That “Jesus” Sign
February 3rd, 2009 by Eyriche CortezPeople already took notice of the “Jesus Alone Saves” neon sign on a building located along EDSA northbound in Guadalupe, Makati.
In fact, Last December 2008, Paolo Lorenzana, in his “Hot Fuss Sundae” column in the Philippine Star daily newspaper, wrote about the sign which he called “Literally, the Holy Grail of signs along EDSA”. (Read more about it in my blog: http://straightfrompastor.blogspot.com/2009/01/sign.html )
Sadly, in an adjacent lot to the building, another outdoor advertising company recently built a big billboard that obstructed the sign. I learned that an employee of the company that put up the “Jesus” sign called their attention while they were constructing the new sign. They gave the assurance that it will not block the view. Now, you could not make out the “Jesus” sign.
The “Jesus” sign is a landmark already in EDSA. It has encouraged a lot of motorists and commuters along EDSA. That sign is one of the rare signs along EDSA that give hope to people. Now, just because some people wanted to make a quick buck on an advertising vantage point, they just block it out of sight and, sadly, out of mind. For me that’s crass commercialism.
Personally, I have decided that I would boycott the product of whoever would advertise on that sign that blocked the “Jesus” sign. It’s my own protest against seemingly insensitive, greedy people.
I want to see that “Jesus Alone Saves” sign again… unobstructed… unhindered.
February 3, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Christ now has to compete as a marketing gimmick. This was first done by Protestant Evangelicals. The Catholics followed suit with signs about the praying the rosary and the Virgin Mary.
I have nothing against these signs if they don’t endorse a product, service or commodity. But I have seen signs on EDSA with the Holy Virgin endorsing that we buy columbarium niches in a church owned by the Archdiocese. A few years back , mom went ballistic over a Mama Mary calendar endorsing cigarettes.
Also if I were Jesus I should sue for unauthorised use of my name in 1) signs, 2) churches, 3) calendars, 4) books etc. Poor Nazarene, he don’t get a single centavo!
February 3, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Oh I forgot these signs have divine protection. During Milenyo the only signs that were untouched on EDSA were
1) Priesthood? and the Pray signs: the San Jose Seminary recruitment ad
and
2) Jesus alone saves!
The Mama Mary endorsing a columbarium was blown away!
February 3, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I agree with you 100%. That “Jesus” sign is home to our beloved pastor Jesse Dedel of Masters’ Commission Asia and International Charismatic Service. It has been there ever since I can remember. There are lots of stories behind that signage, not only to the people living in that structure (building) but for those has read it. I even heard a story about that sign stopping a person from jumping off a building.
I’ve reposted this in my blog, Sir. Hope you don’t mind. :)
February 3, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Yes!
Milenyo failed to destroy the “Jesus Alone Saves” sign. Hmmm that’s interesting!
I learned that the family business that put up that sign was not endorsing any product at all. It was put up to give hope to motorists and commuters along EDSA.
Thanks for your comments!
June 11, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I’m from Delaware on the East Coast of the US, between Washington, D.C. and New York City and first saw the Jesus sign in 1995, my first trip to the Philippines and most recently Oct-Nov 2007. I’m planning to establish a ministry based on the statement of that sign. I just found out about the obstruction of the sign and it is sad. I’m glad I took a video of it on my last trip.
February 3, 2009 at 3:53 pm
It was only a matter of time.
What with the outdoor advertising industry almost literally mushrooming with billboard after billboard after billboard along EDSA and in other environs within and without the metropolis, often with almost total disregard for the visibility of the other signages that were there before them, it was really inevitable that our beloved neon sign, “Jesus alone Saves”, become the next casualty of visibility blockage.
Right now the property immediately in front of ours has come under the use of a “kapatid sa negosyo”, another ad firm. Sadly, they have decided to put up a metal structure that, when utilized, will be home to a new signage along EDSA that will effectively block the presently-unimpeded view of ours.
We have already begun attempts to strike a friendly meeting with the proprietors. They seem willing enough to have a dialog.
Let us hope and pray that all will go well. It would be a shame to lose the privilege of heralding the Lord’s Glory, free and unobstructed, to “business as usual.”
