Graven images

I know it's been quite a bit since I've posted anything. Blame it on two things: family happenings and a lack of things that I find amusing or annoying enough to comment on. However, the mood seems to have taken me this afternoon, so I may just have something to say after all.

First the family stuff.

Mom has really done it this time. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Yup. Broke her neck. Luckily, she only sustained a hairline fracture of her C2 vertebra along with a small fracture of her pelvis. She won't need to have surgery, but she's going to be in a hard collar for several months and will need physical therapy, etc. Needless to say it's been a tad stressful. Add to that the after affects of Boopo's wounding (turns out he was not OK; needed stiches and I've had to take him to the vet 3 times since for varying problems) and it's just been a banner couple of days. Things do seem to be improving, however, so my fingers continue to be crossed.

Now the amusing/annoying.

Seems the pastor of a megachurch in Memphis, TN has paid $260K for a 72 foot tall recreation of the Statue Of Liberty. However, the good apostle Alton R. Williams has had the statue slightly... modified.

Instead of holding aloft the flaming torch of liberty, this version is toting a huge golden cross. And in place of the tablet which bears the inscription of the date of the Declaration Of Independence? A copy of the ten commandments. The new Lady Liberty (rechristened "The Statue of Liberation Through Christ") also sheds a single tear, apparently due to the increasing godlessness of America (at least according to pastor Williams).

Somebody give the lord a handclap.


In his pamphlet "The Meaning of the Statue of Liberation Through Christ: Reconnecting Patriotism With Christianity," Williams explains that the teardrop is God's response to "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." Then again, this is also one of those fine fellows who said that Hurricane Katrina was retribution for New Orleans's embrace of sin, so he may just be a bit off base.

(BTW, isn’t it funny that the French Quarter, that wretched hive of scum and villainy, was one of the few places that stayed above water? Apparently God's aim ain't so good.)

(Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The good pastor Williams also hates faggots.)

In truth, the statue doesn't even piss me off. It's so ridiculous that it makes a mockery of itself and the church it's meant to represent. Talk about "methinks the lady doth protest too much". This type of noise simply puts true faith and belief in sharp relieve. God and the spirit are glorious intangibles that live in and around us, not in some clunky piece of stone and steel. Your faith is pretty weak if you need this type of side show attention grabbing as reinforcement or representation.

"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." - Exodus 20:4

"Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female," - Deuteronomy 4:16

Then again, I'm not exactly a big follower of the bible, so what do I know?

I do know I could find a better way to spend $260K.

Do-si-doin' at the heathen hoedown:

Various - DJ Abstract 11: The Headcrush Party
(fuckin' metal)

Nile - In The Beginning
(straight outta that other, older Memphis; you know, the one with all the sand?)

Duke Ellington - Ellington At Newport 1956 (Complete)
(two discs of classic jazz)

Prime Minister Pete Nice & Daddy Rich - Dust To Dust
(two of three the hard way in your face)

Terminal Sound System - The Black Note EP
(ripped and clipped)