Why does God hate amputees?

Marshall Brain has released an online book called "Why Does God Hate Amputees?" He also wrote a scary vision of the future in Robot Nation and is the founder of How Stuff Works.
His books is 32 pages and the title comes from this idea, we hear about miracles where tumor or some disease is cured, but...:
No matter how many people pray. No matter how sincere those people are. No matter how much they believe. No matter how devout and deserving the recipient. Nothing will happen. The legs will not regenerate. Prayer does not restore the severed limbs of amputees. You can read all the medical journals ever written -- there is no documented case of an amputated leg being restored spontaneously. And we know that God ignores the prayers of amputees through our own observations of the world around us. If God were answering the prayers of amputees to regenerate their lost limbs, we would be seeing amputated legs growing back every day.
I haven't finished reading but what I have read so far is very well written and brings forth very logical arguments. It's also likely to bring a lot of flaming from the religious right, good luck to him.

Comments

Scott Kirkwood said…
Here's a snippet:

As a matter of fact Scott, I have a friend, Carole Miller McCleery, who lost her leg through amputation because of a car accident many years ago and God is GROWING A NEW LEG on her body. She is speaking all over the United States and showing the x-rays and how even the heal is forming. It is happening slowly but the progress is incredible.

So I was wrong, God does help amputees?
12:03 pm
Scott Kirkwood said…
Chloe,
you bring up an interesting point.
I saw the paragraph as an olive branch (pun intended) to the Christian fundamentalists who believe in all 10 commandments, and that the universe was built in 6 days some 4 thousand years ago,etc. I think your problem with the paragraph is that he's putting the belief in the 10 commandments at the same level as the believe in God. You can believe in one and not the other. Yet they both have no proof that they are correct.
11:32 pm
Scott Kirkwood said…
Chloe,
I think a great deal of people believe in some things in the bible, but not all things (think of Noah's Ark). Marshall Brain is not just arguing against particular aspects of the Bible, but against most of the fundamental beliefs held by Christians.
A little while later
Brain lists his "Standard Model of God" which he thinks that most Christians would believe. I wouldn't say these are straw-men to be knocked down, but fundamentaly held beliefs that he is arguing against.
On the other hand, I think that Marshall is going to have a difficult time converting anyone since what he writes would be inflamatory and too hard to read for any true believer.
11:02 am
Anonymous said…
One reason that God gave the 10 commandments was to show the people that they could not follow the 10 commandments.

Emphasis is on salvation via grace and not works (Ephesians 2:8-9)

There is no one good (Psalms 14:3) and all have fallen short (Romans 3:23) of the glory of God. You can't do good things to get into heaven. It's only by grace. So to say we should only attack the behaviour is only half the solution. People's belief's determine their action.

As a Christian, you have to believe that the bible is the word of God, therefore, God approves it. For people to write something that God dissaproves of is heresy, and what kind of God would let that happen? The bible is our basis of truth. If it is not, then you're like any other atheist that thinks they know what is right and wrong.

Anyway, some of your questions can be answered via the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd1NDvqnnZ8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de7kisfQ1vY

They are in response to Brain's video.
1:08 am
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