Lady Liberty On a Religious Bender

On Tuesday July 4th in Memphis, Tennessee the World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church erected a statue in the image of Liberty with a bizarre Christian metamorphoses.

Instead of the book she cradles the two tablets of the ten commandments in her left arm. In her right she raises aloft a cross rather than the torch of liberty. Reportedly, 'Jehovah' is written across her crown and there is a single tear rolling down her cheek. Lady Liberties wretched twin is named The Statue of Liberation Through Christ.

From The New York Times:

The statue, inspired by a Memphis church that has three giant crosses, strikes him [pastor Apostle Alton R. Williams] as "a creative means of just really letting people know that God is the foundation of our nation," he said.

Mr. Williams has written several books and pamphlets analyzing a variety of matters, among them patriotism and the original intent of the founding fathers.

In "The Meaning of the Statue of Liberation Through Christ: Reconnecting Patriotism With Christianity," he explains that the teardrop on his Lady is God's response to what he calls the nation's ills, including legalized abortion, a lack of prayer in schools and the country's "promotion of expressions of New Age, Wicca, secularism and humanism." In another book, he said Hurricane Katrina was retribution for New Orleans's embrace of sin.

Mr. Williams said his statue's essential point was that Christianity should be the guiding ethos of the nation [...]

Nota Bene: the links to The New York Times will probably go defunct. I'll keep a personal copy for reference if anyone has questions.