Telling children that they are going to hell is abusive?

[ColdComfort]

My guess is very few atheists have ever looked at the evidence from Fatima.

Hmmm, empoverished Portugal, illiterate populace, three prophecies in hindsight and a dictatorship just in need to grab that harness over the people.

Are you tuga?

Portugal was not a dictatorship at the time. It was a republic that was very anti-clerical. The secular authorities were hostile to the claims as was most of the Church and the Press.  Only in 1930 did the Church declare it 'worthy of belief". The prophecies were not made in hindsight. As one example, the warnings about Russia were made at a time when that country was an absolute theocracy quite some time before the Bolshevik victory. And the miracle of the sun was witnessed by 30,000 to 40,000 people. It was predicted beforehand not in hindsight. That's why so many people were there.   The testimony has been collected and written down. The crowd was a mix of Catholics, non-believers come to scoff, and just curious people.  

Was Portugal impoverished at the time or particularly illiterate compared to the rest of Europe? I never heard that but I don't see why it would matter.

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That's not what the man in the video said. Sixty-six declared miraculous cures and a few thousands unexplained cures. And of course, Lourdes is not the only place where miraculous cures occur. But what does statistics have to do with it? A miracle is an act of will by God. 

In any event that is not an examination of the evidence. For that, you would have to examine the medical files. But naturally you and others would just say there is no evidence to be examined even though there is.

It’s debatable whether the term ‘act of will’ is even applicable to God.

Boru

Very cryptic. But if its debatable you could start one.

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That's not what the man in the video said. Sixty-six declared miraculous cures and a few thousands unexplained cures. And of course, Lourdes is not the only place where miraculous cures occur. But what does statistics have to do with it? A miracle is an act of will by God. 

In any event that is not an examination of the evidence. For that, you would have to examine the medical files. But naturally you and others would just say there is no evidence to be examined even though there is.

A question that has never been answered and something that has never been demonstrated:  Curing amputees instead of "miracles" that can be claimed but not demonstrated.

A single regrown limb would convince millions.  Certainly more so that aunt Agnes claiming her heart burn was cured by drinking water.

Would it convince millions? If suddenly someone is free of Parkinsons or cancer and that doesn't convince millions why would a regrown limb?  Wouldn't millions just say it was a trick by the Church looking to make some money.

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Hmmm, empoverished Portugal, illiterate populace, three prophecies in hindsight and a dictatorship just in need to grab that harness over the people.

Are you tuga?

Not to mention that, at the time of the Fátima incident, Portugal was undergoing a kind of religious hysteria.  Funny how that works.

Boru

Never heard of that and I've read a lot about the subject. Any reference?