What's in a miracle?

miracle - noun

1. A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be divine.

2. A highly improbable or extraordinary event.

Have you ever heard a story of a tragedy in which there were many deaths and only one survivor?  We've all heard of a story where this occurs: a plane crash, a natural disaster, a mass murder and so on.  We hear and read the story on the news with the headline "Miracle Survivor of (insert disaster here)".  Religious groups claim that the person who survived must've been given a divine miracle, because who could survive such a circumstance?  I used to receive stories about such events when I went to church in my youth.  I was amazed along with everyone else that God was on the lone survivor's side.  Since people love a good human interest story, we eat it right up.  Yet, when you dig a little deeper into the actual "miracle" claim, it really isn't a miracle at all.

Let's do a little thought experiment.  If a plane with 250 people (crew and passengers) loses part of a wing and is about to crash (for example) then we know that the probability of survival will be very low.  You can look up statistics of almost any large plane crash on Google and the death rate is 100% (no survivors). A single survivor or even a couple of survivors is quite close to 100% death rate.  This is NOT the definition a divine miracle.  A divine miracle should obtain the complete opposite result of what the statistical probability predicts.  Being lucky is not a miracle. In this example, a divine miracle would be something that would cause everyone or almost everyone to survive the crash.  There has been no recorded case (to my knowledge) of this ever occurring. (To clarify: Captain Sully saved all those peoples' lives on his flight on his own merit. He controlled the plane's descent without help from a deity.)

Think about this the next time you hear a story of a "miracle" survivor.  It can be explained by probabilities of which we have a vast knowledge.  No god needed to explain what should be obvious but sometimes you got to dig a little deeper.  Luck really does explain miracle survivors.

Guilt (of the unnecessary kind) and its consequences.

Do you remember doing something bad wishing you could take it back?  Did you feel like what you did was really wrong?  Were you afraid of the punishment you'd receive?  We've all been at this point in our lives.  We've all felt guilty.  Yet, a lot of people have felt guilty for reasons that they shouldn't.  A kind of unnecessary guilt, if you will. 

This has been shown in prime examples of the teen suicides related to homosexuality.  People use religous logic (an oxymoron) to burn into these teenagers heads that homosexuality is evil.  They hear it from the pulpit, peers, even so-called friends and family.  To someone in a vulnerable emotional state, they begin to feel like they are the problem.  This leads to a lot of unnecessary guilt and even depression.

I found a video that illustreates this point perfectly..  This real satirical review of a movie that about a simple case of unnesessary guilt going to an extreme.  The reviewer points out many things about the unnecessary guilt religion causes and illustrates my point perfectly.

Link to video:  http://blip.tv/the-cinema-snob/dvd-r-hell-rock-it-s-your-decision-5248679

Post your thoughts in the comments.

How can this be? But you're such a good person!

I've always wondered how prejudices form.  We all have a personal story of someone in our life that we got a bad first impression of only to find out that they weren't so bad or mean to begin with.  The feelings of guilt and regret and the questions start to run through your mind, "Why did I judge them so quickly?  What made me believe this person was bad?  Why does everyone feel so negative about this person?"

Recently, a friend of mine said that even though I'm an atheist, she still considers me a great person.  On first glance, it's a very nice thing to say, but at second glance there's a connotation that being an atheist implies being a "bad person".  Almost all of my friends, family, and co-workers would say I'm a good person.  How do they know this?  Because they have gotten to know me.  They have known me long enough to know I wouldn't steal, maliciously kill, intentionally lie (in most cases), or harm others.

I know that I don't need a deity that watches over everything I do and say and who will send me to eternal punishment if I break one of his rules that comes from a really old book.  I am a good person without a god/gods.  Most believers are good people with a belief in a god/gods.  Most of us are good people.  Why do most americans think I need a god to be the person I was raised to be?  I am a good person, period.  Why?  Because it's the right thing to do, not because I fear eternal punishment or have selfish want of an eternal life.  I am good for the sake of being good.  If that's enough for me, shouldn't that be enough for everyone else?