Jesus is everywhere
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) _ Twin girls no taller than Jesus' chest squeal with delight, fingers pointed at the figure of the Son of God being lashed by a Roman soldier a few feet away.
Across the dusty courtyard from Pontius Pilate's administrative complex, Jesus crouches pathetically inside a minuscule prison cell. Elsewhere, Jesus is betrayed, crucified, condemned, worshipped. His head is crowned with thorns, his dead body cradled by the Virgin Mary. And twice every hour he is resurrected -- all 50 feet of him.
At Tierra Santa, billed as ''Jerusalem in Buenos Aires,'' Jesus is quite literally everywhere. And the faithful come in droves, with 10,000 visitors on Easter weekend alone and more than 2.5 million since the park opened in 1999.
It is a Holy Land made almost entirely of plastic, from the camels to the temples to Jesus himself. The effect approximates the original ''Batman'' TV show, with the surf-rock theme replaced by choral music and Arab dirges blaring from speakers hidden in fake palm trees.
Costumed sentinels (security guards) mingle with tourists guided by robed men and women through the history of the savior's days in Jerusalem. Arab vendors peddle keffiyehs and ceramics in the park's souk.
From the top of Mount Olive, where Jesus is permanently nailed to the cross, you can glimpse a disused water park. Planes from the adjacent airport roar overhead every couple minutes, tactlessly reminding visitors which century they are in.
Known as 
I almost thought this was another brilliant spoof by Curt Jester but apparently this is real. This would be helpful to people who do mental prayer.
Further in the article a line reads: Still, until recently it would have been hard to imagine the famously doctrinaire Roman Catholic Church lending its brand to a theme park... (My emphasis).
Yeah, and if our current brand spokesman, BXVI doesn't increase our market share we should start thinking about switching ad agencies and seeing if we can pay that Gecko enough to quit his insurance gig and start selling the "One True Brand".
Are you kidding? The cheesy plastic makes it even MORE authentically Catholic! It had to have been deliberate because who would need FAKE palm trees in Brazil?
I just hope this one in Argentina is more Catholic-kosher, and not a Protestantized fantasy like the Holy Land Experience in Orlando.
Totally off-topic, and might be just me, but has anyone else noticed your mascot looks suspiciously like Jared from Subway? ;-)
Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes,
long as I got my plastic Jesus,
sittin' on the dashboard of my car.
Comes in colors, pink and pleasant,
glows in the dark cause it's irridescent
Take it with you when you travel far.
--Cool Hand Luke, 1967
Fr. Stephanos,
Arlo Gurthrie to be precise. Back in my Hippie days I was quite the Arlo Guthrie fan and I had that song memorized.
So, when do we get to see the photos of the Hippie Curt Jester???