To be annoyed with all the people on FB thanking God for 'miracle' recoveries

[bumbleymummy]

Another one tonight where a boy's church are thanking God for him being found cancer free and thanking everyone for their prayers to make this possible. Lots of comments thanking God and Jesus and praise for how wonderful and gracious He is. Not a single mention of the doctors, surgeons, nurses etc who played a much more obvious role in his recovery!

I tell you what I find ridiculous as well, sports people crossing themselves and the likes before an event, why would a god be interested in that, whether they win or not.

Why does a god let millions of innocent suffer. Are they not more deserving of help than someone winning a race, absolute madness.

Fractiousfractions beat me to the very wonderful Tim Minchin and his take on all of this. I think he captures my entire feelings on medical miracles in one verse:

Fuck me Sam, what are the odds
That of history's endless parade of gods
That the God you just happened to be taught to believe in
Is the actual one and he digs on healing?
But not the AIDS-ridden African nations
Nor the victims of the plague, nor the flood-addled Asians,
But healthy, privately-insured Australians
With common and curable corneal degeneration

Also, in this song his rhymes acknowledge this with ophthalmologist, which is pretty cool.

YANBU. My uncle is a devout Christian and insists on shoving it down the throats of everyone who crosses his path. He knows I'm an atheist and still pushes the subject (on his last visit I took him to see our local cathedral as I knew he'd enjoy it and when I opened my handbag later that day I'd seen he'd snuck in leaflets about converting to Christianity).

He recently came back to live in the uk from South Africa with his 10yo DS, and didn't plan on finding anywhere to live beforehand, as he thought the local housing association would give him a house on the day he landed in uk, what with having a child. They did put him up I a B&B for a month before getting him a 2 bed home for peanuts. He sent a round robin text saying "God has answered our prayers and given us a home at last" - no you fool, the housing association did that thanks to this government policy, send a thank you note if you're that happy

I couldn't agree more OP. I also cannot stand the patronising shit regarding the 'brave fight'. There is no fight-just science and luck!
BTW-I find no fucking comfort whatsoever knowing that my husband is up in heaven looking out for us. He should be on the other end of the sofa tonight tap tapping away on his tablet as we show each other stupid shit we saw online.

maniacinsomnic why was this child who initially had a fatal diagnosis suddenly cured? Because God spared her life? But why? And not a different child?
Could it have been because doctors are still finding out more about illnesses each day and so didn't know this child could recover?
I get quite angry when people believe this is the work of a higher being and that all my dead parents should have done was pray more

LucyBabs - I don't know, I believe so, I don't know, I don't know and possibly but I don't know about how cancer can go from aggressive to gone between two regular check ups. I don't think it's about praying more. I don't know the reasons for anybody's length of life. I agree it's hard not to feel angry and confused by it but I don't think those feelings help, whether you are a believer or not.

Tracy

OP, YANBU

I remember how for a month or so I decided to try and pray for a young woman I only knew through fb group, although I haven't prayed for 20 years(since I was 10).
She was in Germany, dying after difficult labour and doctors' mistake. Well, guess what? God didn't spare this woman or her newborn son. She died without regaining her consciousness, so her husband didn't get to tell her how beautiful their son is and how much he loves her.
Her son died month later(he was born brain dead anyway, so it was supposedly just a matter of time).
It was all poor judgment of doctors and midwives, who thought she could push this huge baby out by herself. And obviously everybody blame HCPs. Although it was god, who didn't save them, despite several thousand people praying for mother and her baby.

It happened this April. I am now once again convinced that it's all bullshit and it's not god who saves people. It's people.
So next time I see this "praise the lord for this miracle" crap, I'll write "praise those nurses and doctors for their good job".

I suspect you wouldn't be making points like this if the God being thanked was Allah

WTF has happened to MN?

I watched a programme where some British eye surgeons went to North Korea to operate.

As soon as people got their sight back they went to a picture of the glorious leader and gave him thanks for providing them with vision, they were crying with joy and genuinely believed that they were lucky.

am I the only one noticing the irony of bumbleymummy posting about how silly people are to form their own opinions and expect the right to their own beliefs...?

I can understand your confusion as to why people do this. When my dh had cancer I prayed and begged and pleaded. He passed away 19 months ago. I became a Christian 5 days after he died. I admit it was hard sitting in church and hearing how such and such has had a miraculous recovery. But slowly God healed me and explained to me why our situation went this way instead of that way. I really feel for people who have lost a loved one and are struggling. I can't answer those questions for you. And it's completely ok if you don't believe, but that doesn't take away what I know.

I agree it's hard not to feel angry and confused by it but I don't think those feelings help, whether you are a believer or not.

I don't think you get the point, manicinsomniac. If you don't believe in a god, then it is in fact far easier to accept that some people die of cancer and some don't because you can attribute it to fate, and the fact that science hasn't yet found a cure or preventative for all cancers. Whereas if you believe in an omniscient and benevolent god, then the fact that that god decides to give some people cancer (including wholly innocent babies) and not others, or decides to cure some but not others, is incredibly difficult to assimilate and will indeed make you angry and confused.

