Customs come and go, and are forgotten when they are no longer needed. Blessing someone after they sneeze is ripe for the culling.

And I never, not once, told The Little Astronomer that kissing something would make it better. Why would I? Kissing a wound is likely to infect it. Instead, I told her to keep her cuts clean, put a bandage over them to help make sure germs don’t get in, and watch them for redness or irritation. Otherwise, don’t sweat it, go outside, and keep playing.

That way, she grows up with a practical knowledge that might benefit her, and doesn’t grow up already practiced in believing in fantasy, another custom that really needs to go extinct as well.

No, they don’t really think they’re expelling demons.

Do YOU really think that you or your friends are keeping your soul inside you when you cover your mouth while yawning?

Do YOU really think that your acquaintances, boss (if any) etc. – and yourself – need to be stealth-searched for a dagger when you shake hands with them…?

Those people (and I am not one of them) think that you’re ignoring a well-established, time-honoured social convention – and that by doing that WITHIN a social frame which relies entirely on conventions, you may be slighting them. (And it makes sense.)

If you sneeze around me, don’t expect to hear me calling on superstitious nonsense t make you feel better.”

How about calling on *good manners* (and good humour), to make everyone feel better – which is actually what they want?

Or, to be consistent, eliminate the “kiss it better” routine, if you have (or will have) children.

Better yet, tell all the people whose hands you need to to shake that you won’t be pampering their antiquated fears of daggers.

And, by all means, feel free to yawn as widely as you can, preferably with the appropriate noises. Let others worry about the whereabouts of your soul.

I haven’t checked your profile (I never do that, so it’s not personal , but you do sound like a thirteen-year old Rousseau-wannabee (and trust me, that ain’t a good combination).

If that is so, then there’s hope you’ll grow up some day.
But for God’s sake, keep your mouth well covered!

I agree that the definition you list is listed 2nd at most sites. And I would have no problem with it IF that was the intended usage.
However, that’s not how it’s being used in most cases – not when they attribute the miracle to ‘divine intervention’, ‘God’, etc.
In that case, they’re invoking a supernatural cause for which there is no evidence, when simple statistics can explain it satisfactorily.

And for my favorite… Wikipedia… A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning “something wonderful”…. Shannon surviving this accident was truely something wonderful…

AND… People in different faiths have substantially different definitions of the word “miracle”. Even within a specific religion there is often more than one usage of the term.

AND… In casual usage, “miracle” may also refer to any statistically unlikely but beneficial event, (such as the survival of a natural disaster) or even to anything which is regarded as “wonderful” regardless of its likelihood, such as birth.

Maybe you should contact wikipedia and webster next to let them know that they are STUPID for telling people that a miracle is ANYTHING BUT divine intervention… which is also mentioned BUT not the only thing. Everyone has different a usage for some words.

To some an “ass” is a donkey… to me… its alot of the people on this page.

However, Phil’s original intent was to point out that it wasn’t a ”miracle” in the supernatural sense. Her skull was disconnected from her vertebrae, but the spinal cord is intact. If her spinal cord had been severed at the neck, and she survived, *that* would have been a miracle.
But “unlikelihood” or “slight chance” of survival cannot equate to “miracle” in the supernatural sense. Miracle means “no chance”, but it happened anyway, and that wasn’t the case here.

Now–

Ev: “I have prayed for you and those like you and will keep doing so. God Bless your grey souls.”

Really? There’s nothing in the Bible (as far as I know) that says you have to go to a non-believer’s message board and tell them that you spent some of your god-minutes on their behalf. Do you want a cookie? I suspect that you said that more out of a desire to be annoying than out of a need to be…what? Pious? Loving? Kind? It doesn’t really fit any of the virtues I know of. It sounds more like you’re tattling on your little brother. Either you read the preceding posts and decided to say the most irritating possible thing you could have said, or you heard that somebody might be bad-mouthin your god and decided to grace us with a sermon. Either way, YOUR PRAYERS ARE NOT APPRECIATED.

What does praying *do*, anyway? Are you hoping to nudge your god’s mercy-meter a tick to the right so that he will spare the person’s immortal (albeit grey) soul? Does praying just make you feel powerful, like you have some influence over the fate of us heathens? And what good is power if no one knows you have it, right?

“…and don’t understand the ‘contract’ we made with God before we came to life.”

You apparently don’t understand what a contract is. Or is that why you put it in scare quotes? It’s sort of like a contract, but not really a contract? A contract (or covenant) is something that you enter into *willingly*. Oh, and I think you have to exist, too. Which brings up another question: where in the Bible does it talk about the big holding tank for unborn souls? Is that in Heaven?

Katherine – in the words of Waugh, after reading the bible cover to cover for a bet ‘Isn’t God a rotter?’

First everyone is entitled to their opinion, like it or not, agree or disagree. Second: To those who beilieve or are questioning, please do not take Katherine’s comments to heart and others like hers. It will only bring anger and confussion. How can anyone call The all loving, all knowing, all caring God a dick…..the ones who refuse to believe and don’t understand the ‘contract’ we made with God before we came to life. Crime is done by evil–not the devil, evil—not God, evil. As far natural dissasters, accidents and medical related deaths God knows. He’s not standing by to sit and watch us go through the trials and turbulations of life for kicks, he’s there when we cross over to help overcome the trauma we endured here on earth. He’s there to help us through hard times to include the ones and the families of those who survived cancer, escaped the floods and the ones who fought off the attackers. I would love to give more detail on this, but I have a feeling all I am getting is a “whatever”. At the end of our sometimes horrific lifes here on earth, we who believe and receive God even in our death bed or subconsciously even, will finally go to our happy, peacefull, wonderful home. To the ones who don’t believe…hey if they finished their ‘contract’ to the best of their ability without causing harm to anyone, I firmly believe they will also join us.

God Bless you Shannon Malloy, your loved ones and to your supporters be it believers in miracles or not, and to the Medical staff. You are as Katherine put it “so damn special”. I will be sharing your story with my friends and family to send prayers and money your way.

Tywla, You seem to be an amazing friend. I appreciate your posting on this site and have to say I have learned more about the accident thru your postings then from any article on the news sites. Thank You!

I also thought it wasn’t going to help any by arguing with other people on this page, even if you were right. This is the internet, and context and meaning is often lost in the heat of post/respond/post.

I also apologize for accusing you of being ‘insulting’. I was a little exasperated that I was trying to help and felt like you were criticizing me for a genuine effort. Still- I went too far. If I could take it back then I would.

And as far as you and Shannon being angry, I don’t think anyone here would blame you one bit. I saw what other websites were saying as well, and I imagine I’d be pretty testy too. But I really appreciate you coming here and posting– it gave me the jolt I needed to put me back on track.

I did NOT say Shannon was not wearing a seatbelt, please reread! Why would you continue the conversation when obviously it is over? I’m sorry you missed the heat of the moment, but I’m done. Don’t be so quick to find fault in the accident, it was just that…an accident. Shannon is the same woman in the video & the one who posted on here.
~Twyla

As far as emailing goes, I can see why you could feel the remarks as intended to silence you, make you respond differently than other people. I don’t believe that was the case at all. Rather, I think the suggestion of email was given because it would more rapidly catch the attention of Phil. I do not know how the blogroll software works, but I doubt he gets any particular announcements or alerts that comments are pending. I think he has to log in and check the entries manually, review the moderated comments, and generally read responses. So he might not see remarks very quickly. Email will typically ping the user as long as they are on the computer, so it can elicit a faster response. I think response time was the reason for the suggestion of email.