Near as I can tell, the good people at Christianpost.com deleted a comment because they didn’t like my verse.
Not my comment, mind you, so I can’t be certain. But I was following links, and have my suspicions. After the jump:
See, this story tells of a terrible tragedy miracle, in which four people died, but one survived.
Hannah Luce, daughter of Teen Mania founder Ron Luce, is continuing to improve as she recovers from a plane crash last Friday. She was the sole survivor among the five on board.
“The fact that Hannah is here with us is a miracle, and while I am overjoyed and so thankful to God that she’s here, I am also deeply saddened at the loss of Austin, Stephen, Garrett and Luke,” Ron Luce wrote Tuesday on his blog. “I can’t even begin to understand the pain their parents are feeling right now.”
It’s a terrible thing. At this point, I would be overjoyed to have my daughter survive, but I can’t quite wrap my head around people other than the parents calling it a miracle, claiming that God had a hand in saving one, without taking any blame for killing the other four. I have no qualms with the parents calling this a miracle–any port in a storm–but the commenters don’t have a stake, and if they are going to claim miracle, they can be expected to have that claim questioned.
And it seems they can and will delete posts that do question this miracle. Including, apparently, one that quoted one of my verses. The verse was about a previous miracle, a case in which a man survived a fall from a skyscraper, with only 10 broken bones (both legs, right arm, multiple ribs, vertebrae). His brother was killed in the accident. Come to think of it, it seems a very similar situation to this current tragedy miracle.
I always found it rather odd
When people think to credit God;
The doctors helped, at least a bit,
The rescue workers didn’t quit,
The strangers there, who saw him fall
And made the first responder call
So many people did so much
But still we see His Holy Touch–
You see, it seems the signs are there
That show this man has seen God’s care:
The shattered ankle, broken shin
The shards of bone that pierce through skin
The massive bleeding in his gut–
Yes, every fracture, every cut–
This is the way that God Above
Displays His omnipresent Love.
And just in case He’s still denied
Remember, this man’s brother died.
Such agony makes Man aware
Of just how precious is God’s care
And when Humanity forgets,
God has a way to hedge His bets:
He’ll find a patsy, just some guy,
Like this Moreno, way up high–
When disbelievers start to scoff
God simply pushes this guy off;
With bleeding, pain, and broken bone,
God shows us that we’re not alone,
With just a little Godly shove,
He gets a chance to prove His Love.
I just can’t *imagine* why they disliked your verse celebrating a similar miracle.
Yes, you’d think they perceive some kind of mocking sub-text to all this.
Another superb verse, Cuttlefish – the capitalisation here and there adds to the Swiftian tone.
Loved your verse! Some people have no taste.
And it seems they can and will delete posts that do question this miracle.
I feel your pain, but I hope you’re not under the delusion that this is a religious tendency. Atheist bloggers pull these same sorts of censorship shenanigans all the time, even right here on ostensibly “freethought” blogs (cf. JT Eberhard and his ever-wielding “ban-hammer”).
Yes, you’re an offensive, terrible, awful person. Love you!
Brilliant verse, which I didn’t catch first time. Love the way you use that sort of Hilaire Belloc understated style and apparent simplicity to puncture the delusions of Grand (Divine) Design. Makes the gruesome details of injury all the more shocking.
Not surprised they couldn’t stomach it.
That one is a keeper. Alas, I already have a backlog where it will be an appropriate comment.
Loved the verse – i think they’d have quashed a prose version too.
@cl – I think JT E. also mentioned that he’s only ever banned two people? I read a column or two of trolls complaining that their trolling wasn’t being respected. It was very concern troll of them.
opposablethumbs, I’m so happy that it is seen as deliberate. (It was, but it isn’t always seen that way.) I couldn’t, I think, have gone the other way and had a form as serious as the subject–I mean, people died!
I know. They should just call it “Stalin’s Gulag Blog and Hitlertorium” and be done with it.
What? It’s like, 1984 all up in here. I mean, everybody should have complete and unfettered access to blah-blah-blah on everybody else’s blog, no matter what the context, or Baby Liberty cries.
Meh. Today’s disbelievers are lucky. Back in the old days, God would show his love by drowning damn near every person still alive–and all the animals, too!
It’s a miracle, those folks getting killed and heading straight into the Arms of Jayzus. Too bad about the survivor, who still has a chance of burning eternally in the Savior’s love.
So Reverend Spooner was right–the Lord IS a shoving leopard.
The truth hurts. Awesome poem!
Brownian,
JT has banned more than 2 people. You need to catch up on his blog. He’s banned entire groups of people via IP. But that’s a minor detail.
“I mean, everybody should have complete and unfettered access to blah-blah-blah on everybody else’s blog, no matter what the context, or Baby Liberty cries.”
That’s not what I’m saying (although I am in fact a proponent of “absolute zero” censorship on my own blog). My point was pretty simple: there’s a reason our host feels the way (he? she?) does about being censored. That’s because intelligent dissent deserves to be heard, and when people suppress it, they’re walking with open arms towards a fascist, hostile-towards-freethought mentality.
I’m not talking about the types who hassle JT about his penis size. If he wants to censor them, hey, that’s his prerogative, and while I wouldn’t ban such trolls, I also wouldn’t really fault JT for banning them. I’m talking about the inconsistency between maintaining a “freethought” blog and then banning intelligent dissent.
Apples and oranges, don’t you think?
Brownian,
Sorry, Baal needs to catch up on JT’s blog. I confused your comments.