Category:
Religion

Follies of the Madmen #373



Somehow, anti-knock engine supplement conflated with performing saintly miracles.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 07, 2018 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Motor Vehicles, Religion, 1930s

A Thief in the Night

Before there was the LEFT BEHIND series, there was this.

Wikipedia entry here.





Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 19, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Religion, 1970s

Promoting God via Margarine

Had to be one of the least enthusiastic product endorsements ever.

A country parson is going on British television with a commercial for God and margarine. ..
The Rev. Mr. Stephens said he took the job only on condition he could write his own script. He starts by saying he is not really a margarine man because it reminds him of his years in the army. Then he adds: "However, we ate it. Our system probably needed it. The body needs fat like the soul needs God."
The commercial was filmed in his study.

Rev. Ronald Stephens



Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer - Nov 12, 1970

Posted By: Alex - Mon May 28, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, Religion, Advertising, 1970s

The Rite of Exorcism

Released in 1974, The Rite of Exorcism was an album performed by three Catholic priests calling themselves the Contemporary Mission. It included a rock-and-roll version of "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)." The trio described the album as an attempt to communicate with young people in their own media. So, it was part of the ongoing effort to help Catholicism shed its stuffy image.

Except, in this case there's some debate over whether the three really were bonafide Catholic priests. By 1980 they were under investigation for using tax-exempt religious status to run a sketchy mail-order business that sold snake-oil of various kinds such as "a bath oil described as weight-reducing... and a 'Living Cross' that, when coupled with a special prayer, was guaranteed to change your life 'in just five days.'"

More info: WFMU (which has the whole album available as a free download), discogs.com, law.justia.com.



Posted By: Alex - Fri May 11, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Music, Religion, 1970s

Procession of the Holy Carpet

A vanished, rather homely and charming rite of the Islamic religion.



Full essay here.

At the beginning of the century, there were several types of popular ceremonies in Egypt that have disappeared or faded with time. One such ceremony is the procession of “El Mahmal” or “The Holy Carpet.”

The yearly celebration involved the Egyptian government manufacturing a new cover for the Holy Kaaba and offering it to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After the cover is prepared in the factory, a large ceremony takes place in Cairo, where a parade organised by the Egyptian army tours the different districts of the city.

The parade included a caravan of decorated camels carrying the Holy Carpet, as well as many other gifts. After the caravan ends its tour in Cairo, it starts its long trip, guarded by the Egyptian army, across the eastern desert, then on to the Suez Canal and Sinai till it reaches Palestine.

From Palestine, it goes directly to Saudi Arabia, crossing its northern borders to the heart of Hijaz, then to Mecca. Normally it reached Mecca before the pilgrimage season, where another ceremony takes place that ends with the covering of the Kaaba with the Holy Carpet.

Posted By: Paul - Sun May 06, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Religion, Interior Decorating, Middle East, Twentieth Century

Saint Mary of the Highways



‘Saint Mary of the Highways’ I & II are names of two trailer chapels operated by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Designed by George F. Chaplain, one was built in 1938 and the second in 1948. They were dedicated by Bishop Ireton. Purchased by the donations of the people at the cost of $10,000 each, they contain church equipment, public address system and living accommodations for two priests. During the summer, programs of Scripture, music, prayer, question answering, sermons, movies and literature are presented daily. You are invited to visit the Chapel on the road, or at our home in Richmond.


Postcard source.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 26, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Religion, 1930s, 1940s

Carrying the cross against feminism

Given the point she was trying to make, seems like it would have been more appropriate to drag her husband as he reclined in a rickshaw, or something along those lines.

Baltimore Sun - July 21, 1997



The Guardian - July 22, 1997

Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 13, 2018 - Comments (6)
Category: Religion, Gender, Women, 1990s

The Blessing of the Bras

June 1986: "Buddhist priests blessed 200,000 used brassieres yesterday in a temple memorial service for cast-off underwear."

Tampa Tribune - June 8, 1986



Philadelphia Daily News - June 7, 1986

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 09, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Religion, Underwear, 1980s

Parachuting off St. Paul’s

Another one of those odd attempts by church leaders to win youth to the church by trying to make it out to be not quite as stuffy and old-fashioned as everyone thinks.



San Antonio Express - Sep 28, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 02, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Religion, 1960s

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