I looked at the picture and although I can usually pick out the icon after a while I got nothing. Except I see a penis resting in the crook where the branch meets the trunk. Other than that though…

I don’t pray to any christian god, as my IQ is in the triple-digits.

On a funny note, five years ago my art teacher showed us a paintbrush with a splotch of paint that, viewed from several feet away, closely resembled Saddam Hussein. Of course, Saddam Hussein actually exists, and we all know what he looks like. Can’t say the same for Jeebus.

For the reality-challenged (probably no one here):  Statues made of porous materials (concrete, plaster, etc) can be quite easily made to “weep blood”.  All one needs to do is chip off a piece, or drill a hole, soak it in red ink, and glue it back together.  Voilà!  Instant miracle!

Woke up to these headlines this morning.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Carrying rosary beads and cameras, the faithful have been coming in a steady stream to a church on the outskirts of Sacramento for a glimpse of what some are calling a miracle: A statue of the Virgin Mary they say has begun crying a substance that looks like blood.

It was first noticed more than a week ago, when a priest at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyrs Church spotted a stain on the statue’s face and wiped it away. Before Mass on Nov. 20, people again noticed a reddish substance near the eyes of the white concrete statue outside the small church, said Ky Truong, 56, a parishioner.

Since then, Truong said he has been at the church day and night, so emotional he can’t even work. He believes the tears are a sign.

“There’s a big event in the future – earthquake, flood, a disease,” Truong said. “We’re very sad.”

There’s more but you get the picture (or not) since I wouldn’t know how to insert a picture here if my life depended on it.

I was particularly impressed with Truong’s prediction of future events of earthquake, flood, a disease.  What are the freakin’ odds?! 

Link if you’re interested:  http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=940&eeid=4766794&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=0&ck=&ch=ne&s=na

Why would an atheist pray for forgiveness from a deity he doesn’t believe exists? As for you, I hope you continue to pray as well. Anything that helps keep you off the streets is a good thing.

I have nothing against you folks, but I am a straight Catholic. I know that I have done a ton of sins, yet I still pray for forgiveness. I just hope you do the same. Or if you can’t go on with your ways, but live a peaceful and happy life.

zilch writes: Now now Mr. Tochs- the poor tree can’t help how it looks.  You don’t want to behave as pissily as Jesus did, do you now?

Can’t help it, zilch . . . I’ve got 32 years of stultifyingly stupid Christian indoctrination to purge, and I’ve only been venting for 13 years!

(grits teeth) Sometimes it just SURGES outta me, ya know?

Jesus not giving a fig (groan!) about a tree is a good story . . . but I like the story about God’s Golden Hemorrhoids the best!  (1 Samuel 5:6-12, etc etc)

The only thing I fear is what I might do to that tree in front of all those fawning Jesus freaks . . . perhaps I’d hack that tree down with an axe and chop it up into little 18

I pity the fool!

Spocko, I’m not seeing Bluto, I’m seeing Mr T!