Mermaidhair, what explanation did God give you for your husband's death?

Gruntledone - sorry, by "it" I meant, posts about miraculous recoveries and praise for God's healing. I don't think it helps anyone to be annoyed by another person's happiness and faith, whether they themselves have any faith or not. I totally get that it's easy to accept death if you see it as random chance. Apologies for not being clear.

Because religion helps people cope with life. Believing or not believing in a God doesn't change the outcome, but if it helps someone come to terms with the death of a loved one or stay emotionally together while their child is going through chemo so they can be there for their child, then more power to them.

It's a bit disingenuous to say "thank the doctors" when they really have no more power over the outcome than the patient's body is able to heal.

Death is random.

Believing in a God does not change that fact. But if believing in something helps a person cope during a rough time, then they shouldn't be mocked for it.

I would never say to someone who believes that guff but I do hate it with a passion. Because why was my son not deserving of being 'saved'. Why is he buried in the ground? What have I done to deserve this? What about my DH, the nicest person in the world? Was it a test? Really? Because if that's the case I have been tested all my life.
Fuck off.

If there is a God then I don't see how it could possibly be viewed by the human race as benevolent.

Doctors can't do it all. I work in ICU and I'm very new there. I've already seen times where every medicine that can be given is set up, the patient is incredibly sick, then the doctors say 'and now we just have to wait'. Because at that point only time will tell if the patient will respond to treatment or survive long enough for the medicines to improve their condition.

I will not apologise for claiming a miracle that my pastor, who was struck suddenly with a neurological condition and declared very close to inevitable death, was healed. I give thanks for the doctor who took a risk and injected his own blood into his spinal column as 'he was going to die anyway, so we may as well try it'. He went from semi-comatose to sitting up in a chair overnight. Everyone had missed the fact that he had CSF leakage following his head injury. People were praying the world over and he was restored with all his faculties.

I refuse to apologise for praising God that the wonderful lady in our church, diagnosed with first breast cancer, then mets, is still with us today. She refused the offer of prognosis and decided to just love life. She has seen tumour shrinkage on scans, the doctors remain baffled and she remains alive.

I refuse to apologise for praising God that my then 5 year old niece is still alive despite having had a very aggressive cancer that normally kills before the age of 2 and took a year to diagnose. The doctors told her parents that they'd treat for just 9 months, then withdraw. They were so amazed by her response to treatment that they kept sending the biopsies for analysis, because the tumour she had should not have responded to chemo as it did and she was recovering. The results came back every time: rhabdoid tumor. Highly lethal. She's in remission.

I can't explain why the two beautiful, Godly women in our church died of very aggressive cancers, very rapidly. I just have to trust God.

Your god doesn't sound very trustworthy, tbh, when there are millions of innocent people suffering.

I couldn't trust a god who gave babies cancers to begin with.

There might be one, don't know. But if any of the religions on earth are representive of it then it is evil.

And they all think they are right. So there is no way of knowing whether you have backed the right horse god.

You are likely to spend your life on your knees and then find out you are fucked anyway. What's the point?

If a person invented cancer, gave it to babies and then, after instructing people to tell him how great he was, saved a random selection of those babies from the worst painful, fatal excesses of that cancer, you wouldn't think he was a great guy, you'd think he was a psychopath.

I just have to trust God.

No, you can engage your brain and be free of this medieval nonsense.

My children's dad had one last wish when he was told that he was dying. It was to have one last Xmas with our children. He was 39 and all he could think about when he was told he had 2 weeks- 2 months to live was sorting out his money for them and having his last Xmas.

Well he didn't make it.

So god not only 'let' a 39 year old die he wasn't even kind enough to let him live a few extra days.

He also didn't answer my children's prayers when they asked for their two grandparents not to die of cancer just weeks after their dad died.

This is what makes me angry about people who believe in god and his miracle cures. Some people are deserving of being saved while others aren't? How can you call God loving if he lets some people die, some of them being innocent children, but gives others these miracle recoveries?

Did they just not pray hard enough?

Life can be shit. Life can be unfair. If you survive a serious illness or accident it's down to the medical care you receive, the time of your diagnosis and the nature of the illness/injuries.

I also think when people say they don't understand why God lets this happen but they trust he has a reason for it is a major cop out.

Obviously the parents in the OP are taking comfort from their beliefs and that is good for them, but I still find those beliefs offensive. And no, I don't respect them.

People always push their own agenda on Facebook and Social Media. Look at Mumsnet....

It's as if they think by clicking on their stupid meme and urban myth we will all suddenly think the way they want us to.

God, Allah, Jehovah, Labour, Liberals, Conservative, anti vaccination, pro-breastfeeding, indigo children, anti abortion.

Very few people don't try and influence others. The secret is to see through the bullshit and, whilst respecting the fact that others think differently, let them get on with it.

Unless of course, science has proved their bonkers beliefs wrong. In which case, it's open season.

I look forward to the day science tells me the Tories really are aliens.