IlOvEdUcKsFinalAnalogy


A woman has recently lost her beloved husband, yet she is carrying his child. The unborn child, she feels, is her only tie left to her dead husband. When the child is born she is overjoyed but soon she comes to find that something is horribly wrong. The child has a life-threatening form of skin disease. He is not expected to live for more than a month. The woman is devastated and cannot bear the thought of not only losing her child but also the continuation of her husband’s legacy. She takes the child home and lies in bed tossing and turning because she is so distraught that she cannot sleep. Her child is sleeping soundly in the next room. She can see his doorway from her vantage point in her bed. It is eerily dark and the woman begins to sob. Suddenly she sees a strange burst of light come from her child’s room and she hears his blood-curdling scream. She runs to him as fast as she can only to find that he is completely healed. He looks perfectly normal, something she thought was impossible. Upon taking him to the doctor’s office the next day she is told that what has occurred is utterly impossible. The child is healed and is expected to live a full life. The woman has many theories on why her child’s life was spared. The first is that her husband’s spirit lived on in their home and that he saved the child. She also thinks that it is a possibility that God had a hand in the event. God discovered what was happening and saved the life of the child to spare the mother any more pain. God is like magic because both entities perform actions that seem unrealistic to the normality of in today’s society.

 

Some people believe in God and others do not believe in him. Most religious people believe in God because they attend church on a regular basis to learn about God’s miracles. There are several types of beliefs due to the boundaries of certain religions. God has performed many miracles that have been told of in the Bible and people believe the stories in hopes of being accepted to Heaven one day. On a daily life basis, people pray when obstacles in their lives are good or bad. One might pray that their family be kept safe in their daily lives and if they don’t pray, something bad is more likely to happen to the family than if they had prayed. A major belief in in young people is that they are invincible. They believe that no matter what they do, God will protect them because they will not die until they grow older. Many interactions with God are through death. When a close one dies, people cannot believe the happenings. They mourn the death but also think that the dead person is in a better place with God where he will take care of him or her forever.

 

The above paragraph doesn't quite hang together. It goes in many directions.

 

It is common belief that God’s powers are used only for the good of mankind. (Note how the sentence leads one to believe this paragraph will question the common belief.) Although it is true that some of his actions will hurt people as in the death of a loved one it is ultimately a blessing because he has taken them to a better place where they will eventually be reunited with their loved ones. An opposition to people believing that they need to pray to be kept safe is that nonreligious people who do not believe in God do not pray but they still live safe and fulfilling lives. What is destined to happen will happen with or without the aid of prayers. Whether people believe that God is the source of this or not, it ultimately does not matter. God is always there, he loves all his children no matter what sins they have committed. So even if they do not believe he exists he will still love them and keep them safe.

 

Magic can have some of the same effects on people. Some people believe in magic and some do not believe in it. There are several types of beliefs due to the variety of magical actions that can come about. For instance, people believe that ghosts and spirits are derived from magic. Spirits perform actions that can scare people or some that can be considered to promote happiness in the lives of people. Spirits have been said to cause death or illness in their victims. Yet other spirits are believed to have saved people’s lives in threatening situations such as house fires or vehicle accidents. These “good” spirits protect their target much like God is said to protect his children.

 

In contrast, it is common belief that magic is used purely for evil. A widely known example of this belief would be the Salem witchcraft trials. Many people were executed because their townsfolk believed they were using magic for wrongdoings. Another example of this would be the type of magic referred to as “Voodoo.” Voodoo is thought to be a source of revenge, a way to get back at the people that have previously crossed the caster. Happenings from God usually benefit people for the good and magic is believed to be bad so, magic usually does bad things to people. Anything good is from God yet anything bad has come from magic’s evil. But magic includes the ever-important “good” spirits. (A bit of research on voodoo or other types of magic would help. As it stands these are just assertions.)

 

The child’s life that was spared came either as an act from God or from the father’s spirit. The child was cured even if the woman prayed or did not pray. In this instance, what happened was magical. It was a good act that seemed unrealistic to the normality of today’s society. So, in conclusion, not all good things that occur have to come from God, magic can also be the source of events that evoke happiness.

 

Question: did the event happen? That's crucial for this particular argument.