 |
|
|
|
|
September 9th, 2011
11:08 AM ET
Family credits Virgin Mary statue for saving their house from wildfire(CNN)– Wildfires are raging in Texas. At the Garcia's home in Montgomery County, Texas the fire line comes right up to a statue of the Virgin Mary. The family tells CNN affiliate KTRK they believe the statue helped saved their home.
Next entry »Mel Gibson to produce movie about Jewish icon
« Previous entryGay priest was 9/11's first recorded casualty
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
| Part of 
Just like the Church: Mary saves herself, stops the fire, but a few people are burned to death.
All of these holier than thous who think this is a credible story will also be the first ones to deny snickering at those who claim to find the virgin mary in a bag of cheetos or a box of corn flakes. It's no doubt that the biggest hypocrites are the religious.
I can't get her off my stale bread
Field guide on how to find a miracle in three simple steps
1. Find a natural disaster. Usually a wildfire, tornado or hurricane works best.
2. Go to the cusp of the disaster, the edge of the hurricane or fire or just beside the main path of the tornado, where people just escaped worse damage.
3. Find a religious family in this area.
I will bet you London to a brick that they will claim that their sky-god lovingly directed the flames or tornado around their house – and therefore, by definition, into their neighbors house.
Well, of course, none of these incidents really are "miracles," they are tragedies, from end to end. And that's just the point. When the totality of facts are taken into account, "miracles" turn out to be nothing more than people ignoring the downside of a set of facts, focusing solely on the "good" and calling the quarantined "good" a miracle. A CEO might as well ignore the liability side of his balance sheet and declare it a “miracle” that his company just doubled in value.
Upon the slightest reflection, God’s regular “miracles” in the South quickly disappear. In any such tragedy, there will be victims and lucky survivors. Children will be rent from arms, the vulnerable elderly crushed, and the most deserving members of society struck down with the same barometric indifference as the least admirable. It could not be any other way, but the mind of the believer is a forgiving, indulgent beast. Claiming miracles in the debris of a wildfire is as vacuous as praying for a four to come up on each of six-hundred times you roll a die, and then claiming that god answered your prayers “about a hundred times.”
Nicely done.
Thank you, but do I really smell that bad......
ohhh, your comment is good....just wanted you to know.
I hate religious people. Its never just the way things work out...its always some act of god.
i believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that you slept through science class.
By reading the real short description, it sounds miraculous.
If you look at everything, few people's houses were destroyed, the firefighters did a wonderful job at keeping the houses from catching fire (dousing them with water, etc) so all it did was destroy the grass which doesn't burn that hot to begin with.
But, I'm glad those people's houses were saved anyways.
You scare me; you're sane and rational! 😉
It's a good thing it wasn't a gnome statue instead. Otherwise we may have ended up with a new Gnome Worshiping cult.
Those who can not explain simply mock...
Some of those who can't explain have the guts to say "I don't know", others just make it all up.
I don't have to explain anything. The burden of proof is 100% on you to explain how the only explanation that is tenable is a supernatural one.
But, that's just it. We can explain. By running out of combustible fuel near the statue, the fire was unable to use oxygen to consume the house. Tenth grade science, my friend.
Even atheists, and non-believers, need to respect other's (beliefs). Enough said.
I actually agree with you. I'm an atheist, but you know what. I have no problem with people who are religious as long as they don't try to force their beliefs onto me I don't do it onto them.
Live and let live.
Other people certainly have the right to their stupid beliefs but that does NOT mean I have to respect them.
Right like atheists are respected in this country. See my post below.
The notion that we have to respect a belief because it is a belief is absolutely moronic. Should I have to tolerate neo-Nazis, because they believe that their inbred rear ends are superior to anyone else!? No! Same goes for any stupid belief.
You hit the nail on the head...respect others beliefs even if you disagree. Why the vitriol and hatred simply because someone believes other than you?
Athiests are just angry teenagers that never stopped being angry and never grew up. A majority of Athiests are only athiests because they crave attention so they think going against the norm will give them that attention.
Most athiests are actually just agnostic because they believe in a higher power but just don't like organized religion.
Un, no, Angel – we all need to respect the *right* of each person to choose their own beliefs. And their right to live according to those beliefs, so long as others are not negatively impacted. But we do not have to respect the belief itself.
I can see the armchair atheists and those of other personal belief systems started their weekend Commenting While Intoxicated marathon sessions already. Somehow I doubt the Garcias give a flying nun about any of you. Just sayin'.
wait, how can someone be an armchair atheist? They either are or they are not.
