DISCUSSING IF MIRACLES IMPLY WE HAVE A DUTY TO BELIEVE
RELIGION SAYS
A miracle is what is not naturally possible. It is a supernatural occurrence. It
is paranormal. Only God does miracles. He does them so that we might see and
know which religion is his religion, the only true one.
We have duty to worship God according to the method he has revealed. A duty is
something you have to do and if you don’t do it you must suffer for it – one way
or another there is something you are compelled to do. From all this it follows
that we have a duty to believe in miracles and that the reported resurrection of
Jesus was a miracle. Those who do not believe in miracles are neglecting their
duty. They must be silenced as should be a person who advocates stealing for
everybody has a duty to forbid stealing.
The miracle club or religion when it faces:
A Evidence against its claims
B Evidence for its claims
Will deal with A first. That is logical for evidence for
something is no good if the best evidence is against its claims. Or it could be
an equal contest.
OBSERVATIONS-
If there is a duty to believe in religious doctrine or to try to then religion
is clearly right in saying those who encourage people to question their faith or
to doubt it must be censored and told to shut up. That alone shows that religion
is dangerous.
But you may say, "If atheism is true then we have a duty to accept it." At least
it would be a duty to ourselves to check it out and embrace it if it is the
truth. It would be our own business and nobody would be silenced for denying
atheism. But religion says believing what God has revealed say that Jesus has
risen is a duty to God. That's different. It is God and everybody's business to
make sure God is revered properly.
If God exists, we owe it to him to worship him and to acknowledge his miracles
as he gave us all we have. An obligation is something we have to do. We have no
right to refuse to do it. We must be punished if we don't. An obligation without
penalties is not an obligation at all. We have no right to say the obligation is
just an opinion and that we disagree with it. You have to suffer for failing
your obligations even if you don't mean to break them or know what they are.
Thus miracles imply a duty to hurt the critics of miracles. They imply each
religion has to compete against the other for no two religions agree on exactly
what miracles God or whatever has done.
Duty does not presuppose understanding what you have to do. You can be punished
for doing something you didn't know was wrong. You can be punished for doing
something you heard was wrong even though you don't understand why it is wrong.
The doctrine of God then presupposes that it is a duty to honour God by
believing what he wants and that you are breaking your duty if you don't
believe. It would be a duty for believers to silence unbelievers and use the law
to stop them publishing anything in defence of unbelief or anything critical of
the predominant religion.
Religion that teaches that belief is a gift from God and is a supernatural
miracle is indicating that if we do not believe then it is because we have
refused to take God's gift. We have not obeyed our duty to accept.
The Catholic God commands us and puts us under obligation to believe in certain
miracles and apparitions and divine revelations. Would you feel loved by a
friend or family member who obligates you to believe things they say? You would
only feel loved by a person who wants you to believe without any pressure.
The notion that we must believe in miracles because God says so is saying that
testimony sometimes must be believed. But nobody believes every testimony.
Everybody will be sceptical of some testimonies though they look watertight and
that is fair enough. And the question is whether the testimony of God is really
his. Therefore if you want to reject a testimony even if you think you see the
Virgin Mary and she is giving you the testimony that is your right and it is no
sin to do that. Miracles then are not calls to conversion and repentance. If we
need them to tell us to be good then we are repudiating all moral
responsibility. They cannot succeed in being a message for us for we have the
right to ignore them. They are just bizarre. If the Church argument is true,
then we should listen to any and especially what most testimonies say. Most
miracle testimonies speak of miracles that do not defend any religious system of
doctrine or defend religions that deny that dogma matters or religions and
beliefs which are obviously wrong and harmful. We can live perfectly normal
lives and believe that human testimony is always to be taken seriously except
for miracles for miracles are too fantastic.
When you serve religion you really serve men. You follow the perception they
want to have of religion and the perception they want you to copy. They think
they are so great despite their professed humility that they want you to believe
like them. So it honours God to believe in miracles? Rubbish and you know it.
Ultimately you simply feel that your religion is true and you only accept
miracles that match what you want to believe. It is that causing your acceptance
of miracles not any real reverence for God. Religion is human construct that
legitimises intolerance.
If God is love and miracles are done to improve our understanding of him then we
have a duty to believe in them and understand. Some say that miracles are done
by God not as evidences that he exists or as signs but to improve our
understanding of him. Thus miracles would be meant for believers and not for
unbelievers. But God can give a person a conviction that he loves and suffers
with the sick person. He does not to make a show of healing that person
magically to do that. Indeed doing that would be about power. Thus the argument
that miracles improve our understanding of God does not work. They block that
understanding and the only message they give is the stark message that God shows
off and is as immature as a twelve year old. Worse belief in miracles imposes a
duty to believe and understand that is not there. That is oppression.
Belief in miracles promotes intolerance. Inventing false duties is intolerance
in itself.
