# Hail Maria, Full of . . . WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 21, 2005, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391 "2005-04-21T11:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/21 "2005-04-21T21:21:04Z")
Would there be any law against taking a bucket of hot soapy water and bleach and some steel wool and washing that thing off? There couldn’t be any law against cleaning shit off an underpass, could there? Of course, anyone who tried it would probably get murdered by all the pilgrims. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/22 "2005-04-21T21:24:23Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Would there be any law against taking a bucket of hot soapy water and bleach and some steel wool and washing that thing off? There couldn’t be any law against cleaning shit off an underpass, could there? > > Of course, anyone who tried it would probably get murdered by all the pilgrims. So you wait till the wee hours when no one is there, sneak in and scrub away. The sit back and watch the ensuing hilarity. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/23 "2005-04-21T21:44:50Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As an ordained member of the Glurgy, I must link to [a photo](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/cc4d&.dnm=ad39.jpg&.src=ph) that I just took out the window behind my computer. See the image of Jesus (or Mary, take your pick) in the birch bark? Huh? Do ya? See it bleeding? Huh? Not me. I see [H.E.L.P.eR.](http://metallic-frost.net/vb/media/gallery/helper/helper_10.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/24 "2005-04-21T21:52:06Z")
Well, it does kinda look like a veiled woman praying. Except that her arms are coming out of where her knees would be… Do people TRY to be this stupid? Are they just hoping to be picked for the next reality show or something? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/25 "2005-04-21T22:25:21Z")
Yes, a lot of people are that stupid. And they are permitted to vote. :smack: But then what is the difference between believing that a god created a visible sign, and beliving in a god? It’s all just a matter of degree as to what is a generally acceptable belief and what is not a generally acceptable belief, despite neither belief having any foundation. Ain’t religion wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/26 "2005-04-21T22:33:22Z")
There ya go, talkin’ like Yoda again. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/27 "2005-04-21T22:39:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > See the image of Jesus (or Mary, take your pick) in the birch bark? Totally looks like Strong Bad. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/28 "2005-04-21T22:49:54Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > So you wait till the wee hours when no one is there, sneak in and scrub away. > > The sit back and watch the ensuing hilarity. Didn’t John Laroquette try that once? And underneath was Willie Nelson? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/29 "2005-04-21T22:57:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As an ordained member of the Glurgy, I must link to [a photo](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/cc4d&.dnm=ad39.jpg&.src=ph) that I just took out the window behind my computer. See the image of Jesus (or Mary, take your pick) in the birch bark? Huh? Do ya? See it bleeding? Huh? I expect the flood of worshippers to begin arriving within hours. $10 admission. For another ten-spot, I’ll ordain you as a Glurgyman. Somone alert Charlton Heston! **Chefguy** has a damn dirty ape in his tree! ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/30 "2005-04-21T23:32:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As an ordained member of the Glurgy, I must link to [a photo](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/cc4d&.dnm=ad39.jpg&.src=ph) that I just took out the window behind my computer. See the image of Jesus (or Mary, take your pick) in the birch bark? Huh? Do ya? See it bleeding? Huh? I expect the flood of worshippers to begin arriving within hours. $10 admission. For another ten-spot, I’ll ordain you as a Glurgyman. I see a penguin vomiting while “touching” himself. Oddly enough, it’s not the first time I’ve seen that… ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/31 "2005-04-21T23:55:57Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I see a penguin vomiting while “touching” himself. > > Oddly enough, it’s not the first time I’ve seen that… So, you’ve seen John Tesh in concert too, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/32 "2005-04-22T00:19:50Z")
I wonder what she tastes like. In other news, I saw a bird poop splat on a windshield the other day. It looked like a cross. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/33 "2005-04-22T00:20:20Z")
It does look kind of cool. I can see two women in it, almost like a woman caught in motion. I think it’s worthwhile to find pictures in random things like that- sort of natural artwork. Like cave and rock formations. The way the people are worshipping it is foolish, but I’d feel kind of bad if I laughed at them for it, the same way I’d feel bad about laughing at disabled people. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/34 "2005-04-22T00:22:18Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Didn’t John Laroquette try that once? And underneath was Willie Nelson? I’d worship a graven image of Willie Nelson before I would one of the Virgin Mary. ---
