Freethought & Rationalism Archive

patchy · 03-28-2005, 06:43 AM

...Sometimes the answer is just "no."

If the kid had, for whatever reason, not shot this teacher, another "miracle" of answered prayer would've been crammed down our throats by the media. As it is, I'm sure there are already nutjobs out there who think that's why the shotgun jammed.

"God jammed the shotgun, but was hesitant to deny the gunman's free will by ALSO fouling the handgun," I imagine that line of "reasoning" would run.

Count the hits, ignore the misses...

Worldtraveller · 03-28-2005, 08:11 AM

Are we sure he just didn't forget to reload??

I don't mean to be snarky (well, yes I do!) but did the gun actually jam?

It's sad to see the fundies already out there trying to blame this on the rest of the world, getting god out of shcool, yada yada....even tough it may or may not have had anything to do with it.

Cheers,
Lane

Haener · 03-28-2005, 09:21 AM

The problem is of course that people praying 'please don't shoot me' whose prayers are unheard don't live to tell the tale. Taking it more generally we never have people telling that their prayers to live were unheard whether it was sickness, age, crime or whatever what killed them.

And then, of course, there are these 'other' people, as opposed to 'us', and these 'others' apparantly don't have the brains to think this one through for themselves. Nothing new here. Some people will propose 'goddidit' as an explanation not only when there aren't any others but even when there are other explanations, even ones that make much more sense, i.e. jammed gun, out of ammo etc.

But you'll knew that already, didn't you?

Jehanne · 03-28-2005, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patchy

Count the hits, ignore the misses...

An event with a low probability of occurring in a small number of trials has a large probability of occurring one or more times in a large number of trials. I was watching a show on the History Channel last night that said out of the thousands of “miracles�? at Lourdes, only 66 have been “confirmed�?.

Spanish_Inquisitor · 03-28-2005, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jehanne

An event with a low probability of occurring in a small number of trials has a large probability of occurring one or more times in a large number of trials. I was watching a show on the History Channel last night that said out of the thousands of “miracles�? at Lourdes, only 66 have been “confirmed�?.

Confirmed as miracles, or simply confirmed as outside the expected? It's not the same thing.

SI

Jehanne · 03-28-2005, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanish_Inquisitor

Confirmed as miracles, or simply confirmed as outside the expected? It's not the same thing.

SI

You are quite correct, which is why confirmed is in "quotes". Follow the “money trail,�? my friend… :devil3:

03-28-2005, 06:43 AM	#1
patchy Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: America Posts: 1,377	Every prayer is answered... ...Sometimes the answer is just "no." If the kid had, for whatever reason, not shot this teacher, another "miracle" of answered prayer would've been crammed down our throats by the media. As it is, I'm sure there are already nutjobs out there who think that's why the shotgun jammed. "God jammed the shotgun, but was hesitant to deny the gunman's free will by ALSO fouling the handgun," I imagine that line of "reasoning" would run. Count the hits, ignore the misses...

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

03-28-2005, 08:11 AM	#2
Worldtraveller Banned Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 7,834	Are we sure he just didn't forget to reload?? I don't mean to be snarky (well, yes I do!) but did the gun actually jam? It's sad to see the fundies already out there trying to blame this on the rest of the world, getting god out of shcool, yada yada....even tough it may or may not have had anything to do with it. Cheers, Lane

03-28-2005, 09:21 AM	#3
Haener Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: netherlands Posts: 1,423	The problem is of course that people praying 'please don't shoot me' whose prayers are unheard don't live to tell the tale. Taking it more generally we never have people telling that their prayers to live were unheard whether it was sickness, age, crime or whatever what killed them. And then, of course, there are these 'other' people, as opposed to 'us', and these 'others' apparantly don't have the brains to think this one through for themselves. Nothing new here. Some people will propose 'goddidit' as an explanation not only when there aren't any others but even when there are other explanations, even ones that make much more sense, i.e. jammed gun, out of ammo etc. But you'll knew that already, didn't you?

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.