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Like everybody else in the country, I’ve been captivated by yesterday’s news story about an airliner ditching in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of birds during its ascent phase. The amazing part of the story is, of course, that all 155 people aboard the plane survived with only minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Now, whenever these sorts of events happen, the survivors, witnesses, and press inevitably start throwing around the word “miracle.” I know there are a lot of people out there who believe in genuine, literal<\/i> miracles, i.e., times when God personally intervenes in order to save lives. I don’t. I’m an agnostic — I don’t deny the possibility<\/i> of a God, but I have a very hard time believing He plays much of an active role in what goes on down here on this little rock. However, I acknowledge that many of my fellow Americans disagree with me on this idea, and when you come right down to it, describing positive outcomes as “miracles” is one of those things that’s not worth getting worked up over, even if I personally find it tiresome.
\nStill… I’ve got my limits.<\/p>\n
She said that, since US Airways Flight 1549 came down near the south end of Manhattan, maybe the spirits of those who died in the World Trade Center had had something to do with the plane’s perfect water landing. Yes, she actually suggested that the ghosts of 9\/11 had sent out “positive energy” and that’s why everyone on 1549 lived.<\/p>\n Lady, give me a frackin’ break. It’s one thing to speak of highly improbable survival events in terms of the miraculous. Whether you believe in literal, God-driven miracles or simply use the word as a figure of speech, “miracle” does handily sum up the sheer awesomeness of people walking out of a plane crash. But to seriously suggest that ghosts<\/i> saved everybody? If rationality has gone so far out of fashion, why stop there? Why not wonder if faeries were involved, too? Or Glinda, the Good Witch of the North? Maybe the plane didn’t really strike plain old ordinary birds, maybe it was actually sabotaged by gremlins. Was William Shatner or John Lithgow aboard 1549?<\/p>\n
\nThis morning I was watching CBS’ Early Show<\/i>, which usually seems to be a bit<\/i> more journalistic than its gossipy competitors. Harry Smith<\/a> was doing a live remote near the pier where the downed plane is tied up until it can be salvaged. So far, so good… he was providing solid, serious coverage of an incredible story, just what I was looking for. But then his colleague back in the studio, that twit game show<\/a> host Julie Chen<\/a>, said something that damn near caused me to throw my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats across the room.<\/p>\n