All Hail Vulcan, God of the Forge
Listen, I know there is a large Greek population in Birmingham, and even a couple Italians, but this guy is crazy. I mean, “Lawsuit calls Vulcan religious endorsement ” is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. At first I thought he was trying to get rich via lawsuit, but he’s only sueing for $1 per government organization! Double crazy!!
A short background (for those of you not familiar with Birmingham): Birmingham, Alabama (site) made a name for itself back in the day the steel industry - was even dubbed the “Steel City.” A statue of Vulcan, god of the forge, was cast for the 1904 World Fair, and was later brought to Birmingham and placed atop Red Mountain, where he could be seen from almost anywhere in the city (even those who lived behind him…you see, Vulcan only wore an apron, so he constantly mooned certain communities!). Anyway, he got old and needed to be refirbished, so the city took him down a few years ago, and has been trying to get him fixed up and back in place. More details here , here and here.
So anyway, citizen groups and government folks are trying to put him back up on his perch above the city in his original form (sometime during his stay, his torch was replaced with an actual light - it burned blue, unless there had been an auto-related fatality in town that day, in which case it burned red for 24 hours). I think its great that he’s coming back. He was quirky and fun, and one of the largest outdoor sculptures in the States, something unique and interesting about Birmingham. Pretty cool.
Religious? Hardly. Try civic pride and history.
