# Medieval superstions alive, well **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522 "2003-12-07T06:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/41 "2003-12-08T07:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by milroyj_ > Two words. > > Hate speech. The quit whining about it and report the post to a mod, you fucking hemorrhoid. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/42 "2003-12-08T08:03:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satisfying Andy Licious \* > \*\*Sadly, the mimes have no voice here. \*\* I found my new sig line!!! ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/43 "2003-12-08T17:43:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CarnalK \* > \*\*Isn’t a church from the Iron age celebrating medievil traditions rather progressive? \*\* _That’s_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/44 "2003-12-08T18:07:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*Being a Clown isn’t a choice or a lifestyle. It just is. \*\* But didn’t Jesus say, “Somebody get this damn clown away from me?” ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/45 "2003-12-08T18:07:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milroyj \* > \*\*Two words. > > Hate speech. \*\* So now poking fun and criticising is “hate speech”. I guess that was inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/46 "2003-12-09T00:03:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by torie \* > \*\*I found my new sig line!!! \*\* 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/47 "2003-12-09T14:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satisfying Andy Licious \* > \*\*Mime bashing is fun! \*\* A mime is a terrible thing to waste! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/48 "2003-12-09T15:20:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Teehee!!! Did you make that up? > > I’m never going to be able to sit through Mass (I do go on special occassions, because I like the music and such), without hearing this! \*\* [The Vatican Rag](http://www.atheistalliance.org/aaw/vaticanrag.html) – Tom Lehrer, 1965 [Some more Lehrer lyrics](http://wiw.org/~drz/tom.lehrer/), but it’s worth it to buy the CDs and such. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/49 "2003-12-09T16:09:06Z")
An interesting tidbit from Ronald Finucane’s _Miracles & Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England_ about the veneration of saints from centuries gone by … Church Foo of Glory has a relic of Saint Mr-Perfect-Best-On-Earth. Pilgrims come from across Europe to pray and donate, and Foo of Glory enjoys the benefits and is able to feed the naked and clothe the hungry. Church Most Holy Bar wants that relic and the benefits that it carries, and sneaks off in the middle of the night to steal it. If they succeed, it is because Saint Mr-Perfect-Best-On-Earth has blessed their attempt. If they fail, it is because Saint MPBOE wishes to stay with Foo of Glory. I wonder if they’d have better success if they offered a competitive compensation package for the saint. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522/50 "2003-12-09T16:51:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*When I see stories like this, I always wonder what makes people think that any image of a woman must be Mary. I mean, why can’t it be Isis or Athena or something? \*\* Weeeeeelllll, not Athena but Artemis but there seems to be some commonality running there. Goes back a ways beyond that, too, making this more like “Paleolithic superstions alive, well.” The Goddess seems to have many names.\*\* > [@](#): > > It’s not like anyone knows what Mary looked like, so why the automatic assumption?\*\* Apparently she looks like [this.](http://www.sancta.org/cgi/display.nor?image=imagen_pic_300w.jpg)The art historians among us may say that she looks like she was painted in the 16th century by someone trained in the Spanish style. The grumpy ol’ MesoAmerican scholars may say that Juan Diego might not have existed and that Our Lady of Guadalupe was just Tonantzin repackaged by the conquerors to make the conversion of the masses easier. The UFO believers may say that sightings of small, dark, weeping women are commonly associated with UFO sightings, so much so that the shorthand BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) has entered the UFO list of abbreviations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medieval-superstions-alive-well/217522.md?page=2)