Jesus Shows Up in Unexpected Places
August 6th, 2009
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Oh sure, we know Jesus Christ likes to make his presence known in things like grease stains and grilled cheese sandwiches, but a Las Vegas Bumper sticker on a toilet seat?
Of course it seems these days that any time someone sees a random pattern that kinda, sorta, maybe looks a little bit like it could be a human face, it’s clear proof of Jesus dropping a calling card. Bonus points if it looks like it might be bearded! The alternate, and far less exciting, explanation is that it is simply an example of pareidolia, the tendency of the human brain to look for patterns in otherwise random visual stimuli. This effect seems to be especially acute when it comes to the human face, allowing the brain to find an apparent face in patterns that have only the most vague resemblance to a face.
Personally, I can see what looks kinda sorta like a face and a bearded one at that. I don’t see Jesus though.
A bit more similar?
Besides, if this was some kind of spiritual manifestation, it seems like toilet seats and Las vegas bumper stickers would be more up Grigori Rasputin’s ally anyway.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 3:25 pm and is filed under Bad Science, Culture, Just LAME, Misc, religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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August 6th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I can see Rasputin, but I also can see George Harrison during his bearded phase. I don’t see Jesus, but I also have no idea what Jesus would have actually looked like.
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August 6th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
So … Grigori Rasputin was really Jesus?
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August 6th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Definitely the Mad Monk of Moscow.
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August 6th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
So is this an example of ‘infotainment’? In some countries we dont have it (yet).
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August 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Yeoz said:
I don’t know about that. I don’t find it informative at all and it’s not all that entertaining either.
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August 6th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I definitely do not see Jesus in that. I don’t know if I’d see Rasputin if it were not suggested, but between the two, I would say it looks a lot more like Rasputin. I can see a thick long beard and a heavy brow ridge in it. I’d vote for Rasputin unless someone could find another that it looks like. Sorry, I don’t see George Harrison.
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August 7th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Well holy crap!
You’d think that anyone, even without a full education in the finer points of human perception, would realize that if you have enough stains, smears, streaks and smudges, some of them are going to look like something, just by dumb luck.
This woman is protecting this and not allowing her family to use the bathroom? Of all the stupid crazy things one could possibly do to make themselves look like the complete idiot of the week.
By the way, I let out a good laugh at your conclusion of the identity of the image. No doubt about it. If it is anyone recognizable, it’s Rasputin.
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August 7th, 2009 at 4:38 am
Wow. I don’t see Jesus but I can see Rasputin. Maybe if this could be brought to their attention they’d stop stupidly “protecting” the toilet. They’d still be really stupid though.
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August 7th, 2009 at 4:56 am
I think I might have come up with Charley Manson, but Rasputin is even better. Complete with the heavy brows and the scowled look
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August 7th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Sorry, but I cannot resist… If you take a dump, while sitting on a seat that has a picture of JC on it, is it a holy sh*t?
Be careful with the Rasputin thing, someone will claim it is proof that the anti-Christ is here. : ) I cannot remember which one, but there was a Civil War general that looks like this image.
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August 7th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I consider myself a Christian, which might seperate me from the others on this page. I still find this kind of thing ridiculous and stupid. Every time there is a pattern on someone’s screen door or driveway it’s supposed to be a sign from above. I like to think that if God wanted to make his presence known to us or inspire someone, he would do better than a dumb parlor trick. It doesn’t even look that much like anything.
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August 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
To their credit, the Catholic church, along with most of the more traditional churches (Anglican, Episcopal and so on) have a policy of not sanctifying or confirming this kind of lunacy. That doesn’t stop members of those denominations from seeing this as a miracle. Most of their members are rational enough to see the silliness, but there are always the lunatic fringe.
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August 26th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I see more Rasputin than Jesus. That is for sure.
I always found Rasputin to be a fascinating character. All the pictures you see, he looks like the scariest guy you can imagine. Somehow he did not come across like this. He seems like he must have been charming in person. He had no problem finding women to adore him and even with men, he seemed to usually be disarming and liked. The Czar seemed to have no issues with him spending a lot of time with his wife and he even made Rasputin a kind of unofficial advisory. He had many followers.
It just seems so strange. Who would trust that guy? There were some who distrusted him, but he had a way of gaining power and making allies in the upper circles of society.
All I can think is that in person he probably was very good as an actor, or was when he had to be. He may have started out speaking gently and seeming more like a favorite grandfather or an honest holy-man and not the mad monk he was.
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August 27th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I think Rasputin operated a lot like cult leaders do. It was not simply a matter of having charisma, but also of knowing how to recognize those who were weak and receptive to the ploy. Those who needed something to cling to or a message to give them purpose are the ones who fall for someone like that. This included the Russian royal family. The Czar was about as committed and strong a leader as a wet noodle and the family was obsessed with trying to find a cure for their hemophiliac son.
Certainly some saw through him or didn’t trust him. The Russian Orthodox Church generally did not like Rasputin and the elite in Saint Petersberg were mostly distant from him, with a few exceptions. He had followers just like a cult leader does. You can look at a madman like David Koresh and wonder why people would drop everything to follow him, but it’s the same basic thing.
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