Sixteen Tons and What do You Get?

This week, a statue of Jesus in front of a church in Ohio burned to its metal frame shell. Burned down essentially. That’s one reason why it was news. Another reason is that the statue, unofficially nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because the savior’s arms were raised in a way similar to a touchdown call, stood six stories tall and weighed eight tons. So burning it down is no small feat. Yet another reason it was news is because the fire was started by a lightning strike.

There’s been a lot of talk of the irony of lightning, God’s traditional go-to tool for smiting the wicked, burning down a statue of his only begotten son, even a yellow yard art quality representation like this one, but that dialog is pointless. Anyone who would usually point to a violent weather phenomenon destroying something as a message from and angry God, would never do so if the offending item were within the Christian chronicle. Anyone outside that group would not point to lightning as a message from God; or hurricanes, earthquakes, or terrorist’s attacks.

Now let’s move 2,300 miles west. In San Francisco this week a statue of Buddha that was sitting in front of the City Hall was vandalized by graffiti. This statue, which weighs in at 16 tons, has six arms, three faces, and is made of copper, was donated by the artist, Zhang Huan, to mark the 30th year of San Francisco's sister-city relationship with Shanghai. Sixteen tons! Not just art but art on a scale befitting a major city. A cultural object right in front of a governmental object. Gigantic and beautiful, out of place and perfectly placed, and accessible for anyone both physically and intellectually.

When I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago, I happened upon this statue while taking an evening perambulation (Thanks Walt Whitman), inasmuch as you can happen upon something that was this large and looked like Sinbad should be fighting it. But, children were climbing on it, adults were compelled to touch it, and everyone with a camera was taking pictures of it.

I felt the need to touch it myself so I walked up and put my hand in the hand at the end of one of those arms. It was cool and smooth, something I wish I could say about myself more often. Then I walked around it and tried to find the best angle from which to capture it on film. I know, I have a digital camera, but saying, “capture it on a solid-state electronic flash memory data storage device” doesn’t have the same zing. I took a handful of pictures and moved on.

As I was reading the article about the graffiti damage I was just about ready to move on when I saw that one of the tags said, “Jesus is the one,” suggesting this graffiti was applied by someone whose views differ than those who subscribe to Buddhism. I’d hate to think of the damage this guy might reap if he ever wanders into Chinatown with his can of paint. There are more Buddha statues there than I’ve had hot meals.

It was then that I remembered another act of vandalism against statues of Buddha. It was in March of 2001. Back then the group that was running Afghanistan systematically destroyed statues of Buddha that had stood since the 6th century and were nearly 200 feet tall. That group subscribed to a religion other than Buddhism, much like the vandal of the statue in San Francisco. But whereas the vandal in San Francisco looks to be Christian, those who delivered so much destruction in 2001 were Muslim. We may never know the name of person, or persons, in San Francisco, but we do know their name in Afghanistan; Taliban.

Will the vandal in San Francisco ever see his actions as a mirror, albeit a small one, of the people under whose protection the mastermind, and I use the term ironically, of 9/11 slept? Doubtful. A few of those who posted after the article about the Buddha in San Francisco said that he had every right to mar this statue, in what they see as a Christian country. Most of the Christians I know see him as nothing more than what he is; a dog pissing on a tree.

Now the City of San Francisco is erecting a fence around the Buddha statue to protect it. This fence will also prevent anyone who wishes to touch an outrageous piece of art from doing so, and because of its height, prevent anyone who isn’t tall enough, children, from even seeing it. So basically, although Mr. “Jesus is the one” didn’t destroy this statue, he pretty much took it away from anyone wishing to touch it, or see it if they are 5 feet tall or less.

I’m also wondering what would have been said if the San Francisco Buddha had been struck by lightning and destroyed instead of the Ohio Jesus. Or maybe what would have been done, if someone painted graffiti on the Ohio Jesus that read, “Buddha is the one.”