The 170-foot Shepherd

If you live Swiebodzin, Poland, in the shadow of a 170-foot concrete Jesus, you're just praying that Jesus doesn't topple over and crush you while you're shopping for groceries at the Tesco supermarket.

Ask people to conjure up a picture of Jesus and they'll likely give you a lot of common descriptions -- you know, like gentle Jesus, meek and mild; friend of children; carrier of cuddly lambs; shepherd of a flock traversing green hills under a blue sky; a smiling, good-looking, muscular savior who looks like he should be in GQ. Sure, some will focus on Jesus the macho man turning over the tables in the temple, railing against the Pharisees, or hanging bloody on a cross. Depending on your theological persuasion, there are many ways you can imagine the Son of God.

But we're guessing most people would never picture Jesus as, say, a hulking giant who looks like he could stomp out a small town like a divine God-zilla. Most people, that is, who don't live in Swiebodzin, Poland, where the presence of a 170-foot concrete Jesus causes citizens to pray that he doesn't topple over and crush them while they're shopping for groceries at the Tesco Supermarket.

For the last 10 years, volunteers from...