"Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
--"Ozymandias", Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1817
Today my class went on a field trip, just like in the Goldene Dayes of Yore. We went to the Liberty Memorial and Museum. It's a memorial in remembrance of the dead of World War I. We don't hear much about World War I nowadays, aside of "Who was Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand?" being a question on Jeopardy now and again. (Believe it or not, I had more difficulty trying to spell "Jeopardy" than remembering who the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was.)
The memorial is moving. It's the portion visible above ground. The architechture is Egyptian influenced, giving it a timeless feeling, right down to the sphynx in front. The oblolisk in the center is 271 feet tall, ascendable, and gives a fantastic 360 degree view of Kansas City. All sandstone and marble, the three structures are set far apart, making me feel small. The heat and lack of green gives you a feeling of desolation and stark simplicity.
I am a very minor scholar of World War I, and this being the closest I've ever been to one of its battlefields, it was sobering. The "war to end all wars" suppressed an entire generation, who became horrified and dissillusioned that humanity could bring such ruin on itself. The sphynx at the memorial each have their faces covered by their wings. The one facing west sees into the future. Its face is covered because it fears what may come next, given the present situation. The one facing east looks into the past. Its face is covered because it has no desire to remember.
When I got back, I had some interesting emails waiting for me. Spookily enough, two concerned relatively new monuments that had been dedicated. They have nothing to do with the Great War memorial. Hopefully, my line of asterisks is enough to separate the hallowed from the tacky.
First, allow me to show you Touchdown Jesus! He's from Ohio, designed to appear as though he's emerging from the waters. He's about 60 feet high and faces the interstate. They want to submit him to the Guiness Book of Records as the world's largest Christ. I didn't realize that was a category, but...
It raises an interesting point. Can a statue of less than half a person be considered a "complete" Christ? What's the percentage, size-wise, that constitutes a person? The famous Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro is a complete figure who stands at 120-some feet. Can this partial Christ in Ohio compete? If I build a hundred-foot tall toe and call it part of a Jesus statue, can I rightly claim it's the world's largest Jesus? Somehow I doubt it.
Now say hello to Lady Liberty! She's a very recent arrival in Memphis. Unveiled on the Fourth of July, like many women over the age of 100, she's had a little work done. Instead of the familar Torch and Tablet, she now carries a large gold cross and the Ten Commandments. Also, a single tear has been added on her cheek.
The statue cost approximately $260,000 and stands about 72 feet from ground to the top of the cross. But don't worry about the church that built it, they can afford it. The World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church is what some would call a mega-church. The pastor claims 12,000 members. According to the article, it has on campus: a school, a bowling alley, a roller rink, and a bookstore. I would presume there's an actual church there somewhere, also. Maybe they pipe the sermons into the bowling alley.
The pastor, Apostle Alton R. Williams, who runs the church with his wife, says that the tear on the statue's cheek represents "the nation's ills, including legalized abortion, a lack of prayer in schools and the country's promotion of expressions of New Age, Wicca, secularism and humanism."
Responding to questions that perhaps the money could have been spent in better ways, Mr. Williams says that his church already gives to the needy and "I personally feel that the answer for the poor is Jesus Christ."
I have two thoughts on this.
1. If Jesus were here, I bet he'd be knocking over the rollerskate racks and chasing out the bowlers. He's been known to clean house when houses of worship contain questionably "religious" activities. (See John 2: 13-16)
2. If I can paraphrase "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", why did Mr. Williams build this statue? For God's glory, or his own?
Today my class went on a field trip, just like in the Goldene Dayes of Yore. We went to the Liberty Memorial and Museum. It's a memorial in remembrance of the dead of World War I. We don't hear much about World War I nowadays, aside of "Who was Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand?" being a question on Jeopardy now and again. (Believe it or not, I had more difficulty trying to spell "Jeopardy" than remembering who the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was.)
The memorial is moving. It's the portion visible above ground. The architechture is Egyptian influenced, giving it a timeless feeling, right down to the sphynx in front. The oblolisk in the center is 271 feet tall, ascendable, and gives a fantastic 360 degree view of Kansas City. All sandstone and marble, the three structures are set far apart, making me feel small. The heat and lack of green gives you a feeling of desolation and stark simplicity.
I am a very minor scholar of World War I, and this being the closest I've ever been to one of its battlefields, it was sobering. The "war to end all wars" suppressed an entire generation, who became horrified and dissillusioned that humanity could bring such ruin on itself. The sphynx at the memorial each have their faces covered by their wings. The one facing west sees into the future. Its face is covered because it fears what may come next, given the present situation. The one facing east looks into the past. Its face is covered because it has no desire to remember.
*** *** ***
When I got back, I had some interesting emails waiting for me. Spookily enough, two concerned relatively new monuments that had been dedicated. They have nothing to do with the Great War memorial. Hopefully, my line of asterisks is enough to separate the hallowed from the tacky.
First, allow me to show you Touchdown Jesus! He's from Ohio, designed to appear as though he's emerging from the waters. He's about 60 feet high and faces the interstate. They want to submit him to the Guiness Book of Records as the world's largest Christ. I didn't realize that was a category, but...
It raises an interesting point. Can a statue of less than half a person be considered a "complete" Christ? What's the percentage, size-wise, that constitutes a person? The famous Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro is a complete figure who stands at 120-some feet. Can this partial Christ in Ohio compete? If I build a hundred-foot tall toe and call it part of a Jesus statue, can I rightly claim it's the world's largest Jesus? Somehow I doubt it.
*** *** ***
Now say hello to Lady Liberty! She's a very recent arrival in Memphis. Unveiled on the Fourth of July, like many women over the age of 100, she's had a little work done. Instead of the familar Torch and Tablet, she now carries a large gold cross and the Ten Commandments. Also, a single tear has been added on her cheek.
The statue cost approximately $260,000 and stands about 72 feet from ground to the top of the cross. But don't worry about the church that built it, they can afford it. The World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church is what some would call a mega-church. The pastor claims 12,000 members. According to the article, it has on campus: a school, a bowling alley, a roller rink, and a bookstore. I would presume there's an actual church there somewhere, also. Maybe they pipe the sermons into the bowling alley.
The pastor, Apostle Alton R. Williams, who runs the church with his wife, says that the tear on the statue's cheek represents "the nation's ills, including legalized abortion, a lack of prayer in schools and the country's promotion of expressions of New Age, Wicca, secularism and humanism."
Responding to questions that perhaps the money could have been spent in better ways, Mr. Williams says that his church already gives to the needy and "I personally feel that the answer for the poor is Jesus Christ."
I have two thoughts on this.
1. If Jesus were here, I bet he'd be knocking over the rollerskate racks and chasing out the bowlers. He's been known to clean house when houses of worship contain questionably "religious" activities. (See John 2: 13-16)
2. If I can paraphrase "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", why did Mr. Williams build this statue? For God's glory, or his own?
$260,000?! Wow. That's a lot of money. There's a lot of different ways you could look at that.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the toe thing goes, more power to ya, Dr. Andy! If you need any help, I'll be right there!
I'll bet that if the Ohio folks get the Guiness record, they're into Heaven for sure.
ReplyDeleteSIGH
About the first half of your post-- I have heard that the Monument is an amazing sight, and you have just inspired me to go see it, so thank you.
ReplyDeleteAbout the second part--tacky, tacky, tacky. I have a problem with seeing an American symbol of freedom (yes, religious too!) portrayed holding a large cross, but that's just my issue.
Great post, by the way.
Elizabeth