Stupid Tourists!

[annie]

quietfire, do you have pictures of your beloved family and friends in your home? Do you have treasured photo albums, which tell stories of your beloved ancestors?

[Philippe]

[quote name='Paladin D' date='Apr 17 2004, 04:18 PM'] I can see it now...

[b]*During Mass, a group of tourists get inside the Eucharist line, then when it's their turn, not knowing it...*[/b]

"Uh, are these for free?" - Tourist [/quote]
haha good one but hey guys... if they wanna go to the Church more power to them for actually being interested but i do agree the disrespect that [b]some[/b] of them show isnt right but dont steriotype them either thinking that they all do this

[crusader1234]

I was reading in the DaVinci code about people making rubbings off of stuff. That sounded interesting but at the same time it sounds kind of shady and irreverant. I want to do that, but at the same time I dont want to disrespecting the bodies of those people buried there. I think that there isn't anything wrong with photgraphing a church or anything, I just think you have to do so with utmost respect and know what you are taking a picture of. For example, the monstrance is a beautiful thing but probably one of the few things that I think shuold not have it's picture taken just because of what it is. Well unless its just the monstrance without the eucharist.

[cmotherofpirl]

Many tourists do not understand a Catholic church has the Real Presence in the Tabernacle at all times. To non-catholics it is simply an interesting building. Their churches are simply assembly halls.
So its not always disrespect, many times its simply lack of infiormation.

Edited April 18, 2004 by cmotherofpirl

[cmotherofpirl]

When I was at old churches in England we walked around and did brass rubbings etc with the permission of the rectors. Westminster Abbey is a tourist attraction and museum as well as being a church. It does not have the Real Presence, and people just wander all over it.

[Philippe]

ya i think your right its not disrespect but more of lack of knowledge :\

[Quietfire]

annie,

yes i do have pictures of my family and friends around my home. But this is very different. Please understand, I do wish to learn, so I MUST ask.... to learn.
as I said, this is different.
/statues of saints i can understand, there are pictures of St. Kolbe(sorry if spelled wrong) so we know for a fact as to how he looks like

But I am talking about statues and prints(et.al) of Christ, Mary, and others where there were no poleroids or kodaks.

These statues, it seems to me, are a particular persons interpretation of what they want Christ to look like. or Mary, or others.
To me, this could be somewhat dangerous. You see, I understand that catholics dont pray TO the statue. But it still represents a graven image.
Christians believe that Jesus is the word, the verb that became flesh, Gods one and only son, a trinity, three in one. As such is also God. So to me, that statue could represent a graven image of God, as envisioned by the artist who made it.

So when I show pictures of friends and say 'this is my friend so and so, and this is a picture of my friend .....' and so on,,, these are images of that actual person that i am naming, not an interpretation of what I wish them to look like.
I find it difficult to look at a statue of someones idea of Christ and say "I know him, thats Jesus" because although it may be the 'accepted' likeness of what he looks like, in truth, no one alive today has seen the physical features of God.

Lets face it, I can look at a statue of someones interpretation of Christ or Mary(etc) and I have been guilty of assuming who that is. We all do or have done that.
That may be 'acceptable' but is it correct?

I often think that if God were to show up, right now, and start walking around, and wander into one or two churches....would he be pleased? Or would he say, "Who are all these statues of?"
These are the things I think about.

[Quietfire]

I cant figure out how to edit a post...to quote a small section and not the whole thing.

When I typed..

"Christians believe............"
I should have stated, "Some/Most Christians believe..."

Not every person who claims to be a Christian believes in the trinity.

Edited April 18, 2004 by Quietfire

[Quietfire]

Still need that answer so im
BUMP ing it.

[crusader1234]

Oh yeah westminster abbey is what they talk about in the DaVinci code, and isnt it Anglican? Hmm... either way we should be showing respect for their beliefs just like we are asking them to respect ours. Right? After reading the book I want to go visit Rosslyn and the Temple. Im going on a trip to Europe after I graduate and those are 2 places I want to go take pictures of. I think that should be OK if I make sure they know I'm Catholic and not just objectifying the church.

[Quietfire]

BUMP

[Brother Adam]

[b]represents a graven image[/b]

There is nothing graven about it.

[CreepyCrawler]

When I visited Venice (San Marco's Cathedral) and Notre Dame in Paris, people were touring the place, even during mass. It was quite distracting.

[Brother Adam]

[quote]I often think that if God were to show up, right now, and start walking around, and wander into one or two churches....would he be pleased? Or would he say, "Who are all these statues of?"
These are the things I think about.[/quote]

These statues are representations. No Catholic should believe that the statues are the exact likeness of Christ or any other Saint. If God were to appear today I don't think he would be stuck on our 21st Century American views. I believe he would be very pleased that Christians are gathering among "such a great cloud of witnesses such as these" and continuly celebrating new life found in the Paschal Lamb.

For the record since we haven't talked before- Hi! I'm Bro. Adam, a resident non-Catholic around here. I run Flyfree Ministries found at www.flyfreeministries.org
I welcome you to come visit.

[Cesar624]

Oh man, I forgot to state another really inappropriate yet funny thing I've witnessed someone do in the Cathedral. LOL - this lady walks in, and she notices the Holy Water. So she comes up to it looking puzzled and not very sure as to what to do with it. So she dips her hands inside of the Holy Water and starts putting it all over her hands and she was rubbing her hands together as if she was washing her hands. I wanted to laugh SO BAD! And then she says to her husband "I'm washing away the sin." I stuffed my shirt in my mouth so my laughs wouldn't be heard. She meant well, but she really didn't know what she was doing. I found it sweet she wanted to "wash away" her sins before entering the Cathedral. I laugh everytime I think about her.