Tallest cross in the western hemisphere to be in Rogers?

[masons_dad1]

Another comment. Anyone ever see those 100+ foot tall communications towers... can't miss them as they're everywhere. I don't like them, but they are necessary for widespread communication. Those 200 foot Crosses are the same thing... they get a widespread message across to people that see them.

[astrife]

Another comment. Anyone ever see those 100+ foot tall communications towers... can't miss them as they're everywhere. I don't like them, but they are necessary for widespread communication. Those 200 foot Crosses are the same thing... they get a widespread message across to people that see them.

[masons_dad1]

Comparing a communications tower to a 200 foot cross does not make much sense. One is used by many people to disseminate useful information over long distances and the other is simply a guady religious symbol with no real purpose beyond stating to those who see it "CHRISTIANS LIVE HERE."

[tim2462]

I'm a gay atheist. Double whammy, eh? To me, religion is the root of all "evil". But, I won't go into a long "sermon" on that. I feel that people have the right to believe and even do as they please...to an extent. As we know, we all have rights, as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others. There are gay christians...I'd be interested to see if a 200 foot rainbow cross would fly in NWA, or anywhere for that matter. Churches seem to worry more about out-doing other churches than anything. This is just another example. As someone has already pointed out, this is obviously a "peeing contest." If the cross was about freedom, beliefs, and attracting people to their church...they could've made a smaller, but still large cross. But, they had to go 2 feet over the current record of 198 feet, and for what...bragging rights. Seeing churches as I drive around a city doesn't particularly bother me....but when someone throws up a 200 foot cross that is visible for 25-30 miles is nothing more than bragging and bullying the ones that do not believe the way you do. Cell phone towers may not be the prettiest thing...but they are necessary for everyone to have communication. 200 foot crosses are not necessary at all...they are just intrusive. Someone needs to propose a 202 foot rainbow structure...but not a cross. Anything but a cross lol.

[tim2462]

Different people will receive a different message when viewing the Cross. So in a sense the 200 foot Crosses are very much like those radio towers. A person may be feeling down and out and then they see the Cross on the horizon and may receive a message of hope. A person may be considering suicide and upon seeing the Cross on the horizon they change their mind. An atheist may see the Cross on the horizon and turn away in disgust. There are many messages the Cross can deliver.

Personally I see a Cross and it says "CHRIST IS HERE".

[HerbieHeadhunter]

It's embarassing and indicative of a group of people who would rather blow hundreds of thousands of dollars erecting an edifice to their own sword fight with Effingham, Illinois rather than apply those resources to more altruistic, rather than egoistic, use.

[mzweig]

It's embarassing and indicative of a group of people who would rather blow hundreds of thousands of dollars erecting an edifice to their own sword fight with Effingham, Illinois rather than apply those resources to more altruistic, rather than egoistic, use.

[jiggyK]

sorry, but this discussion has, um, gotten me in the spirit...

...if i believed in god and happend to be down and out, the last place i would go for deliverance is a place with a 200 ft. cross out front. i could never take a place like that seriously. it only serves two purposes: 1. is that it's a beacon to other christians that there is a christian stronghold here, or so they would like to believe: 2. is that it's a dick swinging contest amongst churches. just like having the highest sky-scraper is a dick swinging contest between cities/architects/countries/really rich investors, and all that jazz. isn't it that obvious? realistically, what else can it be? i've never heard of anyone that was on the verge of suicide or that was about to smoke weed or whatever that reconsidered at the sight of a cross. and if that ever has been the case theni would have to argue that they should've gone ahead and killed themself or lit that reffer up.

oh, our lord.

[masons_dad1]

This isn't supposed to be a religious debate so I'll just let all the atheists continue the discussion. I guess some people don't, won't or just cannot understand Christianity or the real significance of a 200 foot Cross... which is why some end up as atheists to begin with, isn't it?