September 27, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Blame this disrespectful act to the approving officer of the city. I don’t want to think that these advertisers have a very strong influence to those who approve such constructions but looks like what I think is correct.
February 3, 2009 at 4:33 pm
My muslim and jewish friends are offended by that signage.
March 27, 2009 at 4:27 am
Put Mohammad saves. Or There is no God but Allah, and Mohammad
is his Prophet.
September 27, 2009 at 7:49 pm
These muslims have been bullying christians for a long long time, they mind their own faith and christians will mind their own faith. What if christians will say they are offended seeing muslim mosque mushrooming in the middle of christian communities? Will they take that?
February 3, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Wow. I thought I was the only one in Manila who noticed it. If there’s any psychiatrist in this blog, what do you call this?
February 3, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Wow! Thanks for your comments. Keep ‘em coming!
I understand if our Muslim and Jewish friends are offended. But I think the people behind the signage did not mean to be offensive. They were not calling for war or anything. They just declared their belief.
In a free country, we can hold different beliefs as long as we disagree agreeably. I think a dialogue is preferable over a debate.
March 27, 2009 at 4:29 am
If you are a Devil Worshiper. Put ” Satan lives.”
February 3, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Eyriche,
If the sign read “Jesus Saves” or “Jesus Saves Too” then it will not cause offense. But when you proclaim “Jesus Alone Saves” then you are, in effect, disparaging the beliefs of others.
The signage that you love so much is not a question of free speech. It is a matter of civility.
“In a free country, we can hold different beliefs as long as we disagree agreeably. I think a dialogue is preferable over a debate.”
But “Jesus Alone Saves” is an insulting proposition to millions of people. How do you dialogue when you start off with an insult?
February 3, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I’ve heard from different sources that religions, or some of them, are some form of ‘business’, observing that the ‘leaders’, or most of them, live in palaces, or own buildings.
Could be the reason behind those signs, books, calendars, etc.
February 3, 2009 at 8:44 pm
That neon sign must be removed as it is better placed in front of cathedrals – not anywhere else.
February 3, 2009 at 8:56 pm
I think the “Jesus” Sign is a refreshing break from the dominant run of Mama Mary idols, statuary, painting, grottos, stained glass windows, rosaries, scapulars, frescoes, and indeed commercial signage of the Mother of God the Son.
It’s very masculine, showing Him with a long brown beard, piercing black eyes, standing tall and with stunning good looks. In fact the Jesus in the Jesus sign reminds me of a classic archetypal Jesus called the Laughing Christ
“Jesus Alone Saves” is also very Protestant, very Born-Again, very American actually. It cannot be the work of Padre Damaso! It could possibly be the doing of Simoun the Jeweller. He likes to do things like this, just to confuse the susceptible.
February 3, 2009 at 9:17 pm
blackshama : He is neither a lawyer or a capitalist so I think this — Jesus Christ will not sue.
The descendants of Jesus Christ also will not sue. Reason — the descendants remain threatened and do not want the Vatican to know where they are — the descendants will not sue. :neutral:
February 3, 2009 at 11:34 pm
As the saying stated : “You cannot prevent birds
from flying over your head. But you can prevent
them from building a nest on top of your head”.
If these people advertise for Jesus coming. It is
their rights. If you dont believe them, it is also
your rights.
Whatever happen, happens. We dont have any human
control on it.
We go on with our daily lives.
February 4, 2009 at 1:11 am
“If the sign read “Jesus Saves” or “Jesus Saves Too” then it will not cause offense. But when you proclaim “Jesus Alone Saves” then you are, in effect, disparaging the beliefs of others.”
Religion will always be like this. Religious people shouldn’t be forced to give consideration to other religions in their own demonstrations of faith–that would be ridiculous. What you can do, however, is to ban ALL public display of faith.
Imagine forcing a Muslim to allow the possibility that Christ is indeed higher than Muhammad. Jesus ALONE saves is an accurate formula of the Christian faith.
September 27, 2009 at 8:08 pm
“JESUS SAVES” is a christian teaching, these is proclaimed to believers and for those who want to beleive. Who is forcing the muslims on christian belief? Christians do not mind other proples’ belief. Belief in GOD is not compulsory, but christians have the responsibility to inform people, if they want to believe well and good for them, if they don’t, it is their decision, nobody forces them. Christians do not intimidate,nor bear arms or kill people because of their belief. Listen to this Brian, Christians will never say “Jesus saves too” because to the christians JESUS IS THE ONLY SAVIOR nobody else.
