The headline is in half quotes, yes, but the same idea is in the body of the piece without them. Obviously there was no miraculous event in the story. Humans started the fire, humans put it out.Religionists talk like this all the time, sure, and there's nothing against putting such blather in news stories with attribution and quotes. The offensive sloppiness here comes from the editor's blind spot around religion. Some self-examination and professional review is in order. But to that I'll add an apology to the firefighters for cheapening their work in favor of the sky-pilot myth.
Update, Wednesday: It's fascinating how quickly and uniformly the Xtians rise up, recast criticism of the editor's mistake as an attack on the faith, and bemoan their persecution in the comments. The persecution mythos, inherited from Judaism, is one of the dangerous angles of this particular faith — if you believe someone's out to get you, it justifies all sorts of aggression.
Absolutely love that picture ! I'm guessing that they're spraying "holy water" as well. Besides wouldn't Aquaman be a better choice for firefighting ? But the headline is both very telling and embarrassing. My god (oops) Will this nonsense ever stop ?
ReplyDeleteSteven, I'm sorry, but the illustration is clearly wrong. Jesus would be taking the front of the nozzle, not the rear. How could you make such a mistake???
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the correct pic would have been Jesus in the helmet directing the hose and the fire company on its knees on the sidelines, rapt.
ReplyDeleteAmen !
ReplyDeleteI tried to post this on the comments section for the article but of course it never showed up.
ReplyDelete" This whole discussion could have been avoided if the editor had simply put a ? after the headline."
I don't see any violation of T&C but I guess I offended the editor.