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Your position would argue for a sinless Joseph as well, would it not?

No, it wouldn't. Mary was the actual Mother of God, she carried Him in her womb for 9 months and gave birth to the Second Person of the Trinity. Joseph on the other hand was Mary's husband and companion and the foster father of Our Lord but he had no blood kinship with Our Lord.

No, it wouldn't. Mary was the actual Mother of God, she carried Him in her womb for 9 months and gave birth to the Second Person of the Trinity. Joseph on the other hand was Mary's husband and companion and the foster father of Our Lord but he had no blood kinship with Our Lord.

So Jesus was under no obligation to "honor" Joseph growing up? Does a child today have any obligation, under the fourth commandment, to honor his stepfather? Would he be justified in rebellion against a stepfather for lack of blood relation? The Catholic Encyclopedia explains the fourth commandment as follows:

"Finally, parents being the natural providence of their offspring, invested with authority for their guidance and correction, and holding the place of God before them, the child is bidden to honour and respect them as His lawful representatives" (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04153a.htm)

Was Joseph one of the "parents" of Jesus? Was Joseph the "lawful representative" of the child Jesus? Did Joseph have authority for the guidance of the child Jesus?

If you're going to invoke the fourth commandment as a rationalization for a sinless Mary, then you also need a sinless Joseph.

Nyer and others posted SEVERAL worth while articles about the importance of Mary last week.

I beleive the idea of immaculate conception to be a flawed attempt to make scripture work with the doctrine of inherited guilt for the original sin, however the importance of Mary is quite another matter, there is overwhelming support in scripture new and old testament regarding the importance of Mary.