thingy: Mary Wouldn't Slum It Like This, Would She?

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Mary Wouldn't Slum It Like This, Would She?

Sigh. A swarm of people have been gathering to pray at a HIGHWAY UNDERPASS because moisture forced a crack in the cement, which formed a stain. I've talked about this sort of thing before, but it was funny then. It's a bit sad now. COME ON, people! Ask yourselves the right questions here! Try this one for starters: If Mary wanted to make an appearance, why wouldn't she do so in a manifestation befitting the glory you ascribe to her? Why an icky yellow stain under an expressway?

I'd start there. And I'm sure that someone, if not the entire throng in chorus, would answer with the universal Get Out of Jail Free card:

I respect other people's faith, but this is deep-end luncacy no matter how you slice it. I imagine there are many sane, faithful people out there who are wishing that folks like this would stay off their side, so to speak. Regardless of whether it's fair or not, we associate certain things like religion and the paranormal with their fringe element. Comedians don't make fun of normal people of faith. They make fun of these people. Faith is good for society. It can bind people that would otherwise be disinterested strangers. But this sort of thing adds distance between people. Are they even aware of their dilutive effect on their own beliefs?

That would be my next question. I suspect they'd hand me this:

I don't think I'd bother asking about their familiarity with circular arguments or Occam's razor. I wouldn't want to see the card for that one.

Bulls vs. Bears, Part 88,234,405

A week ago, the headline from Wall Street was Dow tanks nearly 200 points, Worst week since March '03. At today's close, the headline read Dow posts best one-day gain in two years. So, when I saw the following cartoon this evening, I laughed a lot harder than was perhaps justified.

posted @ 8:07 PM

7 Comments:

Andy B said...

Christ will not give miracles to proove his existence. If you need a miracle, then you do not believe in the first place.

Or some shit like that, I hear. Anyhoo, at the ecumenical service at Yankeee Stadium after 911, a high ranking official or the Lutheran-Missouri Synod Church spoke. In his speech, he made an unclear reference to God sending either "his son" or "a son" to us. There was a debate over what he really said and what he really meant. He was suspended by the church and forced to apologize to the church and to all religions.

The kicker here was this: he was not suspended for the statement, he was suspended for [i]just being there[/i] in the first place. Missouri Synods forbids mixing with other religions.

That's my church! I feel so proud.
(sarcasm off)

8:38 AM

Andy B said...

I'm also so jacked up on Starbucks right now I can't either type, spell or use proper HTML. Hooray for caffeine.

8:40 AM

nugatory said...

Andy, I don't get it. If I, a Catholic, came to your church to pray, and someone found out I was Catholic because I crossed myself or genuflected, would they have to stop the service until someone kicked me out?

With respect to the initial controversy: was it a problem that God sent a son at all, or was the problem that the minister didn't clarify that the son was his (as in, the son of a male God)?

4:18 PM

brandon said...