They cant sit there and go 'well you know these atheists are doing it all wrong, if i was an atheist this is how i would do it.'
@cedar rapids
What he means by Armchair athiests is the ones that are not active in any athiest movement they just claim to be athiest on the internet because its the "In" thing to do these days. Most high school kids like to pretend to be athiest because it will upset thier parents
Michael..there are no atheist clubs, movements or other wise. An atheist does not believe in gods, thats it. We have seen no proof. As for what else my fellow free thinkers like, or understand I do not know. Religion has clubs because they have a series of things you must believe to be a member...whether it is to be anti-abortion, hate gay people. many of these clubs will expel you if you do not think the same way. one major belief, important to the faithful is that only they can be happy , with out god you have no peace or joy. If you feel the truth is important then you will understand why that assertion is incorrect.
Phil..armchair atheists...no i can see that armchairs are real...now the god chap on the other hand....
Please explain to me why so many atheists/non-believers feel the need to even click on the story, much less take time out of your day to comment and condemn others for their faith. What ever happened to mutual respect? Clearly this was significant to the family and offers them some hope. What is so wrong with that?
Because lies are like an STD.
They spread, and leave nasty puss behind
It's easier to ridicule and condemn from a comfortable distance away from the immediate situation, especially if you personally lack the ability to be empathetic toward others regardless of your own personal viewpoints, beliefs or practices.
Did you happen to notice that every member of congress, the POTUS, the SCOTUS, and all the governors claim to be theists? Did you also notice that over 50% of our population say they would never vote for an atheist no matter how qualified for the job?
Sounds like you have a case of the Christian Persecution Complex.
The same reason Christians comment on the articles about evolution.
ya all got a lot of experience with lies and stds thar billy
I would say IT that if the family claimed that giant pink yetis called george, from the planet mars, saved the house, there would be very very few that would be supportive of their claim. I am not so sure you would be here calling for mutual respect on such an article.
Because this belief is totally corrupt. If this family believes that a statue of an iconic religious figure somehow picked them for protection against a fire, then this family should admit that those folks who lost their home to the fire did not have enough faith or the forethought to plant a statue near their home. Better yet, the statue set the fires to teach those less pious people a lesson.
It is obvious from this video that the fire that went through that area was quick and not strong. There are many areas that show on the video as not having been burned. There is no mystery here at all. Just luck.
totally, even wooden fences were not burnt.
@a Veteran: You said, "This is a fact. The fire stops at the Virgin Mary Statue. It has been verified, it has been recorded, It is just a fact whether you believe it or not, it happened, period!!!!!!!!"
Actually, not really. It has only been verified that the the statue is CURRENTLY located at the edge of the fire line, not that it was located there DURING the fire.
dumb!
IT'S REAL ALL YOU STUPID MORON IDIOTS!!!! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT YOU DUMB IDIOTS!!
Dumb idiots are those who immediately jump to fantastic and magical explanations before even bothering to analyze the situation from a detached and objective point of view.
Thank you for that intelligent addition to the conversation. Your input has been invaluable to the discussion.
Why do people argue over this thing? Their homes were saved whether you believe it was God's work or a natural occurence. Any Christians posting on these CNN faith articles should be ashamed for arguing with the Atheists....they are our brothers too. John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so that all may know you are my disciples."
That's 'atheists' not 'Atheists'.
Back to the real world. Here is a frightening headline. There is a man from Texas with the same mentality as this family, and he is running for president. This man thinks he can make it rain and he thinks he can improve the economy by wishing it so.
Well if you're right, Al, thanks a lot! It's been raining for 5 days straight here! *glares*
You are so right. He scares me!!
Now had his house been the only one that survived in the all "brick" house neighborhood, I might give him the benefit of the doubt.
and if every other house that burnt down was completely devoid of any religious imagery
IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE STOPPING THE FIRE!!! MUST HAVE BEEN!
People that think their invisible friend has anything to do with this are really, really stupid. Try physics.
are you a sayin thet regular bowel movements will hep this story along
So please give us the scientific explanation of how physics stopped it?
Then offer an alternative, using physics.
1. Wind was not strong that day in that area. 2. Little ground clutter to provide fuel for the fire. Temps might have been lower that day (and yes that helps to keep a fire low) 3. I would guess that the humidity levels were also low that day. 4. The heroic work of the firefighters to help control that they have been able to.
So Dale, thanks for offering your theories. We're still waiting on the actual scientific explanation of what really happened that day.
'We're still waiting on the actual scientific explanation of what really happened that day'
lol, ok here it is........the fire went out, it does that sometimes you know.
Sorry, I should have said the humidity levels were probably high that day, not low.