I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the
madness of people.

-- Isaac Newton

Wasn't old Isaac a few moons short of a solar system himself?

Josef Balluch wrote:

In a message sent 'round the world, Sound of Trumpet poured fuel on the
fire with the following:

Hand of John the Baptist in Russia

How very ironic then, that theist simpletons like J Young insist that
harvesting tissue for medical or research purposes is "ghoulish".



Regards,

Josef



I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the
madness of people.

-- Isaac Newton

Wasn't old Isaac a few moons short of a solar system himself?

"Neil Kelsey" <neil_kelsey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1150388695.181444.93740@r2g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

Sound of Trumpet wrote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1648485/posts




Hand of John the Baptist in Russia

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow

Saturday June 10, 2006

The Guardian


It was the only part of John the Baptist's body that Luke the Apostle
could take away from the village where he was buried, and it has since
been cited as the cause of miracles. It was given to the Russian royal
family in St Petersburg to protect it from Napoleon's advancing armies
and then whisked away to central Europe when the Bolshevik revolution
broke out.
Now, as part of the Kremlin's bid to forge a national identity, John
the Baptist's right hand, which Christians think baptised Jesus Christ,
has returned to Russia for the first time in 89 years.

The return has been hailed by the Russian Orthodox church with great
pomp and reverence. The head of the church, Patriach Alexei II,
welcomed it at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Church of Christ the
Saviour in central Moscow. The hand will remain there until Friday,
when it will be taken on a tour of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine before
returning in July to Montenegro, its present home.
The Patriach called on Christians to pray before the hand, according to
the state news agency RIA Novosti.

The relic's return to Moscow is part of an orchestrated revival of the
church, which is playing a central role in giving Russians a sense of
spiritual and national belonging. The move was financed by a religious
foundation chaired by Vladimir Yakunin, the head of Russia's vast state
railways network who is frequently referred to as a potential successor
to President Vladimir Putin.




Miracle of John the Baptist's hand
By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
(Filed: 13/06/2006)


John the Baptist's right hand has had many adventures since it was cut
from the rest of his body two millennia ago.

Legend has it that it saved the people of Antioch, in modern day
Turkey, from a dragon, which choked to death when a man from the city
threw a finger from the hand into its throat.

HAHAHAHHAHAAA!!!!! Besides being about as weird as you can get
(carrying around severed hands?), you are citing a dragon story as if
it were non-fiction? Okay, I'll play along...I'm wondering how the
dragon, which is legendary for swallowing people whole after
fricasseeing them with their fire breath, would choke on a tiny morsel
such as a finger. Maybe yon dragon was the size of a miniature poodle?
This is the stuff of legends...

How cynical! Any medieval historian worth their salt will be well aware that
dragons come in all sizes, and baby ones are prone to choking on mummified
fingers. This was a reckless and careless action by that man from Antioch, as
even then they were an endangered species - legendary or not.

The hand, which normally
resides in Montenegro,

Is "reside' the correct term for a severed hand? Does it pay rent or
own outright?

I'm sure that it 'pays the rent' in some way - ask the tourist ministry for
details?

is working wonders again as it visits Russia for
the first time since it was smuggled out of the country after the 1917
revolution.

Vladimir Mastukov, a pensioner who lost the use of his legs after a
stroke five years ago, bent down to kiss a display case housing the
hand. Moments later he cast aside his crutches and skipped out of the
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in central Moscow.

"I felt such lightness in all my body," he was quoted as saying. "Thank
you, God."

Maybe it was the display case that had the magical curative powers? Get
a team on that right away!

Probably MDMA or amphetamine drooled onto the glass by a passing hippie... there
is however always the old favourite explanation of ergot fungus. However, more
likely is the scenario thet the act od bending down may have produced a surge of
BP in his cranial cavity, which unblocked ...(cont P98)

Since it arrived aboard a charter flight in a bullet-proof shrine,

Why would someone want to shoot a severed hand?

The Lord moves in Mysterious Ways! Best not to ask...

the
relic has stirred religious fervour. Queues several miles long stretch
past the cathedral. The faithful wait for up to 11 hours to kiss the
relic.

MMMMmmm! Kissing a severed hand! No, you guys are normal.

Not really - sometimes you just can't find one that is still attached that you
allowed to kiss. It's a 'hygeine' thing I suspect...

"My soul drew me here," said Vadim Marushenko from the Siberian city of
Omsk.

"I can't formulate in words the elation of having seen it. I just knew
as I touched it that the lives of those closest to me will be slightly
easier."

THEY ALL TURN SLUTTIER??? NoooooOOOooooo!

Hmmm... I have to say, such emotions expressed at witnessing the sight of a
2000+ year old severed hand do make me somewhat.... 'uncomfortable'?

Some might well say "Yeucch! How utterly revolting!", but I would never be so
rude of course. I just hope that poor old John washed his hands before they
became relics...

This is all trivial however, what we want is the HEAD! What did Salome do with
it after her dance I wonder? Surely a far more interesting prize...
Cheers
Martin

In article <dC7mg.73767$JX1.35737@edtnps82>, "captain."
<spammersmustdie@now.net> wrote:

probably a hoax.

so where's the head?