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Community => Religion and Philosophy => Topic started by: KZN02 on September 16, 2013, 11:33:29 pm

Title: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: KZN02 on September 16, 2013, 11:33:29 pm
Link (http://gma.yahoo.com/holy-water-may-harmful-health-study-finds-225105270--abc-news-health.html)

Basically, holy water was tested to contain some nasty stuff. Be careful people.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: gyeonghwa on September 17, 2013, 02:12:02 am
Alright, I am assuming they ran EPA 9221 on this then did a Heterotrophic Plate Count to get those number. Yeah, I mean what did you expect considering how many people touch holy water.

*on a side note, if the coliform tests come out negative it could mean it's safe to drink. Or it could also mean there is too much chlorine. Generally speaking if you sample the water you should also take a residual and total chlorine test before taking the sample, and then when you do take the sample you need to add sodium thiosulfate to eliminate the possibility of a false negative.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: SpaceProg on September 17, 2013, 02:41:35 pm
I'm not much of the church-going type (not at all, actually), so... why would somebody want to drink holy water anyway?  Is there some sort of ritual that requires it?
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: mellenORL on September 17, 2013, 03:06:42 pm
Gargle it after forced fellatio on the priest?
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Rime on September 17, 2013, 03:15:06 pm
It depends on your denomination.  There's your Baptists who insist people have to be immersed completely, but no one will encourage you to take a mouthful.  Wait a minute, there was this scandal (http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/645578-update-sanal-edamaruku-under-attack-for-exposing-catholic-miracle) about a Catholic Church in Mumbai that was collecting sewer water as "miraculous" because it was dripping out of the feet of a statue of Jesus.

Anyway, I don't think that there are any rituals that involve imbibing holy water, but it's still an awesome vector for spreading disease even if you're not drinking it.  And for the record, that was the best link I could find.  I feel dirty suggesting a link from rd.net. :-\
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Witchyjoshy on September 17, 2013, 03:16:56 pm
Baptists don't believe in holy water.  It's basically a Catholic/Episcopalian thing.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Rime on September 17, 2013, 03:27:48 pm
I found that curious until I realized that they don't bless the water, they just use it for dunking their new recruits.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Witchyjoshy on September 17, 2013, 04:19:04 pm
Yep.

In fact they find the concept of holy water to be heretical.

...In fact they find any form of Christian "mysticism" to be heretical.  Which is strange because the Bible is full of humans able to do mystical things because of God's will.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Askold on September 17, 2013, 04:32:35 pm
The bible also says that any mystics or prophets with "powers" that appear after the birth of Jesus are false prophets.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Witchyjoshy on September 17, 2013, 04:38:30 pm
The bible also says that any mystics or prophets with "powers" that appear after the birth of Jesus are false prophets.

Does it?

Dang, I guess Paul, Peter, and the like are false prophets :P
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Askold on September 17, 2013, 04:42:57 pm
It might have been after his death and resurrectuin then. My memory is a bit hazy.

Besides, the bible says a lot of things.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Witchyjoshy on September 17, 2013, 04:48:43 pm
It might have been after his death and resurrectuin then. My memory is a bit hazy.

Besides, the bible says a lot of things.

Indeed it does.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Sigmaleph on September 17, 2013, 06:04:10 pm
I'm not much of the church-going type (not at all, actually), so... why would somebody want to drink holy water anyway?  Is there some sort of ritual that requires it?

Apparently there's a ritual (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%205:11-28&version=NIV) to test whether a woman has committed adultery that involves her drinking holy water. If she becomes barren then she is guilty, if she's able to have children then she is innocent.

Though I don't think it's practised much, nowadays.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: SpaceProg on September 17, 2013, 06:30:34 pm
Sounds like something mostly done back in the powdered wig days.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Star Cluster on September 18, 2013, 05:55:48 pm
A few years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in Rome and we went to the Vatican just to go there and see it.  When we went into Saint Peters Cathedral, we noticed people going over to a basin mounted about 5-1/2 feet up on the wall, reaching up and dipping their hand into, and crossing themselves.  Some were even putting it on their baby's foreheads.  My wife went over so I could take a photo of her beside it and after I took it, she looked into the basin and a look of horror came over her face.  So I went over a looked in and it was filthy.  There was a visible layer of scum on it from where people with hand creams and lotions had been dipping there hands into it.  There was a slight ring of crud around the basin at water level.  It did not look healthy at all.   This is what I thought of as soon as I saw the title of this thread.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: mellenORL on September 18, 2013, 07:21:50 pm
My inner imp would love to sneak a few tadpoles into that basin. I'm going to RC hell, I know I know.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: SpaceProg on September 18, 2013, 09:38:20 pm
Aww, don't be mean to tadpoles like that...
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Lady Evil on September 19, 2013, 12:48:52 am
I thought holy water would be safe due to the way they prepare it.

