In Benoni, birthplace of Charlize Theron, there lives a 17 year old girl named Francesca Zackey. Francesca, according to today’s news reports, believes that she has received instructions from the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ.
Based on these instructions, Francesca performs spiritual healing, has started a prayer group, and is launching a youth group. Francesca has also told people that they too can see the Blessed Virgin if they stare into the sun. Now somebody has gone blind.
There are those who will say that this is a case of sad, deluded people who have failed to apply sensible logic to their actions, either by telling people to stare at the sun or by actually doing it rather than just saying that they did. Francesca and the newly blind Amal Nasief, however, are also victims of a vicious faith based system.
Christian dogma often includes the assertion that you cannot understand the benefits of having Jesus in your life until you have already accepted Jesus into your life. You have to believe first, and only then can you see the evidence. This is, in essence, the cornerstone of all religious systems. This is also specifically what rational atheists, such as myself, find abhorrent about faith.
From there, it is a short step to plucking up enough faith to ignore all the conditioning of childhood and stare directly into the sun for one full minute. If something goes wrong, then it is your fault for not having enough faith or for not following the instructions correctly. God takes no responsibility and cuts you no slack. He, after all, moves in mysterious ways. He probably has a plan for you.
If I told you that you could see miraculous images if you stared into the end of my garden hose, you would probably call me a liar. If you didn’t, I’d wait until you looked and then turn on the tap. That is exactly the same sort of joke that God seems to enjoy. Don’t you think its time to stop trusting in him?
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