Atheists & Agnostics

Cartoonist

(7,316 posts) Sun Jul 10, 2016, 04:20 PM Jul 2016

Holywood

No, I didn't forget an l. I just started reading a story that involves a church in Scotland that has a piece of the Cross.

Of all the idiotic ideas people have come up with throughout history, this is the champ. I could sooner believe in unicorns than this nonsense.

Here's an excerpt from Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad

From the cistern we descended twelve steps into a large roughly-shaped grotto, carved wholly out of the living rock. Helena blasted it out when she was searching for the true Cross. She had a laborious piece of work, here, but it was richly rewarded. Out of this place she got the crown of thorns, the nails of the cross, the true Cross itself, and the cross of the penitent thief. When she thought she had found everything and was about to stop, she was told in a dream to continue a day longer. It was very fortunate. She did so, and found the cross of the other thief.

10 replies

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Holywood (Original Post) Cartoonist Jul 2016 OP

Actual grownups. Iggo Jul 2016 #1

Twain didn't believe a word of it Warpy Jul 2016 #2

"brief correspondence with my grandfather " progressoid Jul 2016 #3

That's about all there is Warpy Jul 2016 #5

Dang. That's a shame. progressoid Jul 2016 #6

Maybe... uriel1972 Jul 2016 #4

Yay Verily, 'tis faith that prys open the Christian wallet. Freelancer Jul 2016 #7

Who needs an orginal when you can have... NeoGreen Jul 2016 #8

New(er) and Improved! AlbertCat Jul 2016 #9

Even newerer, but not sure about improveder OriginalGeek Jul 2016 #10

Iggo

(47,549 posts)

1. Actual grownups.

Reply to Cartoonist (Original post)

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 08:00 PM

Jul 2016

Warpy

(111,245 posts)

2. Twain didn't believe a word of it

Reply to Cartoonist (Original post)

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 08:31 PM

Jul 2016

which is why his brief correspondence with my grandfather likely went sour. Considering the Europeans got everything wrong, especially about the shape of the cross (it would have been an "x," not a "t" and used rope, not nails), Helena wouldn't have known it from any other scrap lumber even with a note on it, since she didn't read Aramaic.

Yet people still lap this shit up. I can't figure it out. I guess flying without a net isn't for everybody.

progressoid

(49,978 posts)

3. "brief correspondence with my grandfather "

Reply to Warpy (Reply #2)

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 09:52 PM

Jul 2016

I don't think I've heard of this story.

Do tell.

Warpy

(111,245 posts)

5. That's about all there is

Reply to progressoid (Reply #3)

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 10:03 PM

Jul 2016

We think he must've destroyed the letters because we couldn't find them after he died.

progressoid

(49,978 posts)

6. Dang. That's a shame.

Reply to Warpy (Reply #5)

Sun Jul 10, 2016, 10:10 PM

Jul 2016

My brother was a big fan of Twain. He read just about everything he could get his hands on. If he were alive today, I'm sure he would be pouring over all 2300 pages of Twain's autobiography.