What amuses me as much as those xians gazing at wall secretions is how long this thread has gone without being locked. After all, I posted it to discuss the hows and the whys behind its fascination. Sure it looks like a Vagina but I’d like to hear about the idiocy of herd mentality. How can anyone look at it and take it so seriously?
My first thoughts; the need to believe in something no matter how absurd.

Quote:

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How can anyone look at it and take it so seriously?

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Because they are stupid.

Stupidity yes, I agree. I also think that in this day and age, with the world being the way it is. Nature disasters and high crime. People trying to scarifice their children to Jesus (did you hear about that?? I saw it on Fox News a few months back).

People are so desperate, hopeless, and in need of something to believe in, that even a salt water stain under a bridge is a miracle.

To me that is pathetic. AND, is I were an Xian, and if I spent all my time worshipping a God, and all he gave me was a dirty salt image under a bridge, I'd be offended and pissed off. "This is what my service means to you?" " A salt stain that looks like a giant pussy?" " Thanks Jesus!"

The very fact that they believe in gods is the absurdity.

Let's just agree to say, "It all goes downhill from there."

Stupid is as stupid DOES.

Oh yes...a sign from "god" indeed that a large percent of the population consists of religious fanatics.
One thing we'll never run out of in this world is stupid people.

>>I posted it to discuss the hows and the whys behind its
>>fascination. Sure it looks like a Vagina but I’d like to
>>hear about the idiocy of herd mentality.
>>How can anyone look at it and take it so seriously?

I know I've already posted this quote from the movie p a number of times on this messageboard. But hey, I still think it brilliantly sums up so many social phenomena:

"When your mind becomes obsessed with anything, you filter everything else out, and see that thing everywhere you look."

Now in this particular case, there are probably several reasons why people are looking at this wall discoloration saying "It's the Virgin Mary" and not something else. It's a combination of herd mentality and the hard-wired human abilities of pattern recognition and turning distorted images into familiar ones.

First of all, most of the people coming to see this are doing so because they were specifically told "Hey, there's a Virging Mary sighting over here!" So their minds already "know" what to look for. Second of all, everybody has heard the countless stories of Virgin Mary sightings over the years. So again, the mind is prepared for "another" one.

Though at any of these sightings, there are always a few people in the crowd who simply don't see the Virgin Mary. They're told that this is due to their lack of faith. But of course, those that aren't obsessed with the image won't be seeing it everywhere!

I wonder what the public reaction would be if someone just went and cleaned it up. Now THAT would be amusing.

Hello Mars.

Beyond the need for most humans to have faith in the intangible, is the desperate search to have some physical proof of their beliefs. It is their form of validation.

The general society is not prepared to see its own essence as a form of validation, so it must externalize all aspects of their fears, hopes and actions as being controlled from the outside. That leads to the overwhelming sense of being hollow or unfulfilled, which in turn creates the need to stand and stare in the vain attempt at fulfillment. The reality is plain to see.

Those wall watchers are being controlled, but not towards the direction of truly grasping meaning and knowledge. They are led by the nose towards dissatisfaction with the self. They are kept mentally pliable and soft, for colorfully variegated reasons, by an equally motley group of individuals with their own reasons. I could expound upon those many reasons, but I think most among this board are knowledgeable enough to know of what I allude to.

Rather than ponder those people of faith, and the mental deficiency that enables such…mysterious…behavior, would it not be more productive to exploit it or plain old ignore it, instead?

If Satanists wrap their heads around the phenomena of “the why and wherefore” of such sheep, do they not become still and mesmerized like the sheep themselves? Surely it deserves nothing more than a passing glance, with a sneer…or a fixed predatory stare replete with some lip-smacking…

Ponder to gain deeper insight, like a scholar or a hunter, but remember it is a natural division between…ahem…us, and them. Relish it.

Hail Satan.

Or could if have been taken care of, simply by applying a water hose to the wall? opps!!! water plus soap equals miricle "all gone"!!!!

I think I mentioned this idea a couple of pages back.

And yes,HLGwyn

I very much agree that it comes from low self-esteem and bad conditioning. People are very easily controlled when they have been conditioned to have a very poor sense of self. But this is to make them easier to govern-truly free thinkers tend to shake up the status quo, and make changes.

But let's face it,sheep are made for shearing. I don't have to understand one to sell the wool and meat.

Ha!!! My lack of attention to detail. Didn't mean to attempt to steal your thunder, my friend.

Smiles,don't worry about it.

I tend to be understated-one has to pay attention, and I often get lost in the midst of more dramtic presentations.

Very Well, as long as I didn't step on any of your toes. Maybe its good, once it a while, to run into someone who thinks the same as you.

Some how it makes it all worth while. Kind of a Sanity Check. No? Or at least an indication that some one understands "some what" on your level.

I'm not the overly sensitive kind Demigod.

"self-control" = personal power.

I prefer to act,rather than simply react.