tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post7027513528350280340..comments2023-08-21T03:51:17.425-06:00Comments on Enlightened Catholicism: A Roman Circus Starring JPII Is In The Works For 2011colkochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03432916690101599393noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-39261230040034121962011-01-06T16:49:39.411-07:002011-01-06T16:49:39.411-07:00THe placebo effect has always fascinated me Dennis...THe placebo effect has always fascinated me Dennis. I just did some more research and there is still no decent studies attempting to explain the effect, which when you think about it is somewhat silly given it's effect in medicine and psychiatry. I mean when drugs have to show a significant level of improvement above the placebo effect you would think someone somewhere would be highly interested in how that placebo thing actually works. I suppose the problem in you can't charge money for healing interventions due to the placebo effect.colkochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03432916690101599393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-55419685814019775272011-01-06T10:13:52.439-07:002011-01-06T10:13:52.439-07:00Colleen,
In many scientific studies of drugs for a...Colleen,<br />In many scientific studies of drugs for ailments all the way from depression to arthritis the placebo rate has been found to be 30 + %. While I do believe in miracles, I have seen even in my own life unexpected remissions of diseases such as cancer. So the idea of a fast track in which miracles are used to establish proof of anything is dubious at best.rdp46https://www.blogger.com/profile/04427786268228285222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-78659478956591145372011-01-06T10:03:32.837-07:002011-01-06T10:03:32.837-07:00Here is another miracle tale, very sad. I don'...Here is another miracle tale, very sad. I don't recall her name, she was about my age, and known as Miracle Girl. She was very small and dying. Someone pinned a relic of St. Elizabeth Seton to her clothing. Instead of dying, she began coming back, and was declared cured by miraculous means. <br />Now, Miracle Girl's family was financially unstable and occasionally had to go on welfare. But Miracle Girl got away with a lot of stuff I could never do. For instance, she failed the Catholic high school entrance exam, but had to be admitted anyway, because she was Miracle Girl. So it was said.<br />Instead of becoming a nun, Miracle Girl married and had children. So far, so good.<br />One Easter Sunday, her teen son was so bored with the whole thing, he was prowling around in his car, as Chuck Berry said, with no particular place to go. He saw a pretty teen girl, thought she was alone, and shouted an obscenity at her. Wrong! Her boyfriend heard it. They fought. Miracle Girl's son was killed. <br />What a bitter ending to a story that was so sugar-coated.Translynxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-12906391041161071722011-01-05T16:37:42.214-07:002011-01-05T16:37:42.214-07:00Great comments again. Trans, I was thinking about ...Great comments again. Trans, I was thinking about the miracle thing last night. How does one rule out the placebo effect and rule in the miracle effect? It seems to me this would be a really difficult problem in autoimmune diseases.<br /><br />The one thing JPII did which destroyed the process, at least for me, was to do away with the position of the Devil's Advocate. Perhaps he knew he would be a beneficiary of the move. :)<br /><br />I haven't heard either of these stories about Maria Goretti. Will have to do some research. I always did think her story was a modern remake of the St Agnes story, which brings up another question. Has the Church ever canonized a female rape victim?<br /><br />Veronica you make a good point about the need for 'celebrities'. The nice thing about making celebrities of dead people is they won't embarrass you by having to go into rehab. Disney Inc has probably realized it was way better off making celebrities of cartoon characters.colkochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03432916690101599393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-76829171305601544722011-01-05T14:58:58.873-07:002011-01-05T14:58:58.873-07:00Personally, I think that any canonization of JPII ...Personally, I think that any canonization of JPII will simply stamp the institutional RCC as being nothing more than another personality cult. They started with the fast track to canonization for Mother Theresa and this one would simply seal the deal IMHO.<br /><br />I just don't understand this need of people to turn individual human beings into celebrities, for any reason. Doesn't matter if it is Lindsay Lohan, Prince William and Catherine Middleton or JPII. It seems to me the Church in this matter has decided to emulate the worst parts of secular society. Rather than be the leading light.<br />VeronicaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-65341874354256675452011-01-05T14:04:42.924-07:002011-01-05T14:04:42.924-07:00Somehow, I don't think Jason Berry's forth...Somehow, I don't think Jason Berry's forthcoming book, "Render Unto Rome" will be enough to slow down the race to canonize JP2, nor will it slow down the exodus of Catholics from the Church.khughes1963https://www.blogger.com/profile/16118365554189078448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-22454802524305945632011-01-05T10:01:17.693-07:002011-01-05T10:01:17.693-07:00Yes, I think we will have St. John Paul the Great...Yes, I think we will have St. John Paul the Great. This man was a great Charismatic leader! He successfully lead the RCC toward the 13th century. Other than his natural leadership, he was a great enabler of sexual abuse and one of the Church's great misogynist, but it will still be a popular choice that will bring the Vatican lots of $$$$.<br /> <br />What will history eventually say? It is a big black eye! Oh, well we have the founder of Opes Dei canonized, we’re on a roll.rdp46https://www.blogger.com/profile/04427786268228285222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-30568447899868699752011-01-05T09:33:50.829-07:002011-01-05T09:33:50.829-07:00To Translynx -
I have no doubt that Maria Gorett...To Translynx - <br /><br />I have no doubt that Maria Goretti fought off her attacker. I've often wondered if the attack was an attempt at forced marriage; who else would marry a "despoiled" woman except her rapist? The major question in my mind is whether the Vatican would have canonized Maria if she had not been succesful in fighting off her attacker. Somehow I doubt it. A dead virgin can be a saint, but not a rape victim!Brigid Rauchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-78236656665621598672011-01-05T08:20:32.990-07:002011-01-05T08:20:32.990-07:00Canonization has evolved into a racket, pure and s...Canonization has evolved into a racket, pure and simple. As for the miracles involved, who is to say? Many times it seems, the recipient of a miracle was cured by medical rather than supernatural means. Or a cancer went into remission for unknown reasons and is called a miraculous cure.<br />One of the most manipulative canonizations must be that of St. Maria Goretti. The church needed a modern Martyr of Purity and she fit the bill. The story was that she was stabbed to death by an evil porn addict, rather then be raped by him. There is another story, that she was sexually active with this creep, one day she was not in the mood, so he stabbed her to death.<br />Whatever!<br />Perhaps the Devil's Advocate took a day off when that alternate version came to light. Or perhaps he was strongly urged to do so.Translynxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-61094192983790518702011-01-05T00:25:23.005-07:002011-01-05T00:25:23.005-07:00I agree, canonization has become something of a po...I agree, canonization has become something of a political racket, but it sure makes money for the Vatican when the politics are of the approved variety.colkochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03432916690101599393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8383701632927065467.post-16529828029341458082011-01-04T23:20:57.328-07:002011-01-04T23:20:57.328-07:00John XXIII has been beatified, but with the poison...John XXIII has been beatified, but with the poisonous fillip of a beatification of Pius IX (acclaimed by JP2 as a Great Pope) as well. Yes, beatifying JP2 is a way of legitimating the restorationist project in which Ratzinger was his closest collaborator, just as making Pius X a Saint legitimized the anti-Modernist crackdown. On a timeline of Spanish Church history in Malaga Cathedral I noticed the name of Maciel given prominence along with Escriva (now a Saint); JP2 had Maciel's mother made a Saint in response to criticisms of her son. Canonization has become a racket.Joehttp://josephsoleary.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.com