They boil the Hell out of it!

(Crickets chirp)
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: mellenORL on September 19, 2013, 01:32:50 am
(When crickets chirp...they are laughing). I lol'ed :P
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Leafy on September 22, 2013, 01:33:44 pm
I remember watching the priest drink holy water during my grandpa's funeral, and thinking how many kid hands had just been in that water.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: mellenORL on September 22, 2013, 01:48:11 pm
Maybe he dosed it with vodka first? Funerals can be stressful to conduct sometimes.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: SpaceProg on September 22, 2013, 04:35:44 pm
The priest drank holy water?  Kid-handed holy water?

*Pukes*
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Shane for Wax on September 22, 2013, 06:55:52 pm
A few years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in Rome and we went to the Vatican just to go there and see it.  When we went into Saint Peters Cathedral, we noticed people going over to a basin mounted about 5-1/2 feet up on the wall, reaching up and dipping their hand into, and crossing themselves.  Some were even putting it on their baby's foreheads.  My wife went over so I could take a photo of her beside it and after I took it, she looked into the basin and a look of horror came over her face.  So I went over a looked in and it was filthy.  There was a visible layer of scum on it from where people with hand creams and lotions had been dipping there hands into it.  There was a slight ring of crud around the basin at water level.  It did not look healthy at all.   This is what I thought of as soon as I saw the title of this thread.

I'm guessing they didn't change it a lot.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Leafy on September 22, 2013, 09:45:02 pm
The priest drank holy water?  Kid-handed holy water?

*Pukes*
Yup. And my family has a ton of kids...
Maybe he dosed it with vodka first? Funerals can be stressful to conduct sometimes.
I hope so. xD
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Star Cluster on September 23, 2013, 11:48:41 pm
A few years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in Rome and we went to the Vatican just to go there and see it.  When we went into Saint Peters Cathedral, we noticed people going over to a basin mounted about 5-1/2 feet up on the wall, reaching up and dipping their hand into, and crossing themselves.  Some were even putting it on their baby's foreheads.  My wife went over so I could take a photo of her beside it and after I took it, she looked into the basin and a look of horror came over her face.  So I went over a looked in and it was filthy.  There was a visible layer of scum on it from where people with hand creams and lotions had been dipping there hands into it.  There was a slight ring of crud around the basin at water level.  It did not look healthy at all.   This is what I thought of as soon as I saw the title of this thread.

I'm guessing they didn't change it a lot.

I'm guessing you're right.   But as many people that dip their dirty hands in it on a daily basis, it probably doesn't take too long to get that dirty, either.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: worlder on October 04, 2013, 01:44:16 am
You'd think holy water ought to be clean, seeing how no religion that uses the concept would want their system to be associated with touching filthy substances.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Witchyjoshy on October 04, 2013, 02:22:09 am
You'd think holy water ought to be clean, seeing how no religion that uses the concept would want their system to be associated with touching filthy substances.

Laziness trumps cleanliness apparently.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Raymond Dullaghy on October 04, 2013, 08:47:38 am
I've heard of a similar issue with the Ganges River. Despite all the illnesses that people contract for bathing in it, many strict Hindus insist that the river remains pure. I think I can safely say it's affected more people than dirty "holy" water, considering India's vastly greater population and near-constant access.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: kefkaownsall on October 04, 2013, 09:50:36 am
The difference is that problem is hard to fix since it has to be the Ganges the holy water at least in Europe and NA can be fixed by just changing the water daily.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: mellenORL on October 04, 2013, 11:15:32 am
Maybe Pope Francis will issue a Papal Bull on the use of Blessed Chlorine? That would be a sincere reform, at least.
Title: Re: Holy Water Harmful to Health?
Post by: Shane for Wax on October 04, 2013, 11:50:17 am
A few years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in Rome and we went to the Vatican just to go there and see it.  When we went into Saint Peters Cathedral, we noticed people going over to a basin mounted about 5-1/2 feet up on the wall, reaching up and dipping their hand into, and crossing themselves.  Some were even putting it on their baby's foreheads.  My wife went over so I could take a photo of her beside it and after I took it, she looked into the basin and a look of horror came over her face.  So I went over a looked in and it was filthy.  There was a visible layer of scum on it from where people with hand creams and lotions had been dipping there hands into it.  There was a slight ring of crud around the basin at water level.  It did not look healthy at all.   This is what I thought of as soon as I saw the title of this thread.

I'm guessing they didn't change it a lot.

I'm guessing you're right.   But as many people that dip their dirty hands in it on a daily basis, it probably doesn't take too long to get that dirty, either.

It takes a bit to get a ring such as you described, tho.