lot and open a casino with hookers, and bullfighting.
Paris, because she's the closest to a hooker icon (and I'd pay to slap her boobies).
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 14:01 GMT Anonymous Coward
Everyone's a Critic
I live in Dayton, a little north of the statue, and my thought has always been: why would someone create a statue of Jesus that makes it look like he's drowning (the statue was of Jesus' upper body coming out of a pond, extending both arms to the sky, hence another nickname of "touchdown Jesus" for the statue).
My first thought upon hearing of the fire was that God must be an art critic.
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 14:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
God works in mysterious ways
This proves something about the people of that town: They're sinful!
And there's only one way to cleanse themselves of sin, and that's to boost congregations and give even more money to the preacher man.
Jesus, he knows him. And he knows he's right. He's been talking to Jesus all his life.
PS. Is God working here in as much a mysterious way as when he kills hundreds of thousands of Asians in an earthquake? Or is this a *totally* different thing all together, how dare I even say that?
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 21:04 GMT Dana W
Here we go again.
Ah the joys of being an American. If a tornado hits within 200 miles of a gay bar its the "WRATH OF GOD" But the wrath of god crowd get their sacred cow struck by lightning and burned to the ground, and they are going to rebuild this "symbol of faith"
Its funny, natural disasters are only God hissies when its things they DON'T like that are being destroyed.
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Wednesday 16th June 2010 21:06 GMT Anonymous Coward
I drive by that church frequently
And when I saw the pictures of it engulfed in flames, several things passed through my mind:
1) There's a Hustler Super Store directly across the freeway that didn't get struck, so the perv's are probably breathing a sigh of relief
2) Terminator Jesus! Think about it... The outer covering in flames and exposing its metal skeleton, it just reminded me of "The Terminator".
3) Yeah, I'm a Christian; I make no apologies for it and I really don't care what others may think about my beliefs as I generally don't care about yours, but I can't help giggle a bit, thinking about our lord & savior saying "I'll be back..."
Mine's the old AC/DC Highway to Hell tour jacket.
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Thursday 17th June 2010 23:28 GMT Noton
Big Butter Jesus
I drive past the statue four times a week. I drove past the land the church was built on for ten years looking at a sign that read "FILL DIRT WANTED". Once the swamp was filled and the sign came down, they built the church. Then they put the name up in lights right next to the freeway "SOLID ROCK CHURCH". I never recovered from that irony, especially once I learned the financial founder of the church was a horse trader. A few years later, apparently unable to locate any least of his brethren to assist, the church dipped into the kitty and built a statue of Jesus, 45 feet high, planted up to his navel in a lake with his hands upraised towards the heavens. Since the statue has upraised hands, many in the area began referring to it as "Touchdown Jesus". The rest of us noticed the color of the statue resembled week-old butter, and just called it "Big Butter Jesus." About a year ago, I drove by and noticed a ten crows evenly spaced with one on each finger and thumb. I thought this might be a bad sign.
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