A group who describes themselves as an "Activist Art Collective" hung a banner saying "God bless abortions" from the Jesus statue located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on Friday.
The group, called Indecline, documented in Instagram how they rappelled on one of the open arms of the 65-foot statue of Jesus at the Ozarks' Magnetic Mountain in The Great Passion Play grounds to place the 45-foot wide banner before sunrise.
The group expressed its displeasure of the owner of the property, the late Gerald Smith, the founder of the America First Party, who they accused as a "religious activist and Nazi symphatizer" for being an "anti-Semite whose final dream was to give Jesus his own theme park."
"We think Jesus would understand the concept of a difficult decision. He supposedly had to make a few of them and understood sacrifice very intimately. The Christ of the Ozarks is visible miles away, so we just treated it like a billboard. We aren't necessarily 'pro-choice' or 'anti-life', those terms are double speak. We just think abortion is a g****** miracle worth celebrating. It saves lives, but those lives are usually female," Indecline explained.
"When people have strong beliefs about decisions that don't affect them, those beliefs are worth questioning. We are just here to ask those questions. Perhaps they get us farther than beliefs," they added. "And maybe Jesus never intended to be a statue, nor a billboard. But then again, he's not supposed to be pro-choice, so we guess he'll just have to live with it."
Indecline also posted an artwork of a toddler wearing a black shirt with the words "God bless abortions" before posting an elaboration on the banner as one of their "projects" done out of "love and solidarity" with those who are pro-choice. Indecline said they get "blessed" by these projects because of the financial gain and alluded that it was God who gave such blessings.
"We here at Indecline have executed countless actions since our formation in 2001 and can easily list the benefits derived from such projects (like raising over $1,000 for @arkansas_abortion_support in a single day!), yet every once in a while, we're 'blessed' with something a little extra," Indecline pointed out.
"Something that reminds us that it's totally fine to just sit down, relax, and enjoy a good laugh in the midst of these exhausting battles," they added. "Especially if it's at the expense of the weirdos who dress up like Jesus and frolic in the hills of Arkansas. Enjoy."
CBN News revealed that the group's prior project involved vandalizing a Mississippi billboard that read, "Worried? Jesus offers security." Indecline changed the message into, "Worried? Planned Parenthood offers abortions," last March and posted it also in their Instagram account.
Indecline's post explaining the benefits of their "projects" was much applauded by Arkansas Abortion Support Network as "a beautiful work." Arkansas Abortion Support Network raised that abortion is legal in the state and it is "not going anywhere" like their organization.
The said Indecline post shows a video they grabbed from The Great Passion Play's Facebook Page and uploaded to their IG TV account. The Great Passion Play's administration live streamed on Friday morning as announcement on Christ of the Ozarks was "vandalized" after "somebody broke in during the night" to place the banner with a message "from Satan."
The video's narrator stressed that the vandalism "is not tolerated around here" and urged that "it is time for Christians to fight back."
"It's time for Christians, Bible-believing Christians, to take action and not just do nothing," the narrator added.
In a succeeding post, The Great Passion Play responded directly to Indecline in a manner regarded by netizens as not only a "classy" but truly "Christ like" in the face of the "ugly situation."
"Dear Indecline, We wanted to acknowledge and give notice for the 45' drop cloth to be used in our mission trip program (GreatPassionPlay.org/mission-trips). You trespassed on our property and hung this drop cloth from the Christ of the Ozarks memorial statue and put your lives at risk as well as the people's lives who took it down. You used our statue to further your platform, but we are thankful for the opportunity to share our mission," The Great Passion Play said.
"The Passion Play is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting up the miraculous life, sacrificial death, burial, and ultimately the resurrection of Jesus Christ," they added. "We pray those who hung this banner are able to come and see Jesus hung on the cross in a production that has been seen by over 8 million people now."
"Security is now stationed overnight at the Christ of the Ozarks as well. We will not accept additional donations from your organization," they ended.
CBN News revealed that Christ of the Ozarks Curator Randall Christy will file a lawsuit against Indecline for vandalism and trespassing, which the group welcomed through a statement for being accustomed to such "threats as a result" of their "actions."
