Probably other people in the small group did, too. It’s not that elaborate, either; it’s in the same class as card tricks and only impressive-looking until you know how it’s done.

The thing that bothers me the most is that people who claim to believe in God resort to cheesy stage magic illusions. It’s hard to imagine a justification for this that is internally consistent. It’s certainly not a moral act.

Take a soldier who had his leg blown off in Iraq. Sit him down and pray over him and watch a brand new leg appear where there used to be a stump. THAT would be a miracle. Nobody could dispute that. It doesn’t happen, though. Just low-class stage illusions and suggestions.

He then prayed a very simple prayer, and I saw the left leg grow, over a couple of seconds, slowing till it stopped at the same length as the right (like some CGI special effect). I didn’t speak to her afterwards, just accepted what I had seen.

There was no hype, and no mention of it when the same man spoke in our large church a few days later (with no further miracles). He seemed quite sane and down-to-earth, and would not have benefited in any way I could see from performing an elaborate hoax in such a ‘quiet’ manner.

Whether you believe or not, why not just let people choose for themselves!

Thank you,

Naomi

Um, Naomi, where is anyone being forced to NOT believe, hmm? Name one? So then, where is this “allow people to believe what they want to believe in” nonsense coming from?

People can and do believe whatever they want and facts and evidence don’t really count for much in general. The sociological evidence tells us that beliefs that are socially and personally pleasing take priority over hard facts and evidence by a wide margin.

If anyone is prevented from believing what they want, it would be non-believers who are often punished for not being part of organized religion. They still get to “believe what they want” of course, but they often pay a high price for it.

I agree, let people choose! But it must be an INFORMED choice. Give them real information, not made-up stories spoken as if they were truth. And I’m not talking about your personal faith here but the creationist nonsense referenced in the article.

Come on, Adam and Eve riding dinosaurs? Really, doc? Seriously, doctor to doctor (you=geology/me=theology) even I never taught or accepted that nonsense. Furthermore, because I’m old I can tell you that young earth creationism was not part of 20th century mainstream Christianity until very recently (more the realm of small wacky fundamentalist cults). I did not learn it in seminary and would not even consider teaching it to schoolchildren.

I don’t have a problem with someone believing in God ..well, unless you think God is telling you to kill people or something. Otherwise, it’s fine. However, I DO object to dogmatic religious interpretations of the world being taught along side actual evidence as if they were equal if not superior.

The church has faced many choices over the centuries: Organized religion opposed the idea of a round earth, they fought viciously against the outrageous notion that the earth revolves around the sun and mainstream religion even opposed antibiotics. All of these things, like creationism, stem from a possible interpretation of the Bible.

You still have active flat-Earth people who start with a religious premise based on the Bible and then try to “prove” their claims by attempting to criticize and question actual science. Like creationists they demand that school children should be taught their flat earth theory alongside actual science so that they can “decide for themselves.” They are no different than the young earth creationists cited in the article EXCEPT that hardly anyone takes them seriously. However both doctrines are equally foolish.

So when you say, Naomi, “why not just let people choose for themselves” I say AMEN! But in order to make a choice, people need REAL information backed up with actual facts, not stories, legends and Bible proof-texting.