I thought being allowed to have graven images is what makes a Catholic a Catholic. It's fun to have idols!! :)

Do I need to post the link to the Reverend Geno vs. the Virgin Mary again?

Hello wolf, and thanks,

So CAN I worship my American Idol or not???

I guess it doesn't matter cause I can always repent at the last minute and still get in. I love that get out of jail free card!

And I still can't figure out why it's ok to vandalize a message to grandpa, but not to the world?

Must be a dead vs alive thing. Us catholics have always had more respect for dead people.

There's a lot of Irish and Polish Catholics in Chicago. That may explain a lot of the ire toward the Godless defacer.

One polish catholic (long since converted to my own spirituality) right here !

You are too right, irish, polish, and latino population massive here. Second largest community of polish outside poland is in Chicago - my home town!

And wow, didn't she have a pretty little life? Daughter of an incestuous Pagan cheiftan who beheaded her after she ran away, because she didn't want to replace her own mother and secure the riches of the kingdom? And she turned to Christianity why? I guess Polytheism had left a bad taste in her mouth................

So if I see a tree that looks like a tree, is that a graven image for our kind?

For the most part, we put the graven in the graven image. Can't swing a cat by the tail in most pagan households without knocking over a dozen assorted goddess statues and annoying the cat.

I'm not truly a "pagan" (yet? - still learning/investigating/considering), but definitely a poly, so I have my fair share of idols (Norse, Celtic, etc.), and a couple of cats for swinging. But none made from salt stains or grilled cheese. Mine were created intentionally, blatantly; not miraculously discovered under a stinky underpass.

Wouldn't it be hysterical if the roadsalt Mary actually *was* a divine miracle? Boy, wouldn't that fanatic that painted it over feel dumb...

God: "So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Fanatic: "I...um...well...You see...Youdamnit, it says right there in the Bible that..."

God: "Don't tell me what it says in the Bible! Don't you think *I* know what it says?! You morons fucked it completely up! What it says is bullshit! Don't you people know allegory and metaphor when you read it?"

I don't know about your god, but mine wouldn't waste its time creating a stain for people to question whether it was a miracle - my gods would slap yo in the face with lightning bolt, or something equally obvious. Maybe my kind are a bit thicker headed and need a stronger "sign" than a questionable stain under a freeway, or a possible profile on a potato chip.

I dunno. These little indications of diety in everyday things may be a way of impressing upon us that everything has it's part in the dance of the sacred which we call "life."

You're right - I guess I just see them in things other than salt stains. (Flowers and sunsets come to mind.)

I'm a big fan of waking up in the morning, seeing stars at night, and a good chicken salad club sandwich ...

And thus is demonstrated the intrinsic, constantly capitalized upon and excuse-ridden, need of humans to see patterns or reasons where there are no indications of either. :stickpoke

OH man this is crazier than ever,

From todays tribune -

some ladies cleaned off the paint over the salt, in the process obviously removing some of the salt.

SO is it now a TRULY graven image - since man has altered it?

And the trib goes on to say that the reason the man [that defaced the salt stain] was arrested and the other weren't was because people saw him.

Well I've got a pic of some Jessica Navarrete writing ont the wall.

Whatever!