Philosophy of Religion |
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Miracle or not ?
IMAGES: Miracle pictures in Islam http://www.islamcan.com/miracles/index.shtml Virgin Mary on Wall http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4468275.stm Virgin Mary on Toast $28,000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4034787.stm Nun Bun or Mother Theresa Bun stolen http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4562170.stm Miracle Tortilla http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/1016 IMAGES and VIDEOS with examples of such perceptions of phenomena as Pareidolia : http://www.yoism.org/?q=node/129 The human ability to interpret essentially random patterns of images or sounds as some recognizable image or sound or pattern is known as pareidolia, a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something known and that is clear and distinct. This is demonstrated by humans thinking that they see the image of a man in the surface of the moon once prompted to look at it that way or perhaps arriving at the pattern on their own. Similarly looking at clouds in order to see what patterns they may contain or suggest that resemble animals or some other well known shapes. The images , known as simulacra, are identified by the brain with some prior image or pattern. "Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia See further:
"Carl Sagan
hypothesized that as a survival technique, human beings are "hard-wired"
from birth to identify the human face. This allows people to use only
minimal details to recognize faces from a distance and in poor
visibility but can also lead them to interpret random images or patterns
of light and shade as being faces." Read: Rorschach Icons by Joe Nickell Skeptical Inquirer magazine, Volume 28, Number 6, November/December 2004 http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-11/i-files.htmlThe phenomena is demonstrated in what people think that they see in clouds, windows with condensation on them, ink blots, or even on food items such as beans or in bagels or on cinnamon buns or grilled cheese sandwiches and the like. The phenomena is also observed with sounds with what is known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) or "white noise" or in a popular form known as "Raudive voices". When people think that they hear a sound or see an image that does not exist at all the mental phenomena is known as apophenia, the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness of unrelated phenomena. The term was coined by K. Conrad in 1958 . When looking at tables of numbers or looking at statistical reports and finding some special message or significance in those figures , apophenia is called a Type I error. It is highly probable that apophenia is involved in a number of reports of phenomena that cannot be confirmed with empirical investigations such as those falling into the realm of the spiritual, supernatural or paranormal, including apparent appearances of ghosts or reports of events that are attributed to a haunting , Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) or "white noise", perhaps in forms of numerology and in claims about deciphering messages in large amounts of text such as with the Bible Code claims. People tend to "read into" text what they want to find there in the case of large amounts of text such as the Bible or in vaguely phrased texts such as the work of Nostradamus. In the context of religion with these phenomena people see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. OTHER FORMS of MIRACLE CLAIMS: Spontaneous Remissions in Medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission Weeping Statues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue Weeping Paintings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue#Weeping_paintings VIDEOS: PENN and TELLER: Signs from Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOJ7Pi1XJPE DERREN BROWN: Miracles for Sale Faith Healing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYjgeayfYPI Miracle Detectives - Mysterious Oils: Skeptic Meets a Believer 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iv4guojV6w2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xUyRIJmgpg&feature=endscreen&NR=1Miracle Detectives - Holy Dirt of Chimayo: Healing Testimony http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=s_0K6JKoD10FALSE PROPHET-PETER POPOFF- MIRACLES SCAMS EXPOSED-James Randi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXV3eZXu0R8Quranic miracles debunked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAhKJX2vlvESolving Mysteries - Exploring the Science of Miracles Luigi Garlaschelli Liquifying Blood –Stigmata-Shroud of Turin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy0lKylQRY READ: Joe Nickell, Examining Miracle Claims: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/joe_nickell/miracles.html BURDEN OF PROOF You cannot claim that "miracles exist unless someone proves that they do not exist." The burden of proof is always on the claim that X exists rather than on the claim that X does not exist. It is a fallacy to claim that X exists unless you prove that there is no X. What is improper is for a person to claim that "X exists" and when asked to prove it the person who made the claim uses as a defense of "X exists" the claim next claim that no one has proven that X does not exist. IMPORTANT!!!!! READ: The Burden of Proof
BIBLICAL MIRACLES: FACT OR FICTION? by Garry K. Brantley, M.A., M.Div.http://www.cdk.si/grz/relig_ic_e.htm
http://relfrauds.www4.50megs.com/christianity/miracleclaims.html
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/miracles/ http://www.mcn.org/1/Miracles/ http://www.homestead.com/whitebuffalomiracle/index.html http://www.mcn.org/1/Miracles/aids.html ************************************************** www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/NMLAKtortilla.html www.envasion.net/2003/jesustree.html ***************************************************
