The miraculous gorilla in the room

There are tens of thousands of religions on this Earth. Each claims to be the only "true" religion.

If any one of these religions possessed the unvarnished truth and thus had access to the one true God, shouldn't we expect to see endless miracles occurring within this group? Shouldn't they be able to raise the dead, and whatnot? And wouldn't that make it stick out like a sore thumb among the "untrue" religions?

I don't see that religion anywhere, do you? I'm just saying.

Headline of the week

Yup, it's over at HuffPo. Here it is, in all its glory:

Mystery "angel" priest allegedly performs "miracle", disappears

It never gets any better, does it? American nitwits love their angels and miracles. It's like they're brain-damaged.

Beware: There is an autoplay video at that link. That's another brain-dead thing: autoplay. Sheesh.

Dead pope still quite active

I love the saint stuff. It's my favorite Catholic failing.

Pope John Paul II is speeding along the fast track towards sainthood. The late Pope has reportedly performed a second “extraordinary healing” that Vatican sources say will “amaze the world.”

Wow, just wow!

A commission of theologians has already approved the miracle, a Vatican official confirmed.

That's it, then. Case closed. My personal thanks to the theologians!

The first time John Paul interceded from beyond the grave, he reportedly helped cure a French nun named Sister Marie Simon-Pierre who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. He was beatified for that miracle in 2011.

Watta guy! And you gotta remember: he's dead! Again: just wow!

Also, too

I want to add something to what I said yesterday about the media's insistence on lathering disaster news with talk of god and miracles. It doesn't have to be this way.

Some people believe in god. I understand this and have no problem with the tendency of believers who survive a tragedy to say that god saved them. It's an awful, hateful message to those who weren't "saved", but hey, people can believe whatever they want. This is America.

The problem is with the media. If they took their jobs seriously, they could perform such a vital function. (I hear they used to, but this may be just a rumor.)

What I object to is the lumping together of religion and tragedy as one. It would be so much more useful if the media reported on the different ways that people respond to tragedy. Yes, some seek an outlet in faith. And by all means, report on that. But many others find solace through helping people. It should be made clear that these are two separate things.

On the one hand, there are people who talk to an imaginary creature when things get scary. But others respond by getting things done and helping people in need. The problem is that the media doesn't differentiate between the two streams: religious and secular. They just mush it all together, drape a flag over it and say "Here you go!" It would be much more helpful to report that people respond in different ways. Yes, some turn to prayer, but others don't -- they just get out there and help.

There are people that own restaurants and, upon seeing a major tragedy, shut down their place of business and bring a grill and tables to the affected area. Others rush to a Home Depot and buy many boxes of work gloves, to hand out to people picking through the rubble. Others go to half-destroyed houses and try to help the owners pull their lives back together.

Yes, at times these efforts are undertaken because a person's religion makes them feel they should help others. But much help arrives with a simple, secular message: I want to be kind to others because it's the right thing to do. The media doesn't report that second message.

It's not just a big ice cream sundae with god sprinkled over the top. The media could make this clear but they don't. This is what drives me crazy. With a little care and forethought, they could deliver an intelligent news flow -- but that never happens.

USA! USA! USA!