So, the Christian fundies (especially) like to talk about how something that (supposedly) appears to have no explanation otherwise gets classified as a "miracle" and that's their final answer.

And so, they go to these really big tent revival thingamagigs, and things supposedly happen there that defy real possibilities, and the whole congregation goes "ooh," and "aah" and they figure they've made it through another whole day just waiting for the Apocalypse, and that's part of the miracle, too.

My fundie ex-friend would look at a pretty sunset or dusk, or whatever, and at one point she said it looked like "god's thumbprint" in the sky and oooh, aaah, how excellent.

Well, this, to me, is bullshit. Another friend and I were talking about this a couple of days ago, and I said that anyone who could attribute such an event as being the work of the Xtian god has gotten simple in the head. How if that's all these people can say looking at such a beautiful event, they are dumber and more ignorant than most people in third world nations. Because the truth is, science is far better, far more of a "miracle" than anything these fundies could dream of, and they know it.

Talking about how a rainbow is formed, from droplets of water in the air, and how the sun takes each droplet, and makes it into a prism, and brings us the miracle of a rainbow. How beautiful it sounds to actually understand the science behind it, and how a pat "god did it!" renders it not only crude, but also ignorant. In this sense, one is reminded of all the myths that were originally created to explain complex scientific processes, and to make up some answer that otherwise went unexplained.

I think daily of how those who would rather accept a god of limited scope appear to be afraid of the truth. As one character in a movie hollered once, "You can't handle the truth!" and that gets more obvious every day how these people get deeper and deeper into the abyss of ignorance.

Science is quite beautiful. Ever see a picture from space, where, for example, the Hubble has taken pictures of a star nursery? Or deep within the ocean depths, where strange living organisms live on the edge of an entry into the mantle, blind? There are so many wonderful and thrilling parts of our lives that can never be explained away by these people as a "miracle" but are, in fact, more miraculous than anything they claim came from their "god."

And another thing: science is accessible to everyone, not just scholars, or priests, or people like Robertson, Falwell, Haggard, or any of those other idiots who make themselves out to be the handmaidens--oops, make that handmasters(we won't say what they've learned to master with their hands)--of god.

Science, as the NSF joyfully proclaims, is awesome. And in my mind, it's 1000 times better than telling the world how ignorant you are by saying it's a miracle from "god." Perhaps the science was influenced by some godlike creator billions of years ago, but we learned a long time ago that exploration of all that intrigues us is a major part of why we function. Curiosity is a part of our species, and likely will be always. Science is the real miracle, one which proves without a doubt a consistent and verifiable explanation.

Better than any old prophet could ever do.