"The Statue of Liberation"

Oh good grief.

"I can't see anything wrong with it. This is the Bible Belt," said Landon Condit at a pizza place in Memphis, where this 72-foot statue was erected by the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church. People like this man are the ones to fear.

"She was the idea of Mr. Alton R. Williams, a very successful pastor whose church, World Overcomers, qualifies as mega: it has a school, a bowling alley, a roller rink, a bookstore and, he said, 12,000 members."

Mr. Williams, a Fred Phelps-like figure, is an extremist of the kind that believes that hurricanes are retribution for the problems of our nation, problems that include, allegedly, homosexuals.

Most amusingly, Williams got his congregation hyped on on free unhealthy hot dogs and grape soda before making a powerful statement: "I decree the spirit of conviction on this intersection," Mr. Williams boomed from a podium decorated with red, white and blue bunting. "This statue proves that Jesus Christ is Lord over America, he is Lord over Tennessee, he is Lord over Memphis."

Oh, is that what it proves? Well, why don't I just build a statue of Buddha conquering Iraq wearing an enormous party hat? That proves that Buddhists have more fun with their forms of world conquest. Or shall I build a statue of Madonna (the popstar, not the religious figure) wearing her magnificent red Kabballah bracelet (not to mention conical bra) proclaiming rule over the nation's oil fields?

It seems that, if you have the money -- $260,000 in this case -- you can prove just about anything.

Some content was culled from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/us/05liberty.html?ex=1152244800&en=1f54df57ab7a525d&ei=5087%0A . Photo is by Rollin Riggs.