I think the whole world would be a much better place if we all had a kind word a smile and wished well for others every day.
"There remain these three, faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love."
Pope Francis stops his car to bless disabled woman in Italy, BUT WHY CAN'T HE HEAL HER?
by suavojr 14 Replies latest jw friends
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designs
Would everyone feel the same if the News story had been about David Splane or Lett and company stopping to pray and help someone in need.
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suavojr
yadda yadda 2 said: We know it's all superstitious nonsense, but put it this way, can you imagine the Governing Body doing something like that?
It is sad to say but the GB would never do something like this
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steve2
The human need for consolation makes yadda yada 2's comments perfectly understandable. However, it is a shame that this need overrules the need to put one's brain into gear before embracing the next religious promise that rolls along....
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HB
This topic interested me because I am currently in the process of debating with a Catholic Deacon and others on a local forum on the topic of blessings and faith healing.
The Church of England Vicar has been going around our village meeting people and blessing them and in some cases praying for healing or recovery from illness, accident and disability for people some of whom have not requested it. He even prayed for a 9 year old young girl in a wheelchair who has an incurable condition, and asked God to heal her. Her parents were disgusted as this has given her false hope. The Vicar has blessed businesses too, and I'm not sure on the ethics of that.
The actions of the Vicar have provoked a lot of irritation, annoyance and anger amongst the largely non-religious local community. The Christians who have commented on the thread are saying "What's the harm?", or "The vicar means well, just walk away if you don't want his blessing", etc and they don't understand how, for an atheist, being blessed is offensive. The Christians are also claiming atheists are attacking the vicar with hateful words when in fact no one has done anything more than comment politely respectfully on his role in the community.
The Vicar himself is not taking part in the discussion, but the local Catholic Deacon has come along and given his views. He had the experience of his Christian friends praying over him in hospital and the pain of his kidney stone was immediately lessened and the next day his kidney stone had disappeared.
The Deacon has also provided a link to a website
http://dailybuzzlive.com/mother-brings-baby-back-life-2-hrs-pronounced-dead/
where there is purported evidence of a miracle in Illinois in 2010 when a still born baby apparently came back to life an hour after deing declared dead. This 'miracle' is attributed to the fact the mother repeatedly called out the name of a Catholic Archbishop who prayed for the baby. The Archbishop himself had been dead since 1979 and had apparently interceeded from his place in Heaven. This is being considered a miracle and the Archbishop only needs one more miracle to be in the running for Sainthood. Hmmm.
I just wanted to thank you guys on JWN as a few years ago I would not have had the knowledge, skill or confidence to debate with the Deacon or anyone else on any topic, let alone religion, but I have learned a great deal from reading this forum.
I'm still learning, but so far, on the other local forum, it seems I have managed to run rings around the believers and they are now in a position where they have no answers, except to say that they think the discussion should come to an end as it is going in circles. In fact it isn't going in circles, it's just getting interesting, and has a lot further to go, but the believers (who mostly attend church just for social reasons), don't like being challenged about the roots of their faith and just want the discussion to go away.
You've all 'been there, done that' many times, but this is new for me and I am finding it interesting!