You and Your Damn Weeping Statues

[Nie Trink Wasser]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2775461.stm

Thousands of people in the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong are flocking to a Roman Catholic church where tears are reported to have been seen on a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The marble statue is kept in a glass case which scientists say could lead to condensation appearing on the Virgin Mary's face



Many of those visiting the church are Muslims, eager to see what some locals believe is a sign of the Virgin's dismay over the recent outbreak of violence in the country and elsewhere in the world.

Roman Catholic believers say it is the first time in Bangladesh that tears have been seen on a statue of the Virgin Mary

[Soubrette]

Just to link together two threads :)

http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14310

Sou

[Torlack]

Scientists have already said that one possible explanation for the tears is the fact that the marble statue is kept in a glass case, which could lead to condensation appearing on the Virgin Mary's face.

I vote for someone opening the case and using an eye dropper. Then again, I am just a stupid programmer.

[Frostbite]

The marble statue is kept in a glass case which scientists say could lead to condensation appearing on the Virgin Mary's face

Err... or how about someone opened the glass case and applied some red liquid substance in the virgin mary's face?

[Skeptical Greg]

Yur all a bunch of idiots!


If you don't think the God who created the universe can't make tears come out of a statue, then you were
obviously left out when the same God was passing out brains.

I'ts about time God gave Bangladesh the attention it deserves.

[fishbob]

The novel "Lucky You" by Carl Hiassen describes in detail one way to get tears out of a statue. His particular method includes a plastic bottle, an air pump, and a fair amount of profit (not prophet).

[Bruce]

It wouldn't be hard to make a crying statue. All you do is have cold water running through inside the head, then make sure the outside of the statue is in a warm, humid environment. Presto! Condensation. Then you declare the statue a holy icon so that scientist cannot investigate.

[zakur]

Just to clarify, the weeping statue pictured in the BBC article is not the Bangladeshi statue in question. It is an entirely different weeping statue from Italy.

I have found the BBC website very annoying in this regard. It seems like they feel they absolutely MUST have a photo accompanying every article. When they don't have one for a story, they either go find a similar picture (as in this weeping statue article) or they mock one up. For an example of a mocked up photo, check out this story: Indian testicle attack 'is murder' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2703355.stm). :eek:

[spoonhandler]

For an example of a mocked up photo, check out this story: Indian testicle attack 'is murder'.

When I first heard this story a short time ago, I had to check it out and the link I found was for the same BBC page as that on zakur's link. I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I saw that picture. What on earth was the purpose of such an image?

I found a list of stupid questions entering my head, including why were they wearing jeans and not clothing more commonly seen in India? Had they considered showing a picture of a walnut in a nutcracker instead or perhaps using a better headline including the words 'Cor Blimey' or 'Cop that!'.

Further down on the page is a strange little picture apparently depicting the Indian Supreme Court building, which also lends no value to the article.

The media love an image and they don't greatly care if the image is inaccurate, unrelated or plain stupid. Look how quick they were to show images of a space shuttle cargo bay interior and tell the world they showed cracks and dents in Columbia's wing. Ridiculous.

:)

[scotth]

Originally posted by Diogenes
Yur all a bunch of idiots!


If you don't think the God who created the universe can't make tears come out of a statue, then you were
obviously left out when the same God was passing out brains.

I'ts about time God gave Bangladesh the attention it deserves.

Well, I am guess I am just an idiot. I think it would be very useful to find out if this is in fact a manifestation of divinity or just a simple physical effect or outright hoax.

When there are many possible correct answers, the idiot is the one who refuses to make any effort to find out which is most likely, rather than simply assuming the correct answer is the one that is most comforting.

[scotth]

Don't you care to respond, Diogenes?

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by scotth
Don't you care to respond, Diogenes?
I'm pretty sure he was trying to be humorous and ironic, and jsut forgot to put in the smilies.
:D :D :D

[scotth]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin

I'm pretty sure he was trying to be humorous and ironic, and jsut forgot to put in the smilies.
:D :D :D

That would change things quite a bit, but that is certainly not the impression I got.

Perhaps Diogenes will clear it up for us.

If I misread the post, apologies in advance.

[Ladewig]

Why do the believers always describe them as tears of sadness? Why can't they be tears of joy? Or even just an allergy?

[neutrino_cannon]

Originally posted by Ladewig
Why do the believers always describe them as tears of sadness? Why can't they be tears of joy? Or even just an allergy?

Heres the miraculous hayfever staue...

[Iconoclast]

Originally posted by scotth
That would change things quite a bit, but that is certainly not the impression I got.

Perhaps Diogenes will clear it up for us.

If I misread the post, apologies in advance.
Perhaps Diogenes has now learnt that it can be dangerous to attempt sarcasm around USAns.

[rwald]

I knew it was sarcasm...

Of course, if you're being sarcastic, Iconoclast, I missed it entirely.

[scotth]

Originally posted by Iconoclast

Perhaps Diogenes has now learnt that it can be dangerous to attempt sarcasm around USAns.

After running across several other Diogenes posts, it is pretty clear that it was sarcasm.

Chalk it up to the perils of being new to this particular board. There appear to be plenty of people here and elsewhere (I have lots of experience with elsewhere) that would post something just like that in all seriousness.

[pupdog]

I think I know where the statue came from--I was in a quarry, and almost the ENTIRE WALL was weeping! I wonder how many statues were carved of rock from that quarry?

[Giz]

This statue sounds like a complete fabrication.

[Skeptical Greg]

Originally posted by scotth
Don't you care to respond, Diogenes?



Sorry I missed your inquiry.. I have not been active at JREF for a few days.

As a couple of other members discerned, I was being sarcastic. That is pretty much my mission here.:D


...When there are many possible correct answers..

While this may be true, I strongly suspect that one of them is not;

"The Virgin's dismay over the recent outbreak of violence in the country and elsewhere in the world. "

The last time I checked, statues were incapable of expressing emotion.