Okay, I’ll stipulate that money can be made from religious relics. I don’t neccesarily believe that the Church is involved in any sort of campaign to commercialize the shroud though but that could be because of my faith. If so, I’m probably ill equipped to argue the point.
Still, there were other questions which you haven’t addressed. Let me refresh your mrmory:
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If some talented painter faked it, who paid him, and why? Even if some medieval artist painted it (which I doubt) why would he do it and why not take credit for his work?
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While I’m open to reasonable arguements I have to warn you that I try hard to stay away from mud-slinging and if this degenerates into an electronic pissing contest I’ll merely stop responding. I don’t believe you normally do that sort of thing but I think it’s fair to establish ground rules before the game.
Yes, there were other questions which I haven’t addressed. Is that a problem? God didn’t answer many of Job’s questions. And, yes, I’m not God (G-d to some observant Jews) and you’re not Job, either, but if you float me a softball like “Who benefits?”, I’ll swing for the far edge of the parking lot on the other side of the fence. I ain’t got all the answers, but I King-Kong-kick-butt answered the easy one.