Steubenville, Ohio

This blogger does not know his scripture, but he’s pretty sure that somewhere in Revelations there must be a passage like “If thou believeth in me, maketh sure everyone in the county is awareth of it.” (I’m paraphrasing, of course.)

Whether or not that’s true, there sure are a lot of Christians that want you to know it. You can see it just by looking over their front doors. Big white crosses hanging under the eaves, lashed to the split rail fence, or in one case, the name JESUS in thick garland where a leaded glass pane must have been.

Hill District

While we at The Orbit subscribe to a “live and let live” approach to life (and letting life), it’s sad that it’s so hard to imagine similar displays of the crescent moon or stars of David being as benignly accepted. Why, Regent Square has its bizarre tribute to Bacchus on that apartment building right across from the movie theater [note to self: get on that!], but I don’t know if they’d get away with a similarly prominent Buddha. [Realistically, Buddha probably gets a pass, but you know what I mean.]

Rochester, PA

We love human creation. Sometimes that most obviously comes in a physical statement of faith, or hand painting a Steelers party wagon (although those are increasingly hard to find). A power so great that it compels someone to create who may not otherwise have done so is an amazing thing, whether you believe in it or not. This non-flag-waving heathen has a hard time relating to the specific motivation here, but not to the greater one of exploration, expression, and release. Maybe that’s what these folks would tell me the whole thing is about, anyway.

Central North Side