I am continually amazed at the furor over this salt stain under a Chicago overpass. There are a couple of reasons:

1. As I've heard a number of people note, the stain objectively looks as much like a gigantic vagina as it does the Virgin Mary,

but perhaps more importantly...

2. How do we even know that it actually looks like the Virgin Mary?

It kinda resembles some artists' interpretations of what she looked like, but let's face it -- the text of the bible was passed on orally for a few centuries before anyone even made an attempt to transcribe it, and artists' depictions of Jesus, Mary, and other people in the Bible were not, as far as I'm aware, contemporaneously created, either. In essence, this salt stain looks like people believe she might have looked. For all we know, she could look exactly like Oprah Winfrey, and her likeness has been making appearances every afternoon for the last few years...

This highlights another interesting thing, though -- artists' representations of Jesus, Mary, and other Biblical figures -- at least in this part of the world -- almost without exception depict them as lily white. Even a passing familiarity of geography, however, would suggest that they were likely olive-skinned, very dark-skinned, or (gasp!) maybe even black.

I guess the point is that people have attached heightened significance to imagery that may or may not have any actual resemblance with the actual figures they purport to represent. I'm not really a religious person myself, but if someone gets something special out of looking at something because, to borrow a quote from Pulp Fiction, "they feel the touch of God," then more power to them. To believe that something is the result of divine intervention because it looks like how someone many moons ago guessed that Mary might look, strikes me as a little silly.

With all that said, this salt stain has touched a lot of people very deeply, given their lives meaning, given them hope, etc. I can't really be too critical of that. If it makes your life better, go for it, as far as I'm concerned.

[edited to correct typo]

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

in case you haven't seen it:

[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050418/i/r505517448.jpg[/img]

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

Yep, that's a vagina.

and i'll add...i'm more moved by the vagina than the virgin mary.

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

Just for the sake of debate...i'll go along with this Mary business.

These religious folk need to do some logical thinking, (i know, religion, logic, in the same sentence? shocking.) Let's suppose Mary the Virgin really does decide to appear to humanity. Of all places she could choose, the Vatican maybe, another lofty pristine church, some nice park with flowers and playing children, an inner city school lowering her hands to help those in need...

NOPE...a fucking dirty chicago highway overpass. :?

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

[quote=Jenks]Yep, that's a vagina.

and i'll add...i'm more moved by the vagina than the virgin mary.[/quote]

LMFAO. :twisted:

but hey, if it gives people hope abuot anything, i say it cant be that bad, but if the words "vote republican" come to appear, im running to Japan. :D

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

[quote=toasty]in case you haven't seen it:

[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050418/i/r505517448.jpg[/img][/quote]

Not to knock anyone religious belief but it looks like a salt stain on a wall to me or a big vagina. I don't see virgin mary on there at all. But that is my opinion. Take it for what it is worth.

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

It looks like the angel of death or something.

"Ve-ry su-perstitious...wri-tings on the wallll..."

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

[quote=toasty]I am continually amazed at the furor over this salt stain under a Chicago overpass. There are a couple of reasons:

1. As I've heard a number of people note, the stain objectively looks as much like a gigantic vagina as it does the Virgin Mary,

but perhaps more importantly...

2. How do we even know that it actually looks like the Virgin Mary?

It kinda resembles some artists' interpretations of what she looked like, but let's face it -- the text of the bible was passed on orally for a few centuries before anyone even made an attempt to transcribe it, and artists' depictions of Jesus, Mary, and other people in the Bible were not, as far as I'm aware, contemporaneously created, either. In essence, this salt stain looks like people believe she might have looked. For all we know, she could look exactly like Oprah Winfrey, and her likeness has been making appearances every afternoon for the last few years...

This highlights another interesting thing, though -- artists' representations of Jesus, Mary, and other Biblical figures -- at least in this part of the world -- almost without exception depict them as lily white. Even a passing familiarity of geography, however, would suggest that they were likely olive-skinned, very dark-skinned, or (gasp!) maybe even black.

I guess the point is that people have attached heightened significance to imagery that may or may not have any actual resemblance with the actual figures they purport to represent. I'm not really a religious person myself, but if someone gets something special out of looking at something because, to borrow a quote from Pulp Fiction, "they feel the touch of God," then more power to them. To believe that something is the result of divine intervention because it looks like how someone many moons ago guessed that Mary might look, strikes me as a little silly.

With all that said, this salt stain has touched a lot of people very deeply, given their lives meaning, given them hope, etc. I can't really be too critical of that. If it makes your life better, go for it, as far as I'm concerned.

[edited to correct typo][/quote]

I actually don't think it's okay. Public awareness and belief in this sort of nonsense just continues the superstitious and dillusional mindset of religious fundamentalists. Then they start to think they're right, and then they start changing the laws. No, it's not okay.

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

I have the horn after looking at that pic.

either

I am God and it's time for the 2nd coming.

or

It really is a picture of a giant vagina.

Serious though. If people feel the need to belive in stains on walls, or jesus in a tomato then IMO they have a major void in there lives. The need to believe in something however ridicelous is beyond me.

I suggest declaring all the USA a christian fundementist country, then an immediate UN invastion to liberate the moslems from the chrisitan wrath.

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

[quote=Morgan] It really is a picture of a giant vagina. [/quote]

Maybe it's god's oh-so-subtle way of telling humans to have more sex? :HumpMe:

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

[quote=krelm] Maybe it's god's oh-so-subtle way of telling humans to have more sex? :HumpMe:[/quote]

Now [b]that's[/b] my kind of god.

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

I wanna get baptized by that church oh yea....go into a hot whirlpool with a sexy ass nun (and of course those nuns are by default naked except for that necklace with a silver co?tus depicting pendulum on it) and get...[i]fuking[/i] baptized! :Anal: :DoMe:

Re: Virgin Mary Salt Stain

To be fair, it does like an icon of a person with a robe and hood praying. I do see a vagina too, so I don't know if I'll be travelling to view it.