More Mary

Well, yet another blog about MFM.

She’s everywhere, and all our pollies are falling over each other saying what a great thing it is.  Anybody think that it was every catholic in Australia that contributed to the sainthood of MFM.

The media have lots of nice things to say as well, what’s missing here is the dissenting voices.  Then I heard PM1the other night.  At last I thought, some dissent!

SIMON LAUDER: Chris Udy is the Minister at Killara Uniting Church in Sydney. He’s concerned by the idea that a saint can be a middle man in prayer.

CHRIS UDY: It’s the extra magicality of it that’s problematic or certainly for me; the idea that saints can somehow put you further up the pecking order. I think that would be the issue, the idea that you can somehow peddle influence with God. I think that would be the problem.

In fact it turns upside down a fairly fundamental issue in the life of Jesus and that is that it was actually the least powerful, the people who had least influence and least authority, they were the ones that he spent his time with.

What’s that? Extra magicailty? Extra? You think there’s magic and declaring someone a saint is extra magic? Oh wow. How much make believe can you stick in one sentence. Whether its MFM or the little dead baby jesus himself, only two people got the miracle. Those saints are a lazy bunch of arseholes.

When Adelaide’s chief dress wearing bishop Philip Wilson was asked about how reliable the proof of the miracles is, how well it stands up to scruinty, you know, the sort of question that says something like – show us the proof – he said this:

PHILIP WILSON: Oh I think it’s just been part of our history and tradition that we know that these people are responsible and upright people who do these works and that their judgements are ones that can be trusted.

So, you make a grand claim, the claim that a dead person did two miracles, the church goes off and tests the theory, finds that there is no other reason but the intervention of god and declares a miracle. We want to know how you arrived at that decision, instead we are told by dress flapper Wilson to just trust the responsible and upright people. I think he needs a couple of Beks and a good lie down.

Then the whole commercial enterprise kicks into action. The gift shop at Melbourne’s Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre is reporting a leap in sales and phone calls. They even had to get extra staff in to help sell the fridge magnets and spoons with a picture of MFM on it.2  I’m sure it’s just the start of a huge sale in all things Mary MacKillop.  (You know, even in the church whence I come from long time ago, there’s a MFM banner in a special chapel where you can go down on bended knee and pray.  I think MFM parents are buried out west.)  Here’s a great opportunity to get some first class relics and make an absolute killing.  Dig up the bones of MFM and flog em off.  People have been selling Saints relics3  for years, what a great way to make a small fortune.

I can’t wait.  Think of all the money that’s going to be made from MFM.  The church must be rubbing their pink bits.

  1. PM is a current affairs radio show on the ABC – see the transcript here ↩
  2. Article in The Age SOURCE with thanks to Love Llama’s Mother ↩
  3. Check Wikipedia for a description of saints relics. ↩

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3 Responses to More Mary

  1. Andrew says:
    February 28, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    Extra magicality??? On a sesame seed bun? You want fries with that? Religion is greasy fast food for the emotionally undernourished – and even more unhealthy. Ronald McDonald=god? Possibly…

  2. Bruce says:
    March 3, 2010 at 8:17 pm

    god or the devil?

  3. Andrew says:
    March 3, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    Is there a difference?