Posted by Formo-Mormo on January 1st, 2009
We all know that the Lord is rad right? He cares about who wins football games, can help you find your car keys, and of course should be the one credited for watching out for those extreme athletes.
“God looked after him. He made him safe and kept him safe.”
This is a quote from the mother of a snowboarder that was missing for three days on Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. The young man was found by the North Shore Rescue Team and is being treated for frostbite on his hands and feet.
Frostbite is no picnic, if serious enough he may have his hands and/or feet amputated.
So here’s my question, just what did God do for this young man? Why does he/she/it deserve any credit at all? How did God keep this young man alive? Perhaps God, if he really cared, would have prevented this fellow from getting lost in the first place. Perhaps he would have helped rescuers find the man after one day instead of three.
How about all of those people that have died on a mountain, that weren’t found in time? I guess God didn’t care about them. That God sure is a picky bastard isn’t he?
If they survive, God gets the credit for keeping them safe. If they perish, then it was “their time”. Either way, God comes out as the good guy. I suppose it’s comforting for a parent to believe that God was watching out for their child; it wouldn’t comfort me much, God doesn’t have a good track record of helping protect children.
Tags: miracle
Category: Atheism & Agnosticism, Critical Thinking, Superstition
Posted by Magdalene on December 24th, 2008
I recently got Fox News; call it a hate hobby. I had it on for not 5 minutes when I learned this penetrating piece of news…an angel has been spotted outside the hospital room of teenage Chelsea Banton in North Carolina. The angel healed Chelsea (who was this close to getting taken off life support!) thanks to the vast quantity of praying the family was up to.
Chelsea’s mom had the good sense to snap a photo of the monitor on which the angel made its appearance. She also noted the light appeared at the one time on this rainy day when the sun made an appearance.
Chelsea will celebrate her 15th birthday tomorrow, which is Christmas. Coincidence? I think not!
No word on whether the doctors and nurses of the pediatric intensive care unit mind sharing the credit for Chelsea’s survival with the Heavenly Host.
Tags: angel, Chelsea Banton, miracle
Category: Christianity, Critical Thinking, Superstition
Posted by Formo-Mormo on February 3rd, 2008
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Alberta parents of ‘miracle baby’ return home
This link tells the story of an Alberta woman who gave birth by c-section, then had 8 hours of operation to repair a tear in her aorta, which was only discovered through test she had because of the pregnancy, which was brought about by in-vitro fertilization because she has a hormonal disorder called Addison’s disease.
The word Miracle is used 4 times (including identifying the babies name) to describe these circumstances.
While it is certainly unusual, I ask, where is the miracle?
I think that people use the word “miracle” too liberally, because what they really often mean is “amazing” or “unusual”. A “miracle” by definition is something supernatural, against the laws of nature as we understand them, perhaps even a work of God; none of those are in play here.
The mother stated…
“She was special before,” said the joyful mother about her newborn. “She was one of four embryos that survived, the rest didn’t survive. So there was a reason. She saved my life and I saved her life.”
She is saying that there was a “reason” that this embryo survived, by some cosmic hand, she was there to save her mothers life. She is not using miracle the less common definition of a wonder or a marvel, she is citing a supernatural influence in these circumstances.
This happy ending was due to the amazing wonders of modern science, and that is all. That is what enabled the pregnancy, detected the heart condition and repaired the heart condition; God had nothing to do with it.
If this was a product of divine intervention I might ask, why did God allow her to have Addison’s disease or the heart condition to begin with?
I believe that the credit should be given to where it’s due, the doctors that performed the procedures, the scientists and researchers that developed the techniques and the parents and baby that withstood it all.
Tags: magical thinking, medicine, miracle
Category: Superstition
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