I enjoy reading the various blogs that pop up in my WordPress reader and I generally respond if I take great interest in the topic. So I see “Why Do People Ask For Miracles?” and the first paragraph begins:

Why do people demand a miracle from God so that they may believe? For an Atheist and Agnostic, they want God to show up at their front door proving that He exists.

As most of you know, I tend to talk philosophies, worldviews and theism. I have been trying to be unbiased, taking the middle ground, really like to learn how people think but… then one group bashes the other and I feel the need to speak up.

The first question I ask, so I am perfectly clear, is how one defines the topic at hand. How Do you define a Miracle? He defined it:

A miracle to be very basic is something that occurs that would be scientifically impossible or a situation that’s out of your control but changes to your good or someone else.

The first thing I did was the address the atheism/agnostic comment. I made mention to the author that what he is writing is an oxymoron. An atheist, for instance, has no belief in god and would not be requesting something as mystical as a miracle. However, I’m quite sure even if an Atheist or Agnostic asked for a TRUE miracle and it came true and more so if God showed up a their front door, the atheist or agnostic would become a believer.

My bigger question is why does it matter?

When I mentioned, historically, miracles have been said to have happened in many religions the author responded by telling me those miracles are the work of the devil, that other religions are false religions. I asked if Judaism was a false religion the author affirmed his belief that Judaism is a false religion.

It was at this point that my responses, even to others who were proselytizing me, were not approved. (of course, I just contacted them outside the blog and had a great conversation with one of them)

My message pointing out stating Jesus was born a Jew and that the Torah/Talmud is part of what he considers the Old Testament. Could this be the work of the devil? Is Jesus’s religion a false religion? How could the author claim that Judaism is false?

It’s ironic, a funny thing popped up on that blog, the same author had another article about Miracles and then it kind of hit me. Maybe it will hit you too.

The author’s air conditioning unit has not worked in a year. He explains that his windows did not have blinds and that the association was going to fine him $100 if he didn’t get blinds/curtains for his windows! He was angry! But relented in purchasing blinds… He was happy to have a little miracle from God, those blinds blocked the sun and the house was 10 degrees cooler!

I often close my shades to cool off my house in the summer and open them to warm up the house in the winter! No miracle here.

But wait, his neighbor was having his air conditioning worked on, his neighbor and him shared a drainage pipe. Well, the repairman did something that caused water to come into his unit. The repairman agreed to clean things up. The author asked the repairman if he could look at his air conditioning unit and he agreed. The repairman really didn’t find any issues other than a $160 part but told him he would give him a deal and replace the part for $135. Is this a miracle?

If he would have gotten it inspected, he wouldn’t have had to suffer for a year.

I have a friend who told me god guided him as well. He was on a trail in Arizona and somehow got lost. He tried to find his way back, was running out of water, he felt like he was going to pass out. He prayed and.. a cool breeze came over him and not much later, he found the trail again… When he told me this and told me this was proof of god. Now he was all bent out of shape how no atheist was going to tell him there was no god, he had proof and here it was…. Was this a miracle?

I really wanted to tell him that the year prior, I had a similar experience. I was hiking about 20 miles on a trail, while I did not get lost, the day was hotter than expected. I thought I planned it correctly but ran low on water and food. I was about 4 miles away and just felt horrible, I knew I had food and water in the car but I went from sweating to not and then as I got closer to the end of the trail, I too felt cool, my body was probably 101 degrees and the air temp was near 90… my body was dehydrated! No miracle here!

Sorry… I strayed from my question:
My bigger question is why does it matter?

There are countless Religions, Worldviews and Philosophies in the world. We each follow our own path in life and we follow the path that works for us. If my path works for me, why would someone tell me my path is wrong, the devil is leading the way? It is a false religion (philosophy/worldview)? Why is it inconceivable that there is more than one way?… well, yeah, I understand some people are blinded and manipulated by religion but why can’t they see that they are the ones who are inheritantly evil to other people?… ah, it’s all rhetorical.

Just wish they would wake up.

 

 

 

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