Ok, I can’t hold it in any longer. This “Weeping Mary” thing is just too much. Not sure where to begin. I think I’ll just make a few observations and be done with it.
- Why is it so hard to find out if she is really weeping blood or not? Did I miss something? Crack that thing open, look for a red food dye pump and call it a day. And we all know there are folks camping out 24 hours a day so no one is climbing up it and placing the tears…oh, and call in the CSI and send those tears to the lab!
- “Even if it turns out the tears are not real, people at the church said the effect is the same — more people are praying to God and rekindling their faith.” — Hmm, can’t you hear the “who really got hurt? people got back in touch with their religion because of this, it’s a victimless crime” speech in a few days when the truth is revealed?
- Isn’t the timing of this “story” a little suspect, too? And how soon until this grows to the point of “Red November” status?
Ok, there, I feel better now.
The Sac Rag 
yeah, crack that religious icon open! worked for these guys…
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005%5C11%5C27%5Cstory_27-11-2005_pg3_3
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Thank GOD she’s not menstrating. THAT would be a headline.
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I WAS really wondering how come someone can’t test the tears to confirm what they’re made of… that has always seemed weird to me with these stories. Isn’t blood sort of easy to identify? They never seem to answer this question in the news, not that I would expect local newscasters to ask the natural follow-ups. But it does kind of irk me. Any theories?
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“If the statue has 0-neg, you must renege (your skepticism).”
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Meg, I think local news tends to agree with what DMZ is getting at with his Pakistan Times link. That it’s not really any one’s place to merge science with religion, especially without the consent of the religious institution first. And since said religious institution is enjoying the increase in business (so to speak) that isn’t gonna happen any time soon.
That, and local news is full of hacks. Journalistic dentists, if you will.
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the taliban totally tried that one, actually: “Oh, we destroyed their religious icons for… uh science! yeah, science…”
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Well, I was speaking more about the testing of the blood in a lab than the cracking open of a religious icon. But who doesn’t love a Taliban reference? Over and over.
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Retinal arterial macroaneurysms are associated with hypertension and diabetes. I always thought that VM took better care of herself than that. You’d think that the Big Guy would have picked a girl that exercised and watched her diet to hook up with, since he could have picked anyone. I guess the Big Guy likes BBW’s…
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I would say having the savior of mankind for a son could be totally stressful, so my guess is hypertension. That, or, bitter weeping for the sins of the world. 50-50 chance. Medicine is an art more than a science.
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Just a little update to the story:
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=WEEPING-MARY-11-29-05
The Diocese is in no hurry to investigate this phenomenon, and they clearly recognize that there’s a benefit. However, there does seem to be a conflict of interest there.
This could very well be a miracle. But, I think it’s fair to say that hoaxes seem to happen a little more often than miracles do. And, looking at the facts surrounding this situation, I find it rather interesting that people are more willing to, or need to, believe that this is a miracle so they can justify their faith.
It’s an interesting look at the human condition.
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i don’t think a miracle “justifies” faith… the whole point of faith is that it doesn’t require scientific confirmation. the whole point of a miracle is that it defies scientific confirmation.
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