Okay, let me start this off by saying that I am an atheist, a skeptic, and I follow Churchill’s dictum that “it is much more likely that human testimony should err, than that the laws of nature should be violated.”
So, that said, let me ask this question. What can the rational explanation for bleeding/excreting statues and religious icons throughout the world?
First of all, it would tend to violate the laws of physics if a statue suddenly started excreting fluid of some nature, blood, tears, etc. and yet this has been documented in numerous cases and even videotaped (that’s right videotaped! Take that UFO believers, these people have actual footage).
What are the possible explanations then?
A Hoax: Perhaps church officials, looking to boost revenue decided to rig up some system of pipes through old statues in order to doop the public and get themselves some extra attention and cash.
Strange Construction: Maybe the statue builders built pockets of fluid into their statues knowing that they would eventually deteriorate and bam, you have yourself a miracle.
The Power of God: perhaps God decided that his old tricks like parting seas and raising the dead were old hat and that the best way to prove his omnipotence was to make statues bleed. This is also suspect because the this statue bleeding thing has been reported by Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Shintoists.
So, here’s my trouble, none of these seem like particularly good explanations for something that has been reported for centuries, has been documented many times, and has occured throughout the world. Strange that it’s always religious icons, no one has ever seen a park bench or an F1117A Stealth Fighter start bleeding.
It seems to my skeptical mind that a hoax is the most likely explanation, but it would involve priests breaking apart centuries old statues and icons in order to rig up pipes, reservoirs and pumps through them. If this were the case, surely someone would have noticed a suspicious looking spigot.
Any time anyone’s tried to prove a perpetual motion machine (no less a violation of physics than bleeding statues), they’ve been proven as frauds rather quickly.
So, these days, crop circles, dragons, cattle mutilations and Atlantis have all been proven fakes, so perhaps it’s about time this statue thing got proven fake.
Any ideas out there?
Howabout “condensation + iron oxide = ‘blood’”?
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Water vapor condenses all over cool stone statue.
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Runs down statue, dissolving minerals, inc. iron oxide.
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If hands are pointing downward, fluid drips off of them.
If the statue’s hands are pointing upward or above its head (which I don’t think happens that often), then I got nuthin.’
Possibly, but paintings and wax statues do the same thing. Plus, it doesn’t explain how statues drink. For instance a few years ago when statues of Ghanesh (sp?) drank milk all over India.
Here’s a discussion on weeping statues and the particular case of Audrey Santos, with a commentary by James Randi. Randi has produced such statues on several occasions using standard sleight-of-hand trickery. There is no good evidence that anything else has ever occurred – videotapes are typically taken AFTER the event begins, and recordings by true believers are likely to be piously faked.
In examining claims like this, it is good to use Occam’s Razor.
I would like to refer you to this comprehensive book, Looking for a Miracle, by Joe Nickell. It’s available in many libraries.
Roryaxis, the milk-drinking statues in India are similar to the rabbit from a hat magic trick, taught in Magic 101. Do you really think what your eyes tell you is what is happening?
Ianzin, maybe a little professional help here? 
The Master speaks. (Stigmata only)
One hoaxer that was caught (Rivas)
The Skepdic’s entry on Pious Fraud.
A special case may be The blood of St. Januarius, which is said to liquefy and coagulate at different, religiously-significant times. This appears to be a chemical reaction (thixotropy), and has been reproduced in the lab by non-religious means.
Has the Catholic Church ever officially recognized one of these bleeding statues as a miracle?
I don’t know about bleeding statutes, but the church has verified the 66th “miracle” at Lourdes.
I doubt if the Church’s critereon for declaring a Lourdes miracle approaches common scientific standards. But if you consider the millions of people who go to Lourdes every year hoping to be cured, it is surprising that only 66 prayers have been answered. If I was one of the supplicants, I’d say that is piss-poor odds, and not worth the plane ticket. God sure is selective in his mercy.
My own take on the Church’s position on things like weeping statutes is they are slightly embarassed and wish these claims would go away, but they will take the attention, adoration, and donations anyway.
Thousands of people claim to have been healed by the waters at Lourdes. So more than just 66 people think their prayers have been answered. However, the RCC only recognizes 66 cures as official miracles.
And lots of people have gotten new tyres there.
Canes, crutches, wheel chairs.
No artificial arms/legs.
No glass eyes.
No real miracles.
SciFi channel aired an episode of “In Search Of…” back in October of 2002 that showed people actually going through Stigmata.
Isn’t that the same channel that gives us John Edward?
There’s this link on coments by Randi on the whole milk-drinking idol thing. Don’t forget to hit the follow-up links.
–Patch