Religious people would get more of my respect if they denounced the images

..of Mary appearing on toast, cheese sandwiches, and overpass stains.

For Pete's sake (literally!) at least in the good old days these things had to do something "extra" like cry or bleed!

So, seeing the throngs of people lining up to touch the stain, and *NOT* seeing / hearing anyone from any church standing up and saying HOW STUPID this stuff is, how are we to think they're NOT IDIOTS?

ONE LAST POINT: in the absence of critical discourse about these things, a secular person such as myself is forced to ask, "Was it with this kind of 'critical' thinking that the ORIGINAL 'miracles' were judged? Was Jesus 'rising from the dead' really something as 'miraculous' as the stain?"

Think about that one. By not criticizing these "phenomena", religious leaders are demeaning their whole religion.

see a strong leader. Then there's the pope. People look at reality TV and see entertainment. They look at the repubs and see saviors. At least they're using their imagination.

It forces you into its grasp and then you will do anything to get a fix.
You start to look for a fix anywhere you can get one and with religion that involves believing anything that someone says is a holy act.
This is the Kool-Aid that the sheep have been drinking that forces them to believe that the republican party is the party of faith.
They no longer can tell truth from fiction, real signs from false. Once they will believe in stains and cheese sandwiches, they can be led down any path
It must be said though not all religious people are under the spell and truly do believe in the God Almighty.

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(or anyones) ummmm whatsit looks like - but I didn't mention it because I didn't want to break the no sex threads rule.

insane theing I've heard this week.

Honestly, I'd respect religious people more if they'd just take positive stands on civil rights issues.

I don't care if they see St Patrick on a Pringle.

do not believe in images at all, as the image of a person can distract the worshipper from communion with God. I'm sure people of these faiths would denounce these sightings.

As my concept of God is that God is Everything, I see God's image everywhere.

I feel that this "Mary" phenonmenae is showing that many many people are fearful and uncertain at this time, and are clinging to anything they can come up with to keep from being shut down by that fear.

Just as people learn at different stages, so people experience their faith at different stages. I certainly wouldn't call an elementary student "stupid."

Neither am I going to denounce someone for seeing an image of Mary, because that experience means something to them. Instead, I'm going to help nurture their faith, and ask them "how do you want to respond to what you've seen?"

A true religious experience moves from "observation" to "participation."

Does that count? Of course, I believe anything that'll fit in a bowl is really "cereal."

it said oooooooooooooooo, maybe my cheerios are haunted

than a Pap smear.

These things have been going on for centuries and centuries, it's only because of mass information that we even hear about them.

The Church simply does not see fit to dignify them with a response; if you ask the Church authorities - they would give a strongly downbeat message about them.

.... Could Beeeee...