It's about conviction. If you're convinced there's something out there that can change things in the real world, given how powerful God is supposed to be you're going to be a frightened little puppy especially if youthink you're going to be punished. Factor in that these institutions have been in place and in power for centuries, while you will have people who can be functional and not let their fear of the future get the best of them, and others who will, for whatever reasons, allow their fears to behoove their common sense.
Take for example the chunk of someone's heart that was supposedly found in a font in Poland after a Host was dropped by accident on the floor and placed in said font. Many of the goers to that parish declared it a miracle and that it was proof that the Host is not just a wafer but the actual flesh of Christ. I'd say that someone did a little sleight of hand to boost sagging attendance. Especially when it happened years earlier in Brazil.
Or the
windows of a bank in Clearwater Florida that was supposedly a sign because it resembled a woman wearing a hood and was, of course, declared Mary by the Catholic majority. After an investigation by some skeptic found out that a sprinkler had broken and the mineral salts in the sprinkler's water supply likely created this image by accident.
While I'm going to disagree a bit with Ultimate Paragon about some things, I'm sure that discussions would be respectful and possibly enlightening. On the other hand, does anyone remember BigChrisfilm's OCD efforts of copypasting lousy apologetics in the hope that the "self-evident truths" would somehow shut down FSTDT?
