Why are they even printing such nonsense?

[alfaniner]

Can St. Joseph help you sell your home? (http://kstp.com/article/stories/S9435.html?cat=1)

This is the kind of thing that really irks me. Now they will be creating a run on these statues.

[Ashles]

Amazing. You are probably right, even though the story ends with:
Since putting her house on the market, Cindy has moved St. Joseph four times, using a different set of directions each time.

No sale yet, but Cindy still has faith ... and maybe that's the point.

"I believe when we've found our home, this one will sell," Cindy said.
So it CLEARLY DOESN'T WORK! But that obviously isn't evidence enough for the likes of Cindy.

Geez, how do people like Cindy ever acquire enough money to actually purchase a house in the first place?

[alfaniner]

Here's a copy of the email I sent. First one I've ever sent to a news organization about hokum.

"Can St. Joseph help you sell your home?
Answer: NO.

Why are you even printing such nonsense? Does someone have a vested interest in selling these statues? Just by reporting this as news many gullible people are going to find truth in the possibility that buying a piece of plastic and placing it in a certain place will somehow provide "magic" that will help their home sell faster.

I expect a news organization not to promote such bunk."

[Bronze Dog]

Why are you even printing such nonsense?
Because it'll sell papers. Journalism? What's that?

[Psi Baba]

Can the St. Joseph statue help your house sell faster? The question then becomes, faster than what? What are you going to compare it to? How many times are you going to sell your house? That is, the same house. How would you test this? First, sell your house without the statue. Note how long it takes. Then buy your house back. Then sell it again, this time with the statue and see if it sells more quickly than the other time. Of course you would have to repeat each type of trial (with and without statue) on the very same house at least four or five times to get a good sample. And of course you have to take into account differences in the housing market, the current interest rates and other such variables each time you sell it. Yow!

What likely happens is that someone has their house on the market for, say, 6 months, then they add the statue into the equation and the house sells two weeks later. To those who would believe in such nonsense, the statue made the house sell in two weeks. But no, in reality, it took a total of 6 months and two weeks to sell. Your freakin' house will sell eventually! But of course, it must be because of the statue, huh.

[Bikewer]

We have a "Catholic Supply" store here, and they apparently do a steady buisness in St. Joseph statuettes....

[Ossai]

alfaniner

Can St. Joseph help you sell your home?

This is the kind of thing that really irks me. Now they will be creating a run on these statues. Too late http://www.stjosephstatue.com/ google St. Joseph Home Selling and you’ll get literally thousands of sites like the one listed.

From speaking to some Catholic friends of mine, it’s apparently a normal thing.

Ossai

[Soapy Sam]

...for a certain meaning of "normal"...

[Jeff Corey]

I must confess that I participated in such a farce. My friends were selling their house and moving to their condo on Marathon Key. It went unsold for 3 months and one day she asks me if I heard of burying a statue of St. Joseph to sell your house. I said that it was BS and thought she wasn't superstitious. She said she didn't go to church, but wanted to give it a try.
So I happened to be downtown and saw a religious fetish store and bought a 5" plaster St. Joseph and brought it to her at work.
I saw her a week later and was told that 3 minutes after she buried Joe, she got a call from the realtor representing the people who ultimately went to contract on the house.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

And my dog Molly thinks that if she barks long enough, the thunder will stop.

[Ashles]

Okay - all of these things must start somewhere so I am officially starting one right now.

It must be a reasonably personal or family thing (so not like "My team will win if...").
It must be a relatively important thing.
And above all it must be a thing that is in reality fairly random.
Also if it is a thing the success of which can be viewed very subjectively then all the better.

Okay this is what I have decided on.

What if your son wants to become an actor, or your daughter an actress?

The patron Saint of actresses is according to this site (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintp54.htm) Pelegia.

But that's too obvious and has an already claimed connection.

She lived as a 'hermit'.

'Hermit' sounds a bit like 'Hermes' who was the herald of the Greek gods, and son of Zeus (some information on Hermes) (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hermes.html) )

"Hermes also saved Odysseus and his men from being transformed into pigs by the goddess and sorceress Circe. He gave them a herb which resisted the spell. Hermes also guided Eurydice back down to the underworld after she had been allowed to stay for one day on earth with her husband Orpheus. "

"When Orpheus' wife, Eurydice, was killed by the bite of a serpent, he went down to the underworld to bring her back. His songs were so beautiful that Hades finally agreed to allow Eurydice to return to the world of the living. However, Orpheus had to meet one condition: he must not look back as he was conducting her to the surface."

Looking back is like looking in a mirror.

So I have decided that burying a mirror in a plant pot and placing it in the garden will allow your son or daughter to fulfil their dreams of being an actress.

I don't ask that you convince your friends or relatives of this. Merely that if you get one of those "Do X to achieve Y" e-mails that we all get, and if you feel the urge to forward it on why not add the following sentences:



If you have a child you want to become an actor or actress, burying a mirror in a plant pot in the back garden was considered good luck in Greek times. The legend originates with Orpheus - the greatest performer of all time.

[TjW]

Originally posted by Ashles
Okay - all of these things must start somewhere so I am officially starting one right now.
(snip)
So I have decided that burying a mirror in a plant pot and placing it in the garden will allow your son or daughter to fulfil their dreams of being an actress.

I don't ask that you convince your friends or relatives of this. Merely that if you get one of those "Do X to achieve Y" e-mails that we all get, and if you feel the urge to forward it on why not add the following sentences:

If you have a child you want to become an actor or actress, burying a mirror in a plant pot in the back garden was considered good luck in Greek times. The legend originates with Orpheus - the greatest performer of all time.

And Orpheus sounds a lot like orphan, so if you want your kid's parents to die, just...