Suspected PayPal Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison
Scripps Employees Called 'Hackers' For Exposing Massive Security Flaw
Church Crosses Get Updated as Cell Towers, But What Message Does It Send?
Does God like cell phones? For a couple of churches in the U.S., religious iconography has has been updated with high-tech function, and that sends quite a message. Rolling Hills Moravian Church in Longwood, Florida partnered with T-Mobile last month to propose a cross-shaped cell phone tower, although we gather that it's still under debate by the county. Even more recently, St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in Parsippany, New Jersey got a new steeple (that happened to be embedded with a cell tower, also provided by T-Mobile) to replace the one destroyed by a storm 30 years ago.The Longwood cross/tower had residents up in arms, but not because the 130-foot structure would have a religious icon dominate the skyline; neighbors are more worried about the aesthetic of a massive cross, and what it would do to their property values. The St. Gregory's steeple is minuscule in contrast, and the parishioners are more than happy that T-Mobile would pony up the cash in exchange for a little bit of cell phone radiation.
We think it's wonderful that a cash-strapped church got its steeple replaced, and bizarre that the chief complaint in Longwood is aesthetics, but we wonder if there isn't some unintentional symbolism conveyed with cell-tower-powered crosses. Does it mar the purity of an icon to imbue it with quotidian function? Would a smaller object, like a cross-shaped fork and knife set or Virgin Mother USB drive, be considered sacrilegious for relegating the divine element to a common piece of consumer detritus? We think Luis Eslava's Maria USB is intentionally and cheekily blasphemous, but can a radiation-emitting steeple be considered unholy, or is it just a modern take on the Holy House? [From: Orlando Sentinel and Daily Record]
Charlie Sheen Gets Back To His Roots
The List #0147: Escape a Car Underwater
WHOOPS! Obama Makes Big Gaffe
Visit the Maldive Islands Before It's Too Late
H&M's Plus-Size Model Jennie Runk Says She Chose To Gain Weight
Jury Foreman: '18 Days Of Testimony Hurt' Jodi Arias
Okla. Sheriff's Deputy Finds Dog Guarding Body Buried Under Destroyed Home
Reptiles Make Home in UK Man's Cable Box
New Trayvon Martin Evidence Features Incriminating Photos, Texts From Teen
Springtime Budget-Busters -- Savings Experiment
Is This Woman Too Pretty To Work?
What It's Like To Talk To A 2-Year-Old
Mariah Carey Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction on Good Morning America
Parents Face Tough Choice When Tornadoes Bear Down
Best Friends Reportedly Die Holding Each Other In Tornado
The Story Behind Hairspray
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
Killed Soldier In London Attack Identified
Rapper Accused Of Faking His Own Death To Escape Payments
Helen Flanagan Launches PETA Campaign As Only She Knows How
LISTEN: Terror Inside Elementary School As Tornado Hits
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
Surgeons Remove Giant Hairball From Tiger
Teenager's 'Awww'-Inspiring Drawing Wins Big At Google
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
LOOK: Photoshop Mistake Is Seriously Cringeworthy
Pope Francis Says All Who Do Good Are Redeemed - Atheists Included
'DWTS' Shakeup Ahead?
PHOTO: Dog Guards Dead Victim's Body After Oklahoma Tornado Disaster
REVEALED: Disturbing Trend In Human Intelligence
The World's Most Powerful Women
Rescuers Continue Search For Tornado Survivors
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsHigh ClimberJul 9th 2010 8:56AM
I'm a Christian and don't have an issue with a cross shaped cell phone tower.
I think it's ridiculous to say it would decrease "property values". I think the residents of Longwood should be more worried about alcohol being sold to minors or pornography magazines in the local gas stations decreasing their property values than the cross of Jesus Christ.
tomndeb319Jul 10th 2010 4:43PM
I too am a Christian and I do not have any problem with a cell phone tower in the shape of a cross. Until the time of Constantine in the Third Century, the cross was not used so much as a Christian symbol. However, being the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire the cross became the central image of the faith. It is a judicial, political, military and a religious symbol. Christian's worship a God not to be made into the form of any image. If the cross represents God then it is an idol. If it represents Christianity, then it stands for what it is: a representation of a religious belief.
sherryJul 26th 2010 1:13AM
I'd rather look a cross and see something good that an ugly cell tower.I think its a great idea,hope it continues.....