February 4, 2009 at 2:20 am
Bocobo is correct. Forcing religion on under-age kids should be illegal and the parents of Saint Rose Catholic School (Paniqui, Tarlac) or School of St. Joseph The Worker(Echague, Isabela) should be forced to send their children to public school.
February 4, 2009 at 3:32 am
mbuencamino, Christians have freedom of expression too. those who are “insulted” by innocuous statements are victims of their own aberrant sense of victimhood. tough luck.
February 4, 2009 at 3:40 am
e cortez, there is an old tagalog adage that you may very well be advised to chew on: “huwag kang pumasok sa aking bakuran kung ayaw mong masakupan”.
those institutions in question are apparently private. where is the illegality or coercion?
February 4, 2009 at 3:41 am
@mbuencamino
yeah, like bencard, i’m not sure why its an insult also.
its just a statement of what they believe. they didn’t say believing otherwise is wrong or dumb.
February 4, 2009 at 6:01 am
The accusation has been made by Christopher Hitchens that the problem with “religious” people is not so much that they just want to practice their faith, or defend their right to freedom of religious expression, but that it somehow becomes pathologically important to them that other people come to believe in it too.
Maybe they are actually ashamed of their Faith, maybe they secretly suspect that others think their religion is silly, so that even if they don’t really care about that they would still like to find as many others who will share their religious beliefs with them. If we think we might be accused of being silly, it really helps if there are a lot of us.
If I thought I had discovered the secret of the universe, or rather the Source of the Secrets of the Universe, the Author of Its physical and natural Laws, the Artificer of its Mathematics, the Specifier of the number “pi” and the Creator of all Numbers, rational and irrational — [kneels with true awe and reverence] –then of course, I would be most eager to share that discovery with other people and have them appreciate it too.
I can assure everybody that if I ever find “God,” none of you will have any reason at all to doubt the discovery after examining my evidence and reasoning for his or her or its Existence.
My “Jesus Alone Saves” sign on such an historic occasion will not be put on some obscure corner of a decrepit little street in a crowded corner of Quezon City. Oh no, it will put all Doubting Thomases on both their knees in abject worship as it is beamed through all the channels of the global media or by telepathy sent into to the heads of every man woman and child.
My path to the true salvation of the world would not be treated as a paltry billboard on Edsa to be lolly-gagged about by a bunch of us “Bloggers”.
February 4, 2009 at 8:45 am
i assure you, djb, if you “find” God, some other “atheist” will debunk it and all your howling won’t make any difference.
February 4, 2009 at 9:44 am
“The signage that you love so much is not a question of free speech. It is a matter of civility.”
Civility does not mean we cannot say things we deem absolute. It does not mean that we are afraid to speak out our convictions. It does mean that we respect each other even if we disagree. For civil people can and will disagree. We don’t have to see eye to eye on every issue.
February 4, 2009 at 1:19 pm
So, what?
All those billboards in EDSA compete with each other for attention. That “Jesus Alone Saves” neon should not be exempt — it is, for all intents and purposes, just another advertisment, just another billboard. Bring your grievances to the Ad Board, or whoever controls the billboard regulations in the country.
I’m sure Miriam Santiago will be very, very amused.
February 4, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Eyriche,
Civility ends at the point where we can no longer keep a straight face about some claim or expression. However, I don’t think civility imposes on us the obligation to respect or reverence claims which cannot be proven or disproven and which are in the nature of propaganda, religious or otherwise.
“Jesus alone saves” is an example of this.
Bencard,
You don’t seem to understand how Science works in the real world. That is why you did not understand the point.
To you, there are some things that cannot be assailed, as long as you decide to place your entire Blind Faith on it. No one’s howling or reasoning or evidence can possibly shake your faith.
In contrast, If I thought I had found scientific evidence of God and “some atheist” came along and debunked my findings (say by presenting contrary evidence or superior reasoning) I would embrace him as my teacher and eagerly publicize that I was wrong.
