It’s a MIRACLE!
Originally posted 6/11/06 on ursuspacificus.blogspot.com –ed.
Webster defines miracle, n as:
2. Specifically: An event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event, or one transcending the ordinary laws by which the universe is governed.
When a news reader tells me there was a drive-by shooting in LA, which resulted in 5 deaths, I’m perfectly willing to accept it as fact.
When a news reader tells me that a baby was born under unusual circumstances, such as: The mother, an athletic woman not prone to taking things “lying down”, was hiking among ancient Aztec ruins, when she went into labor. She ended up giving birth on a stone altar which scientists believe was used by the Aztecs for human sacrifices… OK.. I can buy that… But when that same newsreader tells me that this birth was a miracle… well… I just don’t buy it. It troubles me when people our society has put on a pedestal as oracles of fact start using words like “miracle” and “act of god” without really knowing what they’re saying. It troubles me even more when ordinary folks just accept it.
Mind you, if a real, bona fide miracle happens… I mean a proper, no-fooling-around, “the only way this could have happened is by the hand of a being exempt from the laws of Nature as we understand them” miracle… if that happens, then… sure… I wouldn’t have a problem with a newsreader reporting it, and even saying that it was a miracle.
But things like heart transplants, separation of conjoined twins, successful application for a home mortgage, or narrowly escaping death under combat conditions in a war zone are, in all likelihood, not miracles.
“Act of god” is another one of those words or phrases which kills the credibility of a news source for me. Hurricane Katrina was a storm. Granted, it was a powerful storm, but, in the end, it was just a storm. Yes, many people died. Yes, the govrnment’s response was slow and incompetent. Yes, the President is an idiot. Was it an act of god? I think not.
It seems to me that the fact that news people can irresponsibly throw these words around and not be castigated by their audiences suggests to me that the average consumer of news is no more intelligent, educated or thougthful that our illustrious and celebrated President.
As far as I’m concerned, when a news person tells me that some run of the mill thing is a miracle or an act of god, well, I can’t really trust that person any more. I don’t want metaphor from my news people. That’s why we have literature. News is about fact. News is about what can be proven. News is about what really happened. Talk of miracles is, ultimately, gossip.
I would even go so far as to say, that when a person being interviewed by a news person starts prattling on about miracles and acts of god, if that person’s claims of divine intervention are not addressed by the news person, the news person is not doing his or her job. They’d question a senator who made outlandish claims about tax cuts for the wealthy being the only way to help the poor… they might do so behind his back, but they’d do it… but when some weeping mother tells a reporter that it was a miracle that her baby was saved from the marginal peril it was in, nine times out of ten… heck, every time I’ve seen some shmoe on the news proclaim something to be a miracle, the camera never cuts to the reporter with one eyebrow raised in incredulity, saying, “But was it really a miracle, or just the result of hours of hard work by dozens of trained and dedicated fire , rescue and public safety personnel?”
This is the sort of “little thing” that people are all-too-ready to apologize for, but when big things happen, like Bush getting “re-elected” in 2004 or the “no WMDs” result in Iraq or the “failure of imagination” our leaders had when they concluded that no one would ever use a passenger jet as a flying bomb…. The vast majority of Americans is stunned… flabbergasterd… They’re beside themselves! How could this have happened?! It starts with little things, like letting anybody get away with calling the extraordinary labor of ordinary people a miracle or calling the destruction caused by a powerful-but-ordinary storm acting in strict accordance with the laws of nature an “act of god”. It’s just one brick in a grand wall of mass-delusion, keeping people from realizing the soul-crushing realities of the world. Our economy is a sham, propped up by belief in what are essentially unicorns and sasquatches. Fairy tales bankers tell us as reasons to give them our money are now called “financial products”. Why doesn’t anyone complain? Why don’t we all complain?! Our political system is built on lies, and everyone who has had anything at all to do with setting up the rules of engagement therein has known it since the dawn of time. That’s why, if a politician lies to you, it’s not a crime. Politicians are our leaders, and they should be held to a higher standard, but are they? We actually expect worse behavior from our leaders than we expect from similarly-dressed common passers-by on the street. Our dingbat President with his “no child left behind” chickendance is shutting down public schools all over America to improve math and science test scores, yet his political base (the people who demanded NCLB)is working at a fever pitch to demolish the education of science in public school classrooms! What the fuck is going on here?! Doublespeak is the language of debate in this country and nobody seems to mind.
Americans don’t want to think anymore. Americans don’t want to know anymore. Americans don’t want to face facts. All Americans want is to find out who got voted off on Survivor and who’s going to win American Idol. You know what would be great is if everyone shut off their TVs… for a month. Just to see what happened. What happens with our economy? Remember after 9/11, when all the planes were grounded over the US … and the weather patterns changed? Fewer clouds…. greater visibility… It was neat! Scientists were scrambling to take measurements, because it was something they might never see again in their lifetimes. If we could get everyone in the US to shut off their TVs on sweeps week… that would be sweet! I ain’t holdin’ my breath for it, tho.