http://www.asap4sm.com/stories/Living%20Proof.cfm http://users.aol.com/myjournal/modmirac.htm http://reformedanswers.org/qapt_answer.asp/file/99792.qna http://www.carm.org/evidence/miracles.htm http://www.geocities.com/~quddus/Christian/1miracles.html SUGGESTED READINGS MIRACLES A. INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA of PHILOSOPHY: http://www.iep.utm.edu/miracles/ B. WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles C. STANFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA of PHILOSOPHY http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/miracles/ D. Joe Nickell, Examining Miracle Claims: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/joe_nickell/miracles.html E. Spontaneous Remissions in Medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_remission OTHER: Weeping Statues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue Weeping Paintings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_statue#Weeping_paintings Perceptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptions_of_religious_imagery_in_natural_phenomena Simulacrum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacrum Pareidolia chttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia SUGGESTED IMAGES: MIRACLES Miracle pictures in Islam http://www.islamcan.com/miracles/index.shtml Virgin Mary on Wall http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4468275.stm Virgin Mary on Toast $28,000 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4034787.stm Nun Bun or Mother Theresa Bun stolen http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4562170.stm Pareidolia http://www.yoism.org/?q=node/129 Miracle Tortilla http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10166 SUGGESTED VIDEOS: MIRACLES Solving Mysteries - Exploring the Science of MiraclesLuigi Garlaschelli Liquifying Blood –Stigmata-Shroud of Turin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy0lKylQRYPENN and TELLER: Signs from Heaven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOJ7Pi1XJPE DERREN BROWN: Miracles for Sale Faith Healing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYjgeayfYPI Miracle Detectives - Mysterious Oils: Skeptic Meets a Believer 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iv4guojV6w2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xUyRIJmgpg&feature=endscreen&NR=1Miracle Detectives - Holy Dirt of Chimayo: Healing Testimony http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=s_0K6JKoD10FALSE PROPHET-PETER POPOFF- MIRACLES SCAMS EXPOSED-James Randi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXV3eZXu0R8Quranic miracles debunked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAhKJX2vlvE*************************************************** Is the following story really about a miracle? Are Miracles Real? A BORN-AGAIN SKEPTIC Although sympathetic with my excitement about miracles, many skeptics ignored what I thought was the great and reassuring news about miracles. They said that what I was calling a miracle was only a short and temporary reprieve from certain death. They said that my 'remarkable recovery' was purely the result of statistical good luck, an extremely unlikely numerical fluke that happens occasionally but is only a mathematical necessity that must pop up from time to time by predicted rules, and at best only a sort of "scientific mini-miracle" that is no big news at all and undeserving of any further explanation beyond that of one of those extremely low-probability happenings that must occur from time to time. I was often criticized for my Maui love-blindness that some said had clouded my scientific objectivity. I was told that I had lost the necessary skepticism of the scientist -- but according to Webster's dictionary, I, in fact, now considered myself even more of a skeptic post-miracle than before. For Webster defines a skeptic as someone who is thoughtful, inquiring, and willing to suspend judgment on matters not generally accepted. I am a much more thoughtful skeptic now. I am willing to suspend judgment about matters such as life after death, reincarnation, so-called psychic "psi" experiences, the meaning and role of consciousness, and other challenges to mainstream science. I am willing to consider the normalcy of what scientists like to call the "para-normal" and to avoid sliding from reflective skepticism into the closed-mind cynicism that renders, in the words of scientist Theodosius Dobzhansky ..... no evidence powerful enough to force acceptance of a conclusion that is emotionally distasteful. Nothing sets you to thinking more about what science sees as the weird things of life than coming face-to-face with your own mortality. RAINBOW REMINDERS As my miracle and I mature together, I have come to realize that nature keeps reminding us with events like rainbows that there is something immensely greater and wiser than ourselves and that we do not have to choose between science and spirituality. We can celebrate the powerful insights of science without sacrificing spirituality's more subtle sacred wisdom. Rainbows need not be seen as less miraculous because science can explain them as images created by sunlight refracting through tiny water droplets. The "wow" of the sudden appearance of evidence of a unique sun and water union is not diminished just because we understand the "how". Miracle makers allow ourselves to be struck dumb with wonder at rainbows and nature's benevolent willingness to give us a peek at the grandeur of life. Scientists may know how rainbows form, but miracle makers understand why they are given to us -- heavenly reminders of the miraculous. THE MYTH OF FALSE HOPE More than ten years after medical science said I should have been dead, I am here today to report that I am even more hopeful about the fact that miracles happen and not at all concerned about raising false hope. After a decade of learning and talking about miracles, I know now that my celebration of miracles is not creating false hope any more than telling patients to eat a healthy diet and exercise creates a false hope of a long life. Some who follow the recommendations for a perfect diet and compulsively jog each morning still die untimely deaths, but this does not mean the recommendations for healthy eating and exercise or the hope for a longer and healthier life were false. When it comes to healing, there is no such thing as "false" hope if embracing the possibility of impossibilities can provide some comfort and loving energy when we and those who love us need it the most. When I was dying, I was not too choosy about the nature of hope as long as I could find some. WHY MAUI? WHY YOU? People wrote me from around the world wanting to know why I was blessed with a miracle while others did not seem to be. I have been repeatedly asked, "Is there a 'miracle-prone' personality?"' "How did you do it?" "How can I make a miracle?" I used to avoid trying to answer these questions and I am still not sure what to say. Even after a decade, I am still relatively new at dealing with miracles, humbled by the experience, and certainly no expert. I do know, however, that having a positive attitude, never giving up, and thinking positive thoughts do not always seem related to the miracles I have witnessed. The doctors and nurses who cared for me described me as a terrible patient. Despite the fact that I had written many books about health and healing, I often had a miserable and self-pitying attitude. I am now embarrassed at how I allowed my pain and suffering to make me so often insensitive to those trying to help me and how seldom I expressed my deepest appreciation to my wife and family who were under such stress and still helped fashion my miracle. I was not courageous, I was willing to give up numerous times, and I often had very negative and angry thoughts about why such terrible things were happening to me. Nonetheless, the nurses who helped me make my miracle said they often did see a "miracle proneness" in me that they had noted in others who had experienced miracle healings. This subtle miracle proneness may be related to the late psychologist and researcher Brendan O'Regan's observations in the little town of Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia. A vision of the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a group of children there, and people began to come for healing. Dr. O'Regan writes of what he calls "an interesting psychological profile" of those experiencing miracles at Medjugorje. He said he noted in those who experienced a miracle...... a sad, faraway look ... a kind of yearning for something, the search for a memory, the need for an all-embracing experience of love of a kind not yet found." Nurses see miracles every day, so they are the ones in the hospital that tend to be most comfortable with the miraculous. My nurses told me that they could see certain patients with a "miracle look in their eyes." One of the intensive care nurses talked to me about miracles as I lay dying on the respirator in intensive care. As she held my trembling hand, she said softly, "I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in the eyes of some of my sickest patients, and I see it in your eyes and your wife's eyes, too. I see that "miracle-ready" look. It's a kind of sad, pensive, faraway look as if you still have much work to be done in life and are just waiting for a chance to continue it. You look like you're being delayed but not stopped. Maybe it's just me, but a lot of us see it. It's as if you are waiting for something mysterious to happen, some kind of blessing or permission to let you go back to do the work you must do. You look like others who had the searching eyes of someone open to a miracle and needing one to get back to what you must do." Maybe Maui helped promote my miracle because it brought out my sense of the miraculous, the same sense that rests within all of us, as a kind of built-in miracle readiness. Maybe I experienced a miracle because I was helped by my 'ohana to remain open-hearted, open-minded, and ready for a miracle so that I could return to the work I still had to do in my life. Rather than making a miracle, I think it may have been those loving partners in my miracle, my Hawaiian 'ohana, nurses, doctors, and ancestors who somehow instilled the faith that kept me miracle-ready. We all get sick our way and we all heal our way. A positive attitude, visualization, and imagery may set the stage for miracles for those strong enough to maintain these practices at the worst of times. For others, embracing who and how they are no matter how unsaintly, afraid, angry, and even resentful may be in some unique way the prelude to their miracle. Miracles are enchanted mysteries, and to trivialize them by assigning certain behaviors, mental states, or specific steps for their attainment is to diminish the sacredness of miracles. Even worse, such prescriptions may lead to blame of the patient unable to be positive or for not getting well. Being open, remaining in search of the memory imprint of loving work yet to be done, and being available to miracles in any way that feels legitimately honest and right for you at any given time may help create a more fertile ground for the miraculous. Ten years after the miracle that allowed me to continue to work, love, and enjoy every day in paradise, I remain overwhelmed not just that miracles happen but that they are so abundant and keep popping up all around us. As Einstein wrote, "There are two ways to live one's life -- as if nothing is a miracle, or as if everything is." Perhaps the greatest gift from my Maui miracle is that it taught me to live every day sharing with those I love the fact that everything and everyone is miraculous. WONDER + IMAGINATION = MIRACLES Wonder, said Aristotle, is the beginning of wisdom.
Imagination, said Einstein, is more important than knowledge. The ultimate
gift of my Maui miracle was a rekindling of my wonder at the way such a
harsh and chaotic universe can suddenly behave in such benevolent ways. My
miracle broadened and deepened my imagination of what life and death mean,
and perhaps that is what miracles are for. |
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Return to the section on miracles by clicking here>miracles © Copyright Philip A. Pecorino 2001. All Rights reserved. Web Surfer's Caveat: These are class notes, intended to comment on readings and amplify class discussion. They should be read as such. They are not intended for publication or general distribution. |
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