Google| Subject | Re: OT: For those who Doubt |
| From | Mike Scott Rohan |
| Date | 10/08/2001 13:30 (10/08/2001 12:30) |
| Message-ID | <2001100812303671187@asgard.zetnet.co.uk> |
| Client | |
| Newsgroups | alt.fan.tolkien |
| Follows | Flame of the West |
| Followups | the softrat (5h & 46m) |
The message <3BC07907.21D0C56D@erols.com> from Flame of the West <spamkiller@erols.com>contains these words:
Flame of the West
"?jevind L?ng" wrote:
?jevind L?ng
Some people have simply pointed out that two pieces of iron welded together so as to form a cross do not really constitute a miracle.
Flame of the WestIf one accepts religion, and Christianity in particular, then IMHO it's not unreasonable to consider this a sign, a consolation perhaps if less than a miracle. If one doesn't, it's a coincidence. In other words, it's just like any other article of faith. What makes a difference is how it's treated and interpreted, and by whom.
Such people have constructed a straw man which they use to mock the belief of the resuce workers. Anyone who read the article should know that the alleged miracle was not that the beams were welded in the first place, but rather that these particular beams and weld survived the blast intact. Now, I have no idea how extraordinary this really was, but I think it's inappropriate to mock the rescue workers from afar until one knows a little more.
One can imagine it being "marketed" by the televangelists in the crassest manner; but then they nauseate plenty of genuine Christians, anyway -- probably the majority. But if you're a rescue worker, harried, exhausted and traumatized by sifting out the burned and shattered fragments of thousands of murdered people -- your own colleagues included, perhaps -- you can hardly be blamed for seeking some fragment of meaning among it all, and perhaps some alternative to undiluted vengefulness, understandable as that is. I'm not religious myself, but I wouldn't have any trouble with that.
-- mike.scott.rohan@asgard.zetnet.co.uk
10/06/2001-