**Author:** ![hawkeyejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@hawkeyejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawkeyejo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/35 "2005-04-22T01:22:50Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Peope are praying to a trickle of salts on a concrete underpass. To me, the image looks more like a Shiva lingam than the Blessed Virgin. . somebody call the Hindus, the Catholics are bogarting their shrine! > > It’s incidents such as this that make me feel just a bit smarter than the idiots kneeling and praying to a water stain that they have converted in their minds into a Sign From Above. Bonafide Hindu speaking - yes it does look like a lingam…pity its in Chicago - I’d have jumped into a plane right this moment if it’d been someplace nice like Spain…oh well, I’ll wait for the next one. We hindus are a patient lot (I’m told) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/36 "2005-04-22T02:10:35Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As an ordained member of the Glurgy, I must link to [a photo](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/cc4d&.dnm=ad39.jpg&.src=ph) that I just took out the window behind my computer. See the image of Jesus (or Mary, take your pick) in the birch bark? Huh? Do ya? See it bleeding? Huh? I expect the flood of worshippers to begin arriving within hours. $10 admission. For another ten-spot, I’ll ordain you as a Glurgyman. Dude-it’s Jesus-and He’s mooning us! ---
**Author:** ![Marsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Marsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marsie)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/37 "2005-04-22T03:01:56Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > From [Yahoo News](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050421/ts_afp/usreligionapparition_050421073752): > > Peope are praying to a trickle of salts on a concrete underpass. To me, the image looks more like a Shiva lingam than the Blessed Virgin. . somebody call the Hindus, the Catholics are bogarting their shrine! > > It’s incidents such as this that make me feel just a bit smarter than the idiots kneeling and praying to a water stain that they have converted in their minds into a Sign From Above. A few years ago a self-proclaimed “mystic” said that the Virgin Mary was appearing to her once a month or so at a church about 1/2 mile from our house. Thousands of people gathered each time. Some said they saw the sun twirl in the sky, others claimed to smell roses in the air. When they did work on the highway leading to the church and traffic started getting tied up the “mystic” said that the Virgin Mary was moving it to a farm further down the road. Wasn’t that thoughtful of her??? There is something pathetic about the mouth-breathing idiots that believe this shit. Do they really have so little going on in their lives that they have to indulge in “magical thinking” hoping some great and good spirit from up in the sky is going to miraculously come down and make everything okay for them if only they say one more decade of the Rosary? There’s an old saying: The Lord helps those who help themselves… Jesus H. K-rist, lover of my soul… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/38 "2005-04-22T03:39:38Z")
Well, if god-like images in common objects are not your thing, how about a [devil](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/1797&.dnm=8da1.jpg&.src=ph) in the woodwork? I took this one last fall of Satan himself in a cedar fence. The Glurgemaster. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/39 "2005-04-22T03:41:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, if god-like images in common objects are not your thing, how about a [devil](http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ejjaniak/detail?.dir=/1797&.dnm=8da1.jpg&.src=ph) in the woodwork? I took this one last fall of Satan himself in a cedar fence. > > The Glurgemaster. Wow. Lucifer needs some major dental work done. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391/40 "2005-04-22T03:48:52Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > So you wait till the wee hours when no one is there, sneak in and scrub away. > > The sit back and watch the ensuing hilarity. No chance. I went by the Fullerton underpass at 6:45 this morning and there was a giant satellite dish parked next to it, along with a crowd I would estimate at 300+, all straining their necks to get a glimpse of a stain on a concrete wall. Traffic is tied up in both directions on Fullerton all day and night. Police cars are permanently parked there for crowd control. There are enough candles placed in front of the stain to start the next Chicago Fire. People’s lives must be really pathetic to look to a stain on a wall for inspiration. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hail-maria-full-of-wtf/300391.md?page=3)