You see that is the difference between Science and Religion. You all think you already have the Absolute Truth. It is Religion that cannot stand ambiguity (Madonna!) because it already believes it is incorrigible and irreformable and infallible.
Science is perfectly willing to accept contrary evidence to its current “beliefs” which we call hypotheses. Unlike you all who think of beliefs as dogma, religion’s ululations safe from proof and reason howling their absurdity.
(See the nice vocabulary word for you to learn Bencard? It’s a nice one, but don’t use it on me ok?)
February 4, 2009 at 1:34 pm
E Cortez:
I am mystified by this:
February 4, 2009 at 2:28 pm
“Literally”
I don’t think that word means what you think it means. :)) Billboards will not literally mushroom in EDSA.
Ok, pedant mode off.
So if we start buying ad space on buses saying “There’s probably no god, so enjoy yourself” no one will be offended? I’m willing to bet that the guys behind the “Jesus Alone Saves” billboard will be the first to complain.
February 4, 2009 at 2:53 pm
To respect does not necessarily mean you agree.
“I don’t think civility imposes on us the obligation to respect or reverence claims which CANNOT be proven or disproven and which are in the nature of propaganda, religious or otherwise.” (Emphasis added)
I wonder why you can’t accept other people making absolute statements when you yourself made one! ;-D
The truth may be hard to accept. But that doesn’t mean we have to deny it. I also believe that the truth may be offensive but we need not offend unnecessarily. The truth may be hard but it is still the truth. But it would be unfair if we water down or compromise our message just to appease everybody. After all, we really cannot please everybody.
Again, “Jesus ALONE Saves” is a declaration of a belief, which we ought to respect whether we agree or not with the statement.
February 4, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Jesus alone saves is what Christianity is based on, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, or Protestant.
So if I am not offended by signs in majority Islamic countries saying “There is no other God but God” or in Israel “Hear ye The Lord is our God, The Lord is One”, why should Jews and Muslims and other monotheists be offended? Religious freedom and tolerance requires that no one should be offended by statements of faith unless these are involuntarily imposed on anyone.
In the same sense I am not offended by signs saying that God probably doesn’t exist. Atheists have the right to proclaim their faith too.
Now in Communist states Atheism is/was imposed. In some Islamic states, Islam is imposed. In the past, Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism etc were imposed.
What should offend Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Atheists, Anglicans etc is the fact that many of us are willing to kill in the Name of Religion!
In the Philippines it isn’t killing other persons but killing ideas like some fundamentalists do.
And not just a sign saying a declaration of faith.
February 4, 2009 at 4:44 pm
who’s imposing what? jollibee ads on vegans? what da!
if there’s anything objectionable in this issue, it’s this–all billboards are eyesores. period.
February 4, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Manuelbunacamino batting for political correctness? What’s the world coming to? :D
But missingpoints will win his bet. If the atheist bus comes to Manila, there will be those who will claim to be offended. There will be a lot of them. Aminin na natin ‘to.
Freedom from being offended has become an inalienable right. Naka!
February 4, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Blackshama: “Religious freedom and tolerance requires that no one should be offended by statements of faith unless these are involuntarily imposed on anyone.”
Does this include little children?
February 4, 2009 at 5:52 pm
People will be offended. We can’t say no one should be offended. That’s the price you pay for living in a free society. Lots of things offend me, but I tolerate them because that’s the price you pay. Enough of this PC ek.
Yeah I know. Not that easy. And not everybody is like that. Two words: Danish cartoons. Christians in the west for example take in in stride when their religious icons are routinely defaced, but some people of faith havent reached that level of sophistication yet. Danish cartoons.
February 4, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Blackshama,
“Jesus alone saves is what Christianity is based on, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Coptic, or Protestant.”
The Roman Catholics don’t say “Jesus Alone Saves” anymore. They now say that there are other ways to get to heaven. The Roman Catholics have even abandoned the concept of Limbo. the place where the unbaptized go. It’s only fundamentalist christians who still hold on to this belief.
February 4, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Jeg,
Hahaha. You got me there.
And you made me realize that what I was complaining about are public displays of piety and religiosity. I find the behavior offensive.
I think religion is a personal thing between a man and his God just like masturbation is a personal thing between a man and his hand.
