Rudy Giuliani, the erstwhile US Presidential hopeful, had his moment on Tuesday's CNN debate. I'm sure you've seen it. Over and over again. I won't bother doing it here. If you haven't seen it, here is a YouTube version. Rudy is explaining his "Catholic position" on abortion (you know which one, the one that starts, "On September 11, 2001 . . . ") when his response was obliterated by lightning-induced static. The Big Guy was sending a message. And the Catholic blogs noticed. Here's a typical response:
This is just too good. As Giuliani was trying to explain his 'Catholic' position on issues such as abortion, God made his displeasure manifest by having lightning strike and cutting out the sound temporarily.Wow, what can you say? Rudy naturally tries to joke his way out of it, but I would not be so glib were I him. Seeing is believing, check it out. (Creative Minority Report)
I'll skip whether seeing is believing or believing is seeing. I'll just ask what you would believe if you saw this?
The nuns at Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden were thanking God on Sunday that no one was hurt when a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and struck their 33-foot statue of Jesus.
The lightning bolt broke off one of Jesus' arms and a hand and damaged one of his feet, sending marble plummeting to the ground during a Saturday afternoon storm.
"There were pilgrims up there on the hill," Sister Ilaria said. "The biggest miracle is no one got hit with the falling debris."
The statue of Jesus, which had one hand pointing to his "sacred heart" and the other outstretched, sits atop a mountain near the shrine in the foothills of Golden. Drivers on Interstate 70 can see the statue in the hills, and at night, light illuminates the white marble.
Jesus, wearing a robe and glancing down, is 22 feet tall with an 11-foot base.(Denver Post)
I guess God works in mysterious ways. Way mysterious.
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I bet He's just pissed off about people worshiping idols and making unto themselves all them graven images.
If a pilgrim had been hit, his survival would have been deemed a miracle (no doubt by his tear-stricken wife beside his hospital bed, looped over and over on CNN). If the pilgrim had been hit and died, then all the gifts to his family of money and canned foods would also be deemed miracles. . . .
Oh, everything's a miracle with you. Babies, puppies, people living, people dying...
Blake: Or if the pilgrim had died, they would have found a reason to say he deserved to die. God was punishing him. That's the power of religion. It answers every question.
Stogoe: Yes, the world is a miraculous place. Wars, pestilence, cruelty, indifference, irrationality . . .
Poor old God has had such a reduction in his explanatory function. He was responsible for most everything for thousands of years, and bit by bit science has chipped away at the god explanation. What does he have left - we know what causes lightening. However because weather has a chaotic nature to it, when we don't use reason we can still try attributing rain or lack of rain, lightening or lack of lightening to God and some get away with it. Lightening is a bit more specific than rain so seeing lightening as a God message works better than rain (god sends the rain to the just and the unjust, blessed be his name).
Ah well....there is a minor god in my old truck - sometimes that mischevious little god makes it to start right away and sometimes he requires the mantra "come on start, start, start" to deliver the spark that makes it go.
K.: The only thing I can say to that is, "Keep on Truckin'."
Classic.
A similar incident happened near my hometown in Ohio--a preacher was ranting and asking god for a sign, and then ka-boom--lightning strike. Strike that caused the church 20K in damage and started a fire. (It was so unbelievable even Snopes looked into it--and verified it.
James Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus Christ, in "The Passion of the Christ (2004)" was allegedly struck by lightning while filming. I say allegedly because it's not uncommon to have a Hollywood PR firm create a stunt. Assuming that's true was that just a little God love tap or an admonishment. That too, could be spun either way.
Can we get an official ruling from the Pope on this one? =)
Another movie sidenote: Visions of Caddyshack where Bill Murray ends up caddying for the minister who shoots a perfect game in a raging storm only to be struck down at the end. Bill Murray skulks off.
Sing along now:
Amazing Grace
How sweet the Sound
That saved a wretch like me ...
Oh, sorry, wrong blog.
I went to an outdoor concert on a sultry late summer afternoon in Chapel Hill in the mid 80's that featured the music of Mozart and Salieri - about the time that Amadeus was released. Two actors in period costumes were doing some narration and a lot of pantoime, with Salieri the butt of Mozart's goofiness. After the orchestra had finished a Salieri piece and was starting a Mozart piece, the brewing thunderstorm hit - thunder booming, winds going from almost nothing to strong gusts while the audience and and orchestra scurried for shelter. As everyone was leaving, the Salieri actor went to the microphone and proclaimed "There IS a God" just before the rain started.
Suppose I were a preacher aspiring to make an impression on my flock, whenever the occasion arises. I would therefore always check the weather forecast well ahead of time, and find out if there would be a thunderstorm coming up. That would motivate me strongly to focus my sermon -- oh, not for the first time! -- on the theme of God wanting to teach us a good lesson (hoping that my church would be sufficiently exposed for lightning to strike it). This, my beloved brothers and sisters, is just a matter of elementary statistics, entirely in line with the teachings of the Reverend (!) Thomas Bayes concerning conditional probability.
At sea this weekend, we sail into a thunderstorm. (Not something I'd advise you do just to see what it's like.) Lightning struck the sea less than a mile away from our boat(load of atheists): no voice from Heaven boomed, 'Damn, missed.' HM Beagle was the first ship to be fitted with lightning conductors, btw.
revere you amaze me again. You've combined religion and politics into one subject.
Rudy Giuliani give me a break. He didn't "save" New York, it was dumb luck, hard work and being caught-up in the moment that got the hormones going that gave Everyone the strength to pull off amazing feats.
Now, lightening strike on a statue of Jesus, that's kinda funny but sad as the mind's of the manipulated have done just what is to be expected, call it a sign, or miracle.
I am a person who believes in God and stand firm on that however, I don't support religions. God did not do the lightening thing, God is so far removed from this world. One of the reason's is stated above, how people interpret God and what happens on our globe.
Now where did I park my Volvo?!
OK. Maybe lightning strikes do evolve.