Prayer saved man at sea

[Technosoul]

Yesterday our local news station (fox news) did a story about this guy here in California who got tossed out of his small boat by a big wave, his power driven boat sped away leaving him stranded in the ocean, too far away from shore to swim the distance.

He was a fairly good swimmer but had on no life jacket, he spent time dog paddleing about and bobbing up and down in the waves, but then he started getting chills and his mind started to freak out, he suddenly knew that shortly he would die at sea.

In panic he started to pray and to chant the "lord is my shepard". A moment later to his surprise he spotted a 2 by 4 peice of wood floating near-by - as if it suddenly appeard in answer to his prayers. He was able to float on the wood with much less struggle and then spotted one of those bowies they have in the sea. After reaching it he was rescued by the coast guard - because his brother who was waiting his arrival got worred that something had gone a-miss.

So what do you think of his story - was he saved by praying or did he just get darn lucky?

[Chris]

any links?

He was damn lucky!

[gallo]

Right. And the boxer who has just pounded another human senseless thanks Jesus - it wasn't because he was bigger, stronger, and faster - it was Jesus. And the winning quarterback at the Superbowl thanks Jesus. It wasn't because his offensive line executed every play in spite of their fatigue, it wasn't because the receivers ran every pattern as hard as they could in spite of the fact that they knew the ball wasn't going to be passed to them. It was Jesus.

So all of the crap floating in the ocean is the work of Jesus, just so this guy could be saved.

It makes this guy feel better and the story sells to the retarded intellect of the American people. Most Americans still believe that their god jumps in and diddles with the laws of physics from time to time just because they ask him to do so. Don't let go of your bowling ball because god might just decide that it should orbit the moon.

[another day]

Pathetic isn't it? The idea that god will jump in and help you win your championship soccer game or something...its absolutly the worst depths of human idiocy imaginable...just completely pathetic and the fact that so many people are like this almost negates all the amazing stuff that humankind has accomplished...such intelligent creatures yet so damn moronic at the same time.

[Ghumanto]

A famous Bangla poem -
Brother Ishwar ( God ) is needed for everything. Someone wants to pass the exam - Ishwar is there; someone wants to F**k someone elses wife - Ishwar is there to help him ; someone wants to win the lottery - Ishwar is there ...........
Mr. Ishwar died last night !
What will happen now ???
N.B. Ishwar is a common name for Hindu male in Bangladesh and West bengal ( India ).

[Osborn F Enready]

Coincidence saved man at sea, attributed to faith.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: |Chris| any links? He was damn lucky!

I do not know if you could reseach for a link on that story. Fox might not always post every local story on their webpage and some of them are removed a day or so afterwards for more postings. It was not on the "world news" section of the programmie.

I did not search for a link because I am not posting it in the news section but here in the "religion" section, as you know their are hundreds of simular stories also that have been reported about in a number of places. So this is a debate about miracles as such, and not about just one news story.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: gallo Right. And the boxer who has just pounded another human senseless thanks Jesus - it wasn't because he was bigger, stronger, and faster - it was Jesus. And the winning quarterback at the Superbowl thanks Jesus. It wasn't because his offensive line executed every play in spite of their fatigue, it wasn't because the receivers ran every pattern as hard as they could in spite of the fact that they knew the ball wasn't going to be passed to them. It was Jesus. So all of the crap floating in the ocean is the work of Jesus, just so this guy could be saved. It makes this guy feel better and the story sells to the retarded intellect of the American people. Most Americans still believe that their god jumps in and diddles with the laws of physics from time to time just because they ask him to do so. Don't let go of your bowling ball because god might just decide that it should orbit the moon.

Being able to catch a football and run with it fast enough to make a touch down is not really a miracle. Although Christians might thank God for everything good that happens in their life that would be different then what happened to the guy "just in the nick of time" who fell into the drink. For all I know his boat might have bounced when it hit a 2 by 3 chunk of wood, insteading being bounced by a big wave? And perphaps that is why he got into the accident and also saved form drowning afterwards.

None the less, such "miracle stories" can make one wonder about the power of prayers.

[Technosoul]

When you wish upon a star, it make no difference who you are.......

Faith in our lucky star ... what is the difference between faith in God or faith in the concepts of good luck?

Who will win the superbowl of debate - God or the Luck Star?

Now we also got the idea about random chance or random novelty which would suggest that we have a certain percentage of odds that not all people who are standed without a boat in the ocean will be saved, while a larger number would not experience that rare random event.

So what are the percentage odds, Mr Science, that a prayer would be answered in such a great moment of need as part of the regular odds that by random chance you could get lucky?

[Jimmy the Pro]

If this is how the man chooses to believe he was saved, then let it be so. Does it really matter if God did it or not? I think what people fail to see, is the good fortune that the man is even alive.

Now, whether it be a Miracle or not, I don't know, maybe I don't want to know, but I do know that the man was saved, and that's cause to rejoice anyway.

Quote by: gallo It makes this guy feel better and the story sells to the retarded intellect of the American people.

Seems that the majority of the people here don't believe it. Intellect is different than faith gallo. This story does nothing to appeal to any intellect at all. I'm not even positive it appeals to the person's intellect.

But, what it does appeal to is faith, and the majority who praise God for this event, don't have a retarted intellect, they have faith. And faith, is by no means retarted.

[Technosoul]

If everyone else did not have faith in the possibilty of winnng the lotto then no one would win very much money playing the game.

Now if some logger had been prevented from chopping down a tree so that someone else could make a board out of the tree, and if that board had not come loose form something and started to drift about randomly in the ocean, then that guy splashing around in ocean might be dead now instead of appearing on the evening news.

