Those crazy Christians!

[Th1onein]

The anti-swine flu holy water dispenser

Inventor Luciano Marabese displays a prototype of his holy water dispenser at his office in Capriano … Wed Nov 11, 1:34 pm ET
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian inventor has combined faith and ingenuity to come up with a way to keep church traditions alive for the faithful without the fear of contracting swine flu -- an electronic holy water dispenser.

The terracotta dispenser, used in the northern town of Fornaci di Briosco, functions like an automatic soap dispenser in public washrooms -- a churchgoer waves his or her hand under a sensor and the machine spurts out holy water.

"It has been a bit of a novelty. People initially were a bit shocked by this technological innovation but then they welcomed it with great enthusiasm and joy. The members of this parish have got used to it," said Father Pierangelo Motta.

Catholics entering and leaving churches usually dip their hands into fonts full of holy water -- which has been blessed by a priest -- and make the sign of the cross.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091111/od_nm/us_italy_flu_holywater_odd

[Taverner]

1. Anything to stop the spread of H1N1

[Th1onein]

2. Absolutely.

This is a smart move.

[Swede]

3. And vampires.

Don't forget vampires.

[hypocrisyandlies]

4. So they are no longer sharing handwater...

When will they all stop drinking out of the same wine glass?

[emilyg]

5. We never did.

The dispensor is a good idea.

[hypocrisyandlies]

6. I was raised catholic

and at my church every single person drank out of one of two glasses. The person serving it would wipe the rim with a towel after each person drank. I would always refuse the wine because of this.

[dsc]

7. that stopped ages ago in most places

now the wafer is dipped in the glass. AIDS put a stop to the shared glass.

[hypocrisyandlies]

9. Wyoming and Colorado may just be behind the curve.

The last time I went to church, about 3 years ago, they were still using the community glass. And AIDS put a stop to it? You would need to drink gallons of someones spit to catch AIDS from them. People are funny.

[dsc]

10. in the early part of the epidemic people were scared to death

and over reacted. I think afterward, people just got used to the new way.

[bettyellen]

11. yes, believe it or not, there was a time that people didn't know how AIDS was spread

[Obamanaut]

13. There was a shared goblet at my sister's funeral service a couple

of months ago - Episcopal church. People who felt like they may be ill, or had symptoms, passed on sharing with an upraised hand.

I don't go to church, have not for awhile, so this whole this seemed rather strange.

[emilyg]

12. I was raised Catholic, too and

in my churches we never did.

[XanaDUer]

8. It's a good idea.

NT.