FWIS3

What would you do if you saw someone wrapped in a blanket, sleeping on a bench outside a church?

For Cindy Castano Swannack, who drove by St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson, North Carolina the other day, the answer was “call the police.”

When informed that it was a sculpture depicting Jesus (with stigmata on his bare feet that poke out from under the blanket), Swannack seemed taken aback. She told the local NBC affiliate that

“Jesus is not a vagrant, Jesus is not a helpless person who needs our help. We need someone who is capable of meeting our needs, not someone who is also needy.”

[...]

In a letter to a local news website, resident Jerry Dawson likened the Jesus depiction to a creepy Grim Reaper, and added:

… “My complaint is not about the art-worthiness or the meaning behind the sculpture. It is about people driving into our beautiful, reasonably upscale neighborhood and seeing an ugly homeless person sleeping on a park bench.”

Swift wrote:What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

“Jesus is not a vagrant, Jesus is not a helpless person who needs our help. We need someone who is capable of meeting our needs, not someone who is also needy.”

… “My complaint is not about the art-worthiness or the meaning behind the sculpture. It is about people driving into our beautiful, reasonably upscale neighborhood and seeing an ugly homeless person sleeping on a park bench.”