Jesus Envy: How Big Is Your Savior?

A war of giant Jesuses has entered a new phase. A 36 meter (or 118 feet) Christ was unveiled in Poland last year. Now, President Alan Garcia has responded with Cristo del Pacifico (Christ of the Pacific), on a hill in Lima — standing 37 metres (122 feet). That’s right, four feet more than the Polish Jesus — not doubt now to be known as Jesusito (“little Jesus”) in Peru.

Of course, it depends on how you measure your Jesus. “If the pedestal is included then a statue of Christ in Cochabamba, Bolivia, completed in 1994 is the tallest at 40m (133ft) followed by Christ the Redeemer in Rio at 38m (125ft).”

The statue in Peru has received considerable opposition despite Garcia’s promise that it will “bless and protect Lima.” Putting aside the complete absence of separation of church and state, the statue was placed on one of the most important historic sites in Peru: the location of a 19th century battle against Chile. Well, sure, but Peru just totally “pwned” Chile in the Jesus race.

Of course, this could create a dangerous savior race with other countries rushing to close the Christ gap. This is likely to become an issue in our presidential campaign: where is our giant Jesus? How can we be the world’s superpower with only little Jesuses?

Of course, we already claim the best plastic Jesuses on our dashboards (this is just a transparent excuse to play one of my favorite scenes from Cool Hand Luke):

Jonathan Turley

Source: Telegraph