[jdevers]

I'll make an entirely different argument about why it is a bad idea...and economic one. This area is doing everything it can to attract people from the Midwest (not the great plains, the midwest...OH,PA,IN,IL, MI) and the Northeast to come live here. The South is already fighting an uphill battle with many of these people because it is seen as backwards and overly religious (not just overly religious either, but overly Protestant with a fairly limited selection within that sphere of religion). Many people on here complained that the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks was going to have a small section that was a bit too stereotypical for some people and catered to the lesser sides of this part of the country. In many ways, these giant crosses do exactly the same thing. They encourage a stereotype that Southerners are very religious and somewhat intolerant of non-Protestants. These crosses then make bad ECONOMIC sense. They discourage people from moving here not because people will see the cross and be scared away or something but because they re-enforce a bad stereotype and if people weren't already gung ho about moving here, that could be enough to prevent them from moving here...

[Julles]

I'll make an entirely different argument about why it is a bad idea...and economic one. This area is doing everything it can to attract people from the Midwest (not the great plains, the midwest...OH,PA,IN,IL, MI) and the Northeast to come live here. The South is already fighting an uphill battle with many of these people because it is seen as backwards and overly religious (not just overly religious either, but overly Protestant with a fairly limited selection within that sphere of religion). Many people on here complained that the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks was going to have a small section that was a bit too stereotypical for some people and catered to the lesser sides of this part of the country. In many ways, these giant crosses do exactly the same thing. They encourage a stereotype that Southerners are very religious and somewhat intolerant of non-Protestants. These crosses then make bad ECONOMIC sense. They discourage people from moving here not because people will see the cross and be scared away or something but because they re-enforce a bad stereotype and if people weren't already gung ho about moving here, that could be enough to prevent them from moving here...

[cocothief]

The cross is already achieving its goal.

You're ALL talking about it.

Good marketing move by this church. Who'd even heard of it before now?

This thing will pay for itself ten thousand times over at this rate.

[KJW]

I was concerned that posting this article that this would be the reaction.

Now I'll say why I LOVE the crosses, existing and potential, that are in NWA, and think it's great that they're right here. If I may respectfully ask: follow me for a moment on this.

A few years ago, the National Review, which I very much trust, had a very interesting interview with an author named David Aikman (former Beijing bureau chief for Time Magazine), who wrote Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity is changing the global balance of power.

And, last year, I heard this "BreakPoint" commentary by Chuck Colson, who I also trust, about the book by Rodney Stark: The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.

Both Aikman and Stark report that at some point in time, Chinese scholars became extremely curious as to why the United States and other western nations were so successful with an excellent standard of living. Either voluntarily or under orders, they undertook meticulous research to determine why this was so. (Given China's aspirations of global power it's not hard to believe that they would be envious of our abilities.)

The conclusion they came to was that Christianity is at the heart of the success of "Western" civilization. I think it would be better for one to read these books rather than go into all the reasons here why this is so.

However, would there be a better area for this reason for western success to be displayed than NWA, home of Sam and Helen Walton? The Waltons weren't perfect (no one is), but while they built the world's largest company, look at all they did for their communities, both ones in which they lived and ones where they "worked". Look at "Miss Helen's" work in Central America, and her devotion to scholarships to Christian universities for students from nations in that region. They were apparently quite devout in their faith, and again, while no one's perfect, there's a lot of their life stories that would, I believe, parallel the discoveries of the Chinese scholars chronicled by Messrs. Aikman and Stark.

I've no problem whatsoever with big crosses in NWA as long as people know what they symbolize. (And at the heart of it all, what they represent is NOT that Christ died and rose again merely so we can have a great earthly standard of living.)

BTW, if someone's blessed enough to build a 200 foot statue of Darwin in NWA, let him/her have the freedom to build that as well (including for discussion).

[cocothief]

I am much more offended by the 100 ft tall fast food signs in Springdale than I am the idea of a cross.

At least a cross is a symbol and classic and IMO beautiful.

I'd rather we not have any 200 ft tall freestanding monuments to capitalism or religion.

As far as world religions go, they don't get much more inclusive or loving or forgiving than Christianity.

How some are so offended by that message or others' choice to practice Christianity has never made sense to me.

