Dembski ja ihmeparantaminen

William Dembski on kirjoittanut kokemuksestaan ihmeparantajan luona. Dembski ja hänen vaimo uskovat vielä ihmeisiin. Dembskin poika on autistinen, joten hän vei perheensä tapaamaan Todd Bentleytä. Kokemus oli varmasti ajatuksia avartava. Dembski osasi osoittaa jopa pientä epäilystä Bentleyn esittämille väitteille:

Bentley told stories of remarkable healings. In fact, he claims that in his ministry 30 people have now been raised from the dead. Are these stories credible? A common pattern in his accounts of healing was an absence of specificity. Bentley claims that one man, unembalmed, had been dead for 48 hours and was in a coffin. When the family gathered around at a funeral home, the man knocked from inside the coffin to be let out.

But what are the specifics? Who was this man? What’s his name? Where’s the death certificate? And why not parade the man at Bentley’s meetings? If I am ever raised from the dead through anyone’s ministry, you can be sure I’ll put in a guest appearance. Bentley claims that he is having a team investigate healings performed under his ministry and will soon go public with the evidence. I look forward to seeing it.

Kuten niin moni muu ihmeparantaja, myös Bentley suosii hyvältä näyttäviä lavatemppuja. Eli pyörätuoleissa ja kävelysauvoissa kulkevat ihmiset pääsevät jonon kärkeen:

At this point, a friend who was with us urged that she and my wife take our son with autism down for prayer (I stayed with our other son and daughter). Over an hour later my son with autism was still not able to get to the main floor for prayer. Ushers twice prevented that from happening. They noted that he was not in a wheelchair. Wheelchair cases clearly had priority — presumably they provided better opportunities for the cameras, which filmed everything. They also invoked the fire marshals, who, they claimed, prohibited too many people on the floor of the arena. But earlier in the service, during the worship time, they had packed the floor with people singing and whooping it up.

Autismista paraneminen ei tekisi suurta vaikutusta kameroiden edessä. Tuntien odottamisen jälkeen tuli selväksi, ettei autistinen poika pääsisi lavalle. Dembski ja perhe lähtivät pois tapahtumasta.

Aikaisemmin Dembski on ylistänyt Raamattukoodien toimivuutta. Nyt hän on osoittanut, että ihmeparantaminen oli lähellä toimivaa ilmiötä. Toivottavasti tämä opettavainen kokemus on herättänyt uutta epäilystä yliluonnollisia väittämiä kohtaan.

Neither my wife nor I regret going. It was an education. Our kids are resilient. But the ride home raised a question. We found ourselves avoiding talking about the event until the children fell asleep. Then, as they drifted off in the early morning, we talked in hushed tones about how easily religion can be abused, in this case to exploit our family. What do we tell our children? I'm still working on that one.