"Miracles happen in West Virginia

[Johnboy60]

12 trapped West Virginia miners found alive

TALLMANSVILLE, W. Va. (AP) — Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a coal mine were found alive Tuesday night, sending family members streaming from the church where they had gathered during the nearly two-day ordeal. Joyous shouts rose of "Praise the Lord!"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-04-mine-explosion_x.htm

 

[AceHero]

Incredible. I definitely wasn't expecting this this to happen. What a miracle.

 

[AndreLinoge]

Yay!

 

[TheBear]

Yeah. I posted that over an hour ago.

http://www.christianforums.com/t2477820-12-of-the-13-found-alive-in-mine.html

(pay attention, robert. )

 

[Johnboy60]

Sorry about posting it again.

Robert.

 

[MadeInOz]

There's been a tragic update on this story though.

 

[Johnboy60]

I'm so sorry to see this happen. I was hoping this was good news instead it's bad new for the eleven workers.

Robert

 

[Chuck_Darwin]

I guess this means it was not a miracle....

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

I am at the point that I am really getting ticked off at people using this tragedy to mock not only God but the families that have belief in him and are grieving. These people may not mean much to some of you but they are my statesmen and I found out one of the people who died has ties to someone I know here. If you want to make an anti-religious statement try waiting a few days before rubbing salt in the wound.

 

[BlessedMan]

I guess this means it was not a miracle....

I found the miracle in my dad dying several years ago...It took me a while, but maybe the families of these guys will someday feel the same.

 

[Grizzly]

I am at the point that I am really getting ticked off at people using this tragedy to mock not only God but the families that have belief in him and are grieving. These people may not mean much to some of you but they are my statesmen and I found out one of the people who died has ties to someone I know here. If you want to make an anti-religious statement try waiting a few days before rubbing salt in the wound.

Being here at CF a number of years, I have seen a few threads such as this. Sometimes a nonbeliever will report a tragedy and note that people were praying, so why didn't their god answer their prayers. These posts are typically met with venom and disgust because there was indeed a tragedy that occured that did not have the prayed-for outcome. Some will argue that this is not the time to point out the apparent futility of prayer. I believe I would agree with waiting. But when the pain has subsided, I believe the discussion of prayer would be illuminating.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

Being here at CF a number of years, I have seen a few threads such as this. Sometimes a nonbeliever will report a tragedy and note that people were praying, so why didn't their god answer their prayers. These posts are typically met with venom and disgust because there was indeed a tragedy that occured that did not have the prayed-for outcome. Some will argue that this is not the time to point out the apparent futility of prayer. I believe I would agree with waiting. But when the pain has subsided, I believe the discussion of prayer would be illuminating.

Well waiting until they are in the ground would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chuck_Darwin]

OK let me clarify my short comment earlier. I only stated that it was not a miracle. I feel very sorry for the people that lost loved ones. I was commenting about the title of the OP. Trumpeting miracles on false information is sad, tragedic for the those directly involved. Of course the problem is not with the miracle claim but with the miscommunication of information as to what was happening.

I prefer to wait for all the facts to be in before claiming that supernatural intervention has occured. Had the men survived the mine accident I still doubt that one could claim that it was in contradiction to natural law.

 

[Diane_Windsor]

Posted 1/4/2006 3:13 AM Updated 1/4/2006 12:05 PM

Community heartbroken over miners' deaths

TALLMANSVILLE, W. Va. (AP) — In a stunning and heartbreaking reversal, family members were told early Wednesday that 12 of 13 trapped coal miners were dead — three hours after they began celebrating the news that they were alive.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-04-mine-explosion_x.htm

 

[loriersea]

I am at the point that I am really getting ticked off at people using this tragedy to mock not only God but the families that have belief in him and are grieving. These people may not mean much to some of you but they are my statesmen and I found out one of the people who died has ties to someone I know here. If you want to make an anti-religious statement try waiting a few days before rubbing salt in the wound.

I don't think anyone is mocking God. However, I see no reason why a tragedy like this cannot be used to reflect upon the nature of God's intervention in the world. Do we believe that God could have saved the miners but chose not to? When one person is cured of cancer, is that a miracle, and if it is, does that mean that God chose not to intervene when another person dies? Does God sometimes intervene in human events in a way that contradicts natural law, and at other times choose not to, and what do we make of it if that is true? How do we view a God who could have chosen to save the miners, but didn't? Or, does God only act through natural processes, whether by choice or because of limitations on God's power? Did God do everything he possibly could to save those miners, and yet the nature of the universe is such that God can only do so much in terms of the physical world?

Nobody is putting down religion by asking questions like this. These are the questions that get raised, and there is nothing disrespectful about asking them.

 

[praying]

I don't think anyone is mocking God. However, I see no reason why a tragedy like this cannot be used to reflect upon the nature of God's intervention in the world. Do we believe that God could have saved the miners but chose not to? When one person is cured of cancer, is that a miracle, and if it is, does that mean that God chose not to intervene when another person dies? Does God sometimes intervene in human events in a way that contradicts natural law, and at other times choose not to, and what do we make of it if that is true? How do we view a God who could have chosen to save the miners, but didn't? Or, does God only act through natural processes, whether by choice or because of limitations on God's power? Did God do everything he possibly could to save those miners, and yet the nature of the universe is such that God can only do so much in terms of the physical world?

Nobody is putting down religion by asking questions like this. These are the questions that get raised, and there is nothing disrespectful about asking them.

All valid questions but really there is a time and a place for everything, and to me the morning of the discovery of their deaths is not it. The answers aren't going to change if we wait a week or so to ask these questions.

 

[loriersea]

All valid questions but really there is a time and a place for everything, and to me the morning of the discovery of their deaths is not it. The answers aren't going to change if we wait a week or so to ask these questions.

But, will we ask the question in a week or so?

I remember after 9/11, so many people were saying that that was NOT the time to be asking questions about the role of the US in world affairs, about the impact US economic policies has on the rest of the world, about whether or not any American can ever consider oneself truly blameless. But, the time never came. The time never comes to ask hard questions. People try to push them away, and they push them away at first by saying it's inappropriate, and they push them away later because their thoughts turn to other things.

That's not to say that everyone needs to ask these questions. But, for those who do, I see no problem with it, because there is never a good time to ask hard questions.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

Bull. There is a time and place. Let's not confuse interest in religion with using the opportunity to chastise those of faith. Ha, Ha God did nothing for you, you live a lie is totally inappropiate, insensitive and ignorant. Anyone genuinly concerned could either wait a few days and post their question or start a new post. To put things like that in this one is just plain tacky.

 

[Ginny]

Bull. There is a time and place. Let's not confuse interest in religion with using the opportunity to chastise those of faith. Ha, Ha God did nothing for you, you live a lie is totally inappropiate, insensitive and ignorant. Anyone genuinly concerned could either wait a few days and post their question or start a new post. To put things like that in this one is just plain tacky.

Agree. Well put. However, I do not detect a sincere interest in religion.

 

[TheBear]

I'm so sorry to see this happen. I was hoping this was good news instead it's bad new for the eleven workers.

Robert

Me too.