The religious conception of "miracle"

From The Political Carnival
(Click on the link to read more)


An L.A. Times reader wrote a letter to the editor about it, and Krauss responded. I found this last part of his reply fascinating:

If someone were to regenerate an amputated arm or jump off a building and fall up instead of down, that would be worth thinking about. But attributing to divine providence more simple things like being cured of diseases that sometimes go into spontaneous remission is stale and vapid.

In themselves, irrational beliefs are not harmful or bad, I suppose. It doesn't hurt anyone for a person to believe in, say, unicorns. But such beliefs become dangerous when they cause people to behave in self-abusive ways, such as avoiding good medical care in the hopes that a god will cure you. This is a major problem with miracles.

Finally, it is telling that there is no evidence, in all of human history, of a miracle that has been validated by entities that are not affiliated with churches.