Genocide ‘miracle’ story

[Lydie]

I’ve just read a book someone wrote about surviving a genocide. Reading it through ex-Christian eyes I can see it from a rational position, but it makes me sad. This survivor will hold onto the God narrative as to do otherwise would mean she loses those people forever.

 

Here are some thoughts I had while reading it.

 

* so all those other people were not special or chosen, but you were.

 

* Those voices of God with good ideas (hide in the floor vent) are YOUR BRAIN coming up with solutions.

 

* Sometimes ‘God telling you things’ is your subconscious figuring it out. E.g. you ‘knew’ not to trust someone because subconsciously you recognised the face as your friend’s dads cousin you saw once in primary school, at their house telling a dirty joke, and you took a dislike to him.

 

* Those visions are hallucinations caused by extreme stress. The words of comfort are words you need. The ideas are your own.

 

* monks from other religions have similar experiences through meditation and the experiences can be recreated by stimulating certain regions of the brain.’

 

* This God, even if he’s real is watching those babies get killed and not intervening. I don’t want to worship it. If it wants me to worship it it needs to give me a proper explanation, not just ‘mysterious ways’.

 

coincidences

 

there were parts I found hard to reconcile and which make me think there is ‘more’, even not necessarily the Judeo Christian view.

- she walked through a group who just let her pass when others were being shot.

- Someone didn’t kill her because she looked like his sister so he helped her escape.

- lots of ‘visualisations’ which came true.

[Casey]

Soldiers (and others) have stepped on landmines which then failed to explode. Whether the reason was they came from stocks that were older than God and not stored or stowed properly, or because some worker in the factory which made them was too slack and idle to assemble them correctly, or simply because the soldier was just luckier than they deserved to be doesn't matter. To put it crudely, shit happens. The converse is also true, good things happen unexpectedly. Either way, it doesn't mean there is some sort of miraculous reason to try playing Hopscotch in a minefield.
Casey

[Lydie]

All I meant is that there were indeed strings of coincidences and that saved her.

 

So for a land mine or gun not to go off, yes that’s covered by your explanation.

 

But for someone to walk safely through a hostile crowd, unimpeded, then for another group to act as if they couldn’t see her, then for someone to show mercy because they resembled a loved one, then for a person of influence helping because your parents once helped them. Visualising a person who will help you then they appear, looking as you drew them etc. = a happy string of coincidences that make you wonder if there is more.

[Lucy]

This is the story of the outlier, the anomaly, the lottery winner. Many of the dead in this incident also had visions and an internal "God voice" telling them what to do but ended up dead so they couldn't share their stories. When someone survives an event with a very low probability of survival, and they are religious, their minds will over exaggerate the role their god played in helping them through it. Also, consider that the survivor wrote a book and could be making some exceptionally miraculous claims for a more interesting read.

 

What book was this?

[Lydie]

It was called ‘left to tell’.

 

I completely agree with the fact people are known to exaggerate  the miraculous. Also that many with ‘visions’ were killed. She is an outlier and there are many people with the same story, only it ended when the soldiers DID find the crawl space.

 

The thing that remains is that IF (and it’s a big if) these people are telling the truth, there are things we can’t explain and which are very strange.

 

[RachelSkates]

OMG this is the most annoying thing. And it shows how disconnected we are to our fellow humans. LIke when someone punches you and says THAT DIDn'T HURT! You know hte old, "I didn't feel a thing!

 

I used to care but I am trying not to now. Those people are insane. That is all. Survivor guilt they don't know what to do with. People should shut their mouths.

[RachelSkates]

On 3/20/2018 at 7:32 AM, Casey said:

Soldiers (and others) have stepped on landmines which then failed to explode. Whether the reason was they came from stocks that were older than God and not stored or stowed properly, or because some worker in the factory which made them was too slack and idle to assemble them correctly, or simply because the soldier was just luckier than they deserved to be doesn't matter. To put it crudely, shit happens. The converse is also true, good things happen unexpectedly. Either way, it doesn't mean there is some sort of miraculous reason to try playing Hopscotch in a minefield.
Casey

Exactly. Why do we delude ourselves? What is it in human nature that refuses Occams' Razor?