[masons_dad1]

I'll make an entirely different argument about why it is a bad idea...and economic one. This area is doing everything it can to attract people from the Midwest (not the great plains, the midwest...OH,PA,IN,IL, MI) and the Northeast to come live here.

[jdevers]

198ft Cross - Effingham, IL

100ft Cross - Alto Pass, IL

55ft Crucifix - Indian River, MI

Proposed 250ft Cross (crucifix) - Ann Arbor, MI

[jdevers]

Again, how is it bad economic sense to discourage 25% of the population from moving here, if you are encouraging 75% to do it? I say play to your strengths. Most of America is smart enough to figure out that a place with lots of Christ-followers is going to have lower crime, more community involvement, etc. NWA has always been known as a nice place to raise families. Ever thought about why?

[astrife]

Again, how is it bad economic sense to discourage 25% of the population from moving here, if you are encouraging 75% to do it? I say play to your strengths. Most of America is smart enough to figure out that a place with lots of Christ-followers is going to have lower crime, more community involvement, etc. NWA has always been known as a nice place to raise families. Ever thought about why?

[Julles]

So what your statement here assumes is that communities with other religious identities (or lack there of) are inherently worse communities? That is a very intolerant and discriminatory statement and I hope you realize that.

[Mith242]

I've been hesitant to jump back in this discussion. Obviously religion strikes a strong cord in everyone in one way or another. One's person religion is another person's heresy. But anyway I guess I just prefer overall there not be quite so much emphasis on religion. I think the government and most things really would work better outside the influence of religion. I think a number of people think of atheist as people who have no concept of what is right or wrong. But I've actually known atheist who had better morals than a lot of Christians. Anyway sorry to get off topic, but to me this is just another sign of someone trying to push their brand of religion.

[astrife]

I made no statement whatsoever about communities with other religious identities or lack thereof. I made a statement with a positive tone, you chose to put words in my mouth and turn it into a negative. Any one of us can scrutinize the words of another here and spin it however we want. I stand by what I said.

[CellarDoor135]

Wow that just depressed me.

That statement is totally false. The only reason that mostly white, mostly christian communities in America have lower crime is because they're almost always RURAL and/or in MIDDLE AMERICA, AWAY from big cities, and they're just plan SMALL. How many big cities do you know that have lower crime because they are mostly christian? Dallas? Atlanta? I think not. That was the most ignorant statement I've seen on here in days, which is saying something. People with that kind of view are the people that keep this area held back and not taken as seriously as it should be!

[Julles]

Wow that just depressed me.

That statement is totally false. The only reason that mostly white, mostly christian communities in America have lower crime is because they're almost always RURAL and/or in MIDDLE AMERICA, AWAY from big cities, and they're just plan SMALL. How many big cities do you know that have lower crime because they are mostly christian? Dallas? Atlanta? I think not. That was the most ignorant statement I've seen on here in days, which is saying something. People with that kind of view are the people that keep this area held back and not taken as seriously as it should be!

[astrife]

Ignorant? Well confound it all. I reckon that book-larnin' didn't take.

You know, I read the papers. Take a look at the violent crimes, for one thing. 9 times out of 10, they take place in or around a bar, or in connection with drug deals. I know there are exceptions, but for the most part that's the way it plays out. Most Christians don't hang out at bars, don't do drugs. I would be interested to see statistics on how many crimes were committed in the past year by people who belong to the "big cross" churches, and ones like them.

And by the way, I'll take "held back" anyday over arrogant and rude.

[CellarDoor135]

Ignorant? Well confound it all. I reckon that book-larnin' didn't take.

You know, I read the papers. Take a look at the violent crimes, for one thing. 9 times out of 10, they take place in or around a bar, or in connection with drug deals. I know there are exceptions, but for the most part that's the way it plays out. Most Christians don't hang out at bars, don't do drugs. I would be interested to see statistics on how many crimes were committed in the past year by people who belong to the "big cross" churches, and ones like them.

And by the way, I'll take "held back" anyday over arrogant and rude.