February 4, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Haha. Jesus will agree with you about the public display of piety and religiosity, mb. Although he may raise an eyebrow about the masturbation thing. :D
February 4, 2009 at 7:17 pm
ManuelBuencamino
Please read the CCC. The latest one vetted by then Cardinal Ratzinger!
DJB
Children everywhere have a natural inclination for the Divine. God sure knows how to use natural selection for adaptive fitness. :-) That’s why it is abusive to impose atheism on children. For some Ateneans it’s shouldn’t be a problem. :-)
February 4, 2009 at 7:19 pm
blackshama,
wats the CCC?
February 5, 2009 at 3:43 am
How many years of study does one need to start one’s own Evangelical Ministry in the Philippines? Where does one go to be certified as a qualified minister?
Is there “separation of church and state” so which translates into zero government oversight?
February 5, 2009 at 4:00 am
no, upn, government oversight consists of making sure that the “church” obeys the penal laws of the land, or else…
i think the church (or ministry) itself determines and certifies who is qualified to act as priest or minister (without state interference).
February 5, 2009 at 4:05 am
manuelB: Not all masturbation is a personal thing. Masturbation can become a secret-thing between the private-parts of an under-age (male or female) and a hand of an authority-figure (male or female) and a parent has to be protective of the religious lessons his/her children receive.
February 5, 2009 at 6:50 am
Whatever the reaction on the Jesus sign, the point is people are discussing about Jesus, quite a display of attention given that some consider him a non-entity.
Also, I do not believe it is the kind of attention and discussion that Jesus wants or needs.
Jesus is Jesus not because he is Jesus but mainly because of what he stands for.
Imitate him!
February 5, 2009 at 10:23 am
UPn,
Well, what you just described is exactly what happens when one allows another person to get in the middle of his personal relationship with his God.
.
February 5, 2009 at 11:12 am
Point of clarification:
I (Eyriche Cortez) am not E Cortez in this thread.
Some may get confused.
February 5, 2009 at 11:30 am
Freedom brings responsibility, of course.
Freedom of speech does not mean we can shout “Fire!” in a movie house.
Freedom of religion does not mean we ram our beliefs down people’s throats (by threatening them with war or beheading if they don’t convert to our religion, for example.) Sadly, many atrocities have been made in the name of religion. Admittedly, people who called themselves Christians did violent things in the name of God. But that does not in anyway represent God and that is not the Christianity that Jesus taught.
Now, freedom of religion guarantees access to all and free expression to everyone (within bounds of course.) We can argue loudly, generate heat more than light, but we still argue as long as we don’t wring each other necks. That’s freedom.
Believe me, even with religious education, that doesn’t mean children will not be exposed to atheism or other things that may contradict his religious upbringing. As a parent, I know we cannot totally and fully shield our children from outside influences. We can only hope that we have prepared them to make the wise choices. The key is not just to teach them WHAT to decide but HOW to decide. That may open up the risk that they would decide on something that is different from what we want them to decide. But that’s the risk as a parent I would take.
Keep in mind, build bridges, not walls. People may not cross the bridge (like those people ‘offended’ by the Jesus sign) but what’s important is we build it. The walls we build supposedly to keep people out may end up as our prison that would keep people in.
February 5, 2009 at 11:46 am
@manuelbuencamino on February 4th, 2009 7:19 pm
CCC catechism of the catholic church
February 7, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I think we should start a fund drive to bring the “There is probably no god, so go on and enjoy life” billboards that have sprung up in England to the philippines. It would be nice to have them next to the Jesus signs as an alternative.
It’s time secularists are given fair PR.
March 27, 2009 at 1:05 am
Jesus don’t save! Jesus cannot save! We’ve been waiting for Jesus for the past 480 years.
Filipinos deserves Jesus because we still believe in healers, fortune tellers, gremlins, voodos, momos,etc. And they claimed to be educated with degrees.
I wonder the quality of our education.
TIP FOR THE POST: - Do you know the media practitioners don’t know when Nicole left; what airline she was on; what visa she held; who petitioned her; when she started the processing of her papers; who helped her fill up the forms; who paid for the fees; why she fell thru the cracks of the prying eyes of the stalking media practitioners; her final destination