Fingers Crucifixed...

[Birchy]

Is there a place within Christianity for superstition? Would a Roman Catholic - say - not walk under a ladder etc. yet still feel comfortable doing so, without it being in conflict with their religious beliefs?

[incitatus]

Christianity IS a superstition. But it is an exclusive one that tends not to tolerate others.....Roman Catholics are not supposed to pay heed to superstitions that have not been recognised by the church....so they can throw Holy Water over their shoulder but not salt...however in practice most country's with a deep christian heritage are also deeply superstitious. RC's in particular are encouraged to believe in the devil as a real force, so superstitious fervour is encouraged, but using any other than prescribed means to deal with it is proscribed. The upshot of this is that if a RC sees one magpie he can take it as a ploy of the evil one and pray for help, or summon a priest to bless him, but he cannot salute it to take away the bad luck because its sinfull. A sociological analysis of this comes down to the consolidation of a power base within a primitive semitheocratic society. P.S. I always thought the thing about not walking under ladders was common sense, not superstition....

[Birchy]

Didn't the ladder thing have something to do with breaking the Holy Trinity?

[incitatus]

I thought it was because someone would drop something on your head.

[andy hughes]

I always thought the 'ladder' superstition was rooted in the days when summary justice was more common, and a quick method of lynching someone was to pop a ladder against a wall, and hang the victim from it. Thus if you went under the ladder, you could be seen as assisting in the victim's escape, and finish with the same fate. Of course, this does not detract from the practicaity of avoiding something being dropped on you from above. I always check, and walk under ladders anyway, I'm just awkward like that!