Idol thoughts
Once again, idols are drinking milk, sending the faithful into a frenzy of devout hysteria, convinced that this is divine manifestation. They believe this is a miracle beyond the comprehension of rationalists who anyway don't understand God.
Initially cynical, allegedly rational people have returned from a demonstration of milk drinking idols and have become proselytised instantly. The retelling then is embellished a good deal. There is another possibility, one that should not be dismissed out of hand.
What if you are convinced that it is impossible for a miracle to occur and there is no such thing as divine manifestation? What would you do? You would look for alternate explanations. If you find one, well and good. But even if you did not at first, you would still not call it divine.
For instance, you are convinced that there is no such thing as a ghost, and someday you happen to see an image of someone long dead at your window; would you look for an alternate explanation or scream ghost?
Everything we do not understand is not necessarily divine. Once upon a time, fire was considered to be divine manifestation. So was a rainbow or thunderstorm. Now we know differently. You cannot see or smell pheromones, but we know they exist allowing animals to communicate their desires long distance.
There is sound outside human hearing, dogs can hear it. Dogs identify one individual from another only by smell; you cannot, no matter how acute your sense of smell is, identify your most intimate friend merely by smelling him. Diet imparts a particular odour to the body of the eater but it is not individual specific.
When dogs unerringly identify a person by smell, we don't call it a metaphysical event. Someday we will find an explanation for this manifestation of idols drinking milk. Why just milk? Why not try tea, Coke, fruit juice, any liquid?
Suppose a prankster offered muddy water to an idol and it disappeared, would it prove that God was unhygienic? Do we have the courage to carry out such experiments?
Will we bravely make the same offerings to other articles made of the same materials as the idols and see if the liquid is absorbed? What if it turned out that the phenomena were not really idol specific after all? Uncomfortable questions.
Initially cynical, allegedly rational people have returned from a demonstration of milk drinking idols and have become proselytised instantly. The retelling then is embellished a good deal. There is another possibility, one that should not be dismissed out of hand.
What if you are convinced that it is impossible for a miracle to occur and there is no such thing as divine manifestation? What would you do? You would look for alternate explanations. If you find one, well and good. But even if you did not at first, you would still not call it divine.
For instance, you are convinced that there is no such thing as a ghost, and someday you happen to see an image of someone long dead at your window; would you look for an alternate explanation or scream ghost?
Everything we do not understand is not necessarily divine. Once upon a time, fire was considered to be divine manifestation. So was a rainbow or thunderstorm. Now we know differently. You cannot see or smell pheromones, but we know they exist allowing animals to communicate their desires long distance.
There is sound outside human hearing, dogs can hear it. Dogs identify one individual from another only by smell; you cannot, no matter how acute your sense of smell is, identify your most intimate friend merely by smelling him. Diet imparts a particular odour to the body of the eater but it is not individual specific.
When dogs unerringly identify a person by smell, we don't call it a metaphysical event. Someday we will find an explanation for this manifestation of idols drinking milk. Why just milk? Why not try tea, Coke, fruit juice, any liquid?
Suppose a prankster offered muddy water to an idol and it disappeared, would it prove that God was unhygienic? Do we have the courage to carry out such experiments?
Will we bravely make the same offerings to other articles made of the same materials as the idols and see if the liquid is absorbed? What if it turned out that the phenomena were not really idol specific after all? Uncomfortable questions.
