Three in five British adults say miracles are possible

[Pat Mustard]

My biggest problem with miracles is the constant misuse of the word itself.  'It's a miracle I wasn't killed in that car crash' or 'I got such a good deal on this new furniture...it was a miracle'.

As far as I know, no one has defined 'miracle' better than Hume ('a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent'), and he pretty much destroyed the idea that they happen.

Boru

I would be very much surprised that most of the miracle prayers weren't along the lines of "Please god give Johnny the six As he needs to study doctoring in uni", or "please god, let the new treatment that Dr Johnny put me on for my cancer work". Or even more banally, "please god, let my car ceys be behind the sofa. I'm maaeively late for work".

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Three in five British adults say miracles are possible

Three in five UK adults say they believe some form of miracle is possible, a survey commissioned by the BBC has suggested.
Nearly half of those questioned on behalf of BBC Local Radio admitted to praying for a miracle at some time.
However, when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, nearly half say they do not believe he did miraculous things.
Market research firm Comres surveyed 2,002 British adults by telephone between 16 and 26 August.

The survey suggested:

   62% of British adults believe some form of miracle is possible today
   Nearly three-quarters aged 18-24 say they believe some form of miracle is possible today, more than any other age group
   43% say they have prayed for a miracle
   37% of British adults who attend a religious service at least monthly say they believe the miracles of Jesus happened word for word as described in the Bible
   Half of this group say they have prayed for a miracle which was answered in the way they had hoped
   But 37% of Christians have never prayed for a miracle

A miracle is regarded by many as a fortuitous event believed to have been caused by divine intervention, prayer or worship.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45679730


I am shocked, I thought the UK had mostly outgrown this sort of thing  

I was also shocked that Hillary Clinton lost the election, contrary to most predictions.  Survey "by telephone" -- does that mean landlines, mobile, or, both?  And, what percentage of Brits have each type?

16-26 year olds landline ownership would be between 0% & 0.05%. Mobile ownership about 150%, but would anybody answer without previously signing up as a survey subject?

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So, 3 in 5 British adults will need re education when I take over.

Hmmmm...

That's actually below my predicted percentage.

Worried about losing revenue?

No problem, set up a Manx company to hold the trademarks, charge the UK parent extra in royalties, funnel the resultant loans through Belize and, presto!, the revenue is made up.

Plus you've reduced your tax bill to a £200,000 rebate.