Posted on 11/06/2013 10:36:50 AM PST by marshmallow
BEIRUT — In the midst of a conflict rife with sectarianism, a giant bronze statue of Jesus has gone up on a Syrian mountain, apparently under cover of a truce among three factions in the country’s civil war.
Jesus stands, arms outstretched, on the Cherubim mountain, overlooking a route pilgrims took from Constantinople to Jerusalem in ancient times. The statue is 12.3 meters (40 feet) tall and stands on a base that brings its height to 32 meters (105 feet), organizers of the project estimate.
That the statue made it to Syria and went up without incident on Oct. 14 is remarkable. The project took eight years and was set back by the civil war that followed the March 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad.
Christians and other minorities are all targets in the conflict, and the statue’s safety is by no means guaranteed. It stands among villages where some fighters, linked to al-Qaida, have little sympathy for Christians.
So why put up a giant statue of Christ in the midst of such setbacks and so much danger?
Because “Jesus would have done it,” organizer Samir al-Ghadban quoted a Christian church leader as telling him.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Did He pose for it?
No, but he stands watch over a putrid land.
Later, there's going to be a 149-foot statue of the Virgin Mary built to the same scale, erected behind him.
Check out the thread with a picture of her. Apparently, the retinas of the eyes dilate when light is shined on them, then contract when the light is turned off. Evidently, the picture was painted by God...or Stanley Farquar for his Mexican art class.
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