Posted on 03/26/2012 1:38:33 PM PDT by NYer
Edit: A definition from Wikipedia is useful here: Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things.[1] Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy,[2] while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy.
[Fell's Point, Baltimore, MD] There was a show called "Cheers" on television years ago. It was bawdy and vulgar yet there were some borders it was not safe to pass in the early 80s when the show first aired. It depicted a homey place, reminiscent of an unpretentious neighborhood bar with a hint of old world ambiance and Boston charm. The heavy wooden furniture and the bar spoke of permanence, elegance, and that favorite piety of secular artists, human dignity. It was not always clear who the show's buffoons were, but you knew them when you saw them, and sometimes, it was a comedic mailman who could be the most noble in the simplicity of his fears. Some other writer said something about irony being lost on a society which had no shame. That's why we'd like to wield a metaphorical hammer. Perhaps there are others who can put a better finish on the details of what we will tell.
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| Satirical painting: priest displeased with Nun? |
All we can say is that sometimes evil is really mundane and some of us don't realize that we're not only bufoons needlessly offending people's religious sensibilities, but far worse than that, we're offending God. Even the name of the bar, a pun on the Blessed Mother's name seems calculated to be offensive.
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| Would you like some candy? |
We're not talking about this place, but it's not far from Boston, but it boasts a similar unmistakable charm you'd expect in New England with friendly folks.
One of the features of the bar, and there are many, is its unmistakable Catholic ambiance. It's called, Ale Mary's and is located in Fell's point Maryland. One can just smell the faint aroma of the ocean as you think about it. The food is inexpensive, but if you're Catholic you might find it too expensive for the peace of your conscience to see the sacramental elements of your religion appear for the sake of decoration in peculiarly deliberate ways.
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| Chalices Used for Holy Sacrifice Being Abused by Patrons |
It's not surprising, but it's not acceptable either that chalices which are used in Catholic Mass for the consecration of wine which becomes the blood of Christ, are used by patrons to drink (and get drunk from). They're made of precious metals, sometimes jewels, but their use in such a secular setting is strange and unsettling. No less than the inexplicable painting of a priest with a stole, looking aghast or in surprise at a nun who has her back to him.
The most disturbing thing in the restaurant is the monstrance which is behind the bar used as decoration. The monstrance is large ornate disk, often resembling the sun, which is surmounted in a long stand with a heavy base. It contains a crystal compartment at the center of the disk where a consecrated communion Host can be placed inside and it allows the priest to elevate the entire object by the stand for the veneration of the Sacrament it contains. Seeing this monstrance here in this bar, covered with mardigras beads and a mustached smiley face where the Host would normally be is a little bit like finding family heirlooms in the hands of people who not only use them for purposes for which they were never intended, but use them in disrespectful ways.
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| Mustached Smiley Face Seems Particularly Malevolent |
We found out about this recently and the individual who sent this to us wrote an e-mail complaining about the display of these religious items and even offered to purchase them. Far from being treated with the respect she deserved, her concerns were met with derision.
Despite the bar owner claiming that no one cared about this clearly blasphemous display of religious artifacts, he asked her to remove an entry she made under the bar at a public site allowing comment on establishments.
As he berated our friend, the proprietor insisted as an argument to justify his sacrilege and disrespect for Catholic sacramentals, that there were even Bishops and priests who thought that his blasphemous inclusion of religious articles was comical and that there was nothing wrong with this display.
Apparently, there's some truth to what he says, because Catholic clergy, including senior, does frequent this place.
We'll be praying a Rosary in reparation for having seen this blasphemy. Hopefully, the proprietor can be persuaded to part with these items before word of this affects his business either spiritually or financially.
Give them a call:
Corner of Fleet & Washington Sts.
Fell's Point
Baltimore, MD.
21231
410-276-2044
We are concerned for the souls of all sinners.
What made you think I wasn’t concerned? Or that Catholics aren’t concerned?
It’s just that these sacred vessels are being wrongly used. Those people are sinning and will have to answer for it someday.
Did I close the circle now?
If you click on the Religion Moderator’s name you will find the rules about mind-reading. That’s what I was referring to when you used the word “you” repeatedly.
How can you know what I think?
I don’t follow the Jubilee because I am not Jewish. However, that does not change the fact that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And again, you are not an Old Testament believer, so find something else to make an argument out of.
Have to get nasty, don’t you? But your iconoclasm puts you in the same camp as the Muslims.
What a garbled view of the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist! In any case. the show is disrepect is what is being complained about here, Suppose they had rolls of toilet paper with the words of scripture, or pictures of Jesus painted the toilet bowls? The same thing.
Huh? You are the one attacking me for saying I think the New Testament takes precedent over the old. Not sure why you won’t follow Jubilee—it’s in the old testament, isn’t it?
What changed from the old to the new to make that part of the Old Testament void?
Also while we are at it, I’d really like to know why the 2nd commandment was deleted. I honestly don’t know the answer to that.
How is suggesting that if we worship around a fake ark nasty? I think that’s a fact based on the Bible. And based on the 2nd commandment against idolatry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUbKe1lSWyc
Ok, I don’t see this getting a bunch of attention. They are idiots. Why give them the attention?
You wrote:
“Vessels cannot be sacred; they are mere implements.”
Exodus 28:2
Exodus 28:4
Exodus 28:38
Exodus 29:6
Exodus 29:29
Exodus 29:31
Exodus 29:33
Exodus 29:31
Leviticus 23:7
Joshua 6:19
1 Kings 1:39
1 Kings 8:4
1 Chronicles 22:19
2 Chronicles 35:3
“Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built.”
There’s another sacred vessel!!! And that’s not the only one either.
Psalm 15:1
A psalm of David. LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?
Isaiah 64:10
Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
Ezekiel 44:19
When they go out into the outer court where the people are, they are to take off the clothes they have been ministering in and are to leave them in the sacred rooms, and put on other clothes, so that the people are not consecrated through contact with their garments.
Ezekiel 45:1
[ Israel Fully Restored ] “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the LORD a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide; the entire area will be holy.
Zechariah 14:20-21
On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar.21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite[a] in the house of the LORD Almighty.
Matthew 23:17
You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
Matthew 23:19
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
I think you need to start reading the HOLY Bible.
A “fake ark,” What are you talking about?
A “fake ark,” What are you talking about?
I gave you a link to them on e-bay. You can google “monstrance for sale” and get links to various places. Most decent sized towns have religion supply stores (at yellowpages.com “religious goods” is even an auto complete option you get after typing “reli”) where you can get all kinds of stuff like vestments and portable confession kits. Some might want to see some proof you’re actually a leader of the appropriate religion, especially for the more sacred stuff, but there’s always going to be somebody that doesn’t care. And remember a lot of stuff doesn’t become sacred until it’s brought to a church and had a ceremony performed, until then it’s just decoration.
The 2nd commandment.
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Stop comparing pagan catholic idolatry with YHWH’s commanded worship for Israel.
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wake up — it’s the Christian way practised since the Early Christians. So if a person wants to reject Christianity (i.e. Catholic/Orthodox/Anglican/Lutheran/Presbyterian etc.) go ahead...
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The Catholic “understanding” of the Eucharist is a total misunderstanding of a single verse in John 6.
A doctrine of devils, contorted out of misreading a verse ripped out of the rest of the chapter.
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No, it is not the Christian way!
It is a ‘way’ contrived in the 4th century by the pharisees that created the ‘catholic’ church, and all its pagan practices.
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“A doctrine of devils? Luther disagreed with you.
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