However other people near drowning in the oceans have been saved by dolphins or turtles that even transported them back to the shore (or close enough to get out of the water). So one could say that if the wood had not appeared in time to answer this prayer that something else might have been provided as a means for his pyshical salvation.

So are we dealing with a mystery, the paranormal, or is that all accounted for by mathamatical odds working on one's favor or for some logical/scientific reason? Still wondering....

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: gallo Most Americans still believe that their god jumps in and diddles with the laws of physics from time to time just because they ask him to do so. Don't let go of your bowling ball because god might just decide that it should orbit the moon.

I chuckled, then I chuckled again, then I laughed out loud several more times until I went back, and re-read it again upon realizing just how damn funny that statement was. Nice work.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Milton Bradley I chuckled, then I chuckled again, then I laughed out loud several more times until I went back, and re-read it again upon realizing just how damn funny that statement was. Nice work.

Nay, his bowling ball just had a lucky strike with your funny bones. He missed mine because, as chance would have it, he was playing in another bowling alley then where I was at.

One man's miracle is another man's joke. Sort of like one man's treasure is another man's trash.

They have this ideal concept ciruclating about "being in the right place at the right time".

Wonder if that has anything to do with this topic, and just how one might steer their boat to be in that "right place at the right time" more often then not.

People have attempted to use all kinds of theories and scientific methods to win the Lotto but they seem to fail as badly as asking Jesus to give you the right numbers to use.

When you play the lotto you basically have pre-agreed to the fact that it is a game of chance, it is not a sure bet and the odds of winning are worse then most other gambling games. If you agree to take a chance then you cannot reverse that rule by thinking otherwise - without possible disappointment being your reward.

However the man did not jump off his boat to gamble on the faith that the Lord would save him from drowning to death. So it is not the same thing as gambling - no pre-established rules of random chance have been mentally agreed too.

However one precher went up into this high tower and swore he would leap to death if people did not donate three million to his chruch within a certain limit of time - he had faith that the Lord would speak to their hearts to send in the loot. And he got the three million and even a little extra to spare. Gambling or a was that a sure bet on his part? Anyway his plan worked better then buying a lotto ticket, as it turned out.

[Jimmy the Pro]

Quote by: Technosoul However one precher went up into this high tower and swore he would leap to death if people did not donate three million to his chruch within a certain limit of time - he had faith that the Lord would speak to their hearts to send in the loot. And he got the three million and even a little extra to spare. Gambling or a was that a sure bet on his part? Anyway his plan worked better then buying a lotto ticket, as it turned out.

Hope that's not a real example. In any case you don't provide a source if it is.

Why do you question what force is behind this?

I really don't give a shit over shinola how or why the person was saved. He has his own oppinions on how it happened, you and others have your own. Quibbling over what force was behind it is rather pointless.

I awknowledge three things:

First, the man was saved and that is reason to be thankful, not to question.

Second, the man has his own oppinion on how he was saved, and while you or others may not agree with it, the oppinion is still his own and it will be respected.

Third, since conflict is always present and niether force seems willing to change, no matter what amount of circumstantial evidence you provide, no matter what analogies or comparisons you make, unless you have proof that God, Himself came down from Heaven and saved that man, you are not very likely to convince anyone.

[rez]

coincidence is a very powerful thing. It has been haunting human conscience for quite some time.

[Jack]

So what are the percentage odds, Mr Science, that a prayer would be answered in such a great moment of need as part of the regular odds that by random chance you could get lucky?

There were two possible outcomes. Either he survived or he died. What he does pending one outcome or the other won't change the fact that only one of those two events will occur. Later we can believe that his prayer actually affected the outcome, but since only one reality can result from multiple possible futures, we can never say for sure. If he'd have cussed god and sworn allegiance to Gia and survived, would we have credited that as realistic? What about all the people who must have prayed and drowned anyway?

If he'd have walked to shore on the water, that would have impressed me.
But I am glad he survived.

[gallo]

Quote by: Technosoul However one precher went up into this high tower and swore he would leap to death if people did not donate three million to his chruch within a certain limit of time - he had faith that the Lord would speak to their hearts to send in the loot. And he got the three million and even a little extra to spare. Gambling or a was that a sure bet on his part? Anyway his plan worked better then buying a lotto ticket, as it turned out.

Quote by: ldmaniac Hope that's not a real example. In any case you don't provide a source if it is.

Actually, the example is real. Oral Roberts claimed that his god had told him that his life would be terminated unless he could raise millions of dollars for the glory of his god. He actually got the money from the mindless faithful.

Quote by: ldmaniac First, second, third

I agree.

Quote by: Isherwood But I am glad he survived.

Me too. But I suspect that there are countless dead who saw impending death, prayed for rescue, and died anyway.

[Jimmy the Pro]

Quote by: gallo Actually, the example is real. Oral Roberts claimed that his god had told him that his life would be terminated unless he could raise millions of dollars for the glory of his god. He actually got the money from the mindless faithful.

a link might be nice

[Technosoul]

Quote by: ldmaniac a link might be nice

It was a very famous story and so most everyone would not need a link - you must be of a very young age or else not one who likes to watch news very much.

If I posted a referrence to a story that George Washington was the first President would you demand a link to my "source"?

It is just that I expect people to be sort of well informed with some background in news watching so they can take part in debates without me having to supply them with how to do a bunch of research on "well known" data. That's how I operate. I do not keep a file cabinate in my den so that I can look up everything I say and where I got the data from, and I cannot link you to my personal memory bank. So the best I can do is say "trust me", or do some of your own research to prove me wrong.

[Plasma Snake[D]]

Think of all the people that are near death and pray to god. Even I say O! God! O! God! if something bad is about to happen. So if they die then it doesnt matter that they prayed, but if they survived then suddenly it becomes a "miracle". It was part of God's plan. Yeah, Im fucking sure