The Science of Discworld IV Judgement Da - By Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart Page 0,139
alleged there.fn1
The miracle occurred at a Catholic church in Mumbai, where water was dripping spontaneously from the feet of a statue of Christ on the cross. This event was interpreted as a sign from God – a holy miracle – and flocks of believers collected and drank the water, apparently thinking that it was holy water that would cure all manner of illnesses. A television station asked Edamaruku to comment, and consonant with his position, he rejected the claim of a miracle. Since his view was at that moment purely a matter of opinion, the TV company challenged him to provide scientific proof, which of course required visiting the church and taking a look.
The church authorities gave their approval. It didn’t take long to find the cause of the ‘miracle’. A drainage channel from a washroom passed beneath the cross’s concrete plinth. A quick look at the drain revealed that it was blocked. The walls behind the cross, and the wooden cross itself, were soaking up drainage water through capillary action. Some of the water was emerging through a nail hole and running down over the statue’s feet. Edamaruku took photographs to document the cause.
Point made, you will imagine. Well, yes – but. Edamaruku had long been a thorn in the side of religious groups, and his finding caused them some embarrassment. They could have used System 2 thinking to investigate the likely causes of dripping water, or just called a plumber like most sensible people would have done when they found water dripping from places where water ought not to be. Instead, they made a System 1 judgement and plumped for a supernatural explanation. But it’s not a great idea to have people drinking dilute sewage, even if they do imagine it’s a miracle cure. The discovery probably saved the church a great deal of potential trouble, even if it debunked the miracle.
So what was the response?
The church itself did nothing. But according to Edamaruku, people from two lay Catholic associations filed charges against him under section 295A of India’s penal code, which dates to 1860 and forbids ‘deliberately hurting religious feelings and attempting malicious acts intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class or community’. Edamaruku has said that he is willing to appear in court, where he is convinced the case will be thrown out – but unfortunately the law has a nasty sting in its tail. Anyone accused can be jailed, perhaps for many months, before the case comes to trial. So, as we write, Edamaruku has fled to Finland, and the Rationalist Association has set up an online petition calling for the complaints to be dropped.
Christian theologians have long worried about the paradox of silentio dei, the silence of God: if God exists, why does He not speak? An omnipotent, omnipresent being should have no difficulty in making His existence evident, in undeniable ways. Lined up alongside this strange absence are other problems of human existence: why a caring God permits diseases and natural disasters, for example. Theology being what it is, innumerable answers have been proposed.
There’s a Jewish joke about this. (There’s a Jewish joke about everything.) Three rabbis are arguing a point in theology. Two claim it was first made by Rabbi ben Avraham; the third claims it was Rabbi ben Yitzchak. ‘Look, I know it was him! I studied this for my thesis!’ But the others still disagree. Eventually, in desperation, the third rabbi says, ‘I know, let’s ask God!’ So the three of them pray, and suddenly the sky splits open and God leans out, looks down, and says, ‘He is right. It was Rabbi ben Yitzchak.’
After a stunned pause, the first rabbi says: ‘Well, now it’s two against two.’
Upon reflection, the joke works because we know it wouldn’t be like that. God could solve the problem of disbelief by writing his name across the sky in letters of fire a kilometre high. But for obscure theological reasons, an omnipotent being apparently declines to exercise that particular power. The only possibility that theologians have not contemplated is that God is silent because He doesn’t exist. On that particular issue all religious factions agree – and they don’t accept that explanation.
So, if you were to take a vote, there would be a clear majority verdict: God does exist. Atheists are a definite minority. However, even if you think that questions about the universe can be decided democratically, you have to ask the question sensibly. Religious people are happy to align themselves