The Passion and the Unexplained

I’m not certain what to make of Miracle or Paranormal claims. When I say “not certain” I’m not talking about whether they’re true or not, I’m usually pretty sure they’re not, what I’m talking about is how the hell people can believe this stuff.

Here’s an example. I tripped over a web page that lists “strange and miraculous” events associated with Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ.” Now these people are serious about this. Shall we work our way through the list?

• The actor who portrays Jesus in the film, James Caviezel (whose initials, coincidentally are J.C.), experienced some strange signs regarding the role. Six months before he ever auditioned for the film, a total stranger walked up to him and said, "You'll be playing Jesus."

Hey, thanks for the insight on the initials. I never would have noticed (*cough, cough*). One of the reasons I suspect Caviezel was selected was his resemblance to a sort of medieval image of Jesus. Too bad his eyes are blue. I doubt there are too many Semitic folks with blue eyes. If Gibson REALLY wanted to be accurate, why didn’t he cast a man of color as Jesus?

• His identification with the character of Jesus was so strong that fans felt compelled to bow down to him when they saw him.

So his fans are idiots. How does this translate into a strange or miraculous event?

• Mel Gibson said he received similar signs that he believes suggested that he should make this film that he had only been considering. A French woman, who he had never met, approached him out of nowhere and said, "Jesus loves you."

People say this all the time. I remember Tiki Barber telling a story about an NFL linebacker that managed to take him out of his game by telling him “Jesus loves you” after every bone crunching tackle.

• Caviezel was actually struck by lightning during the filming of the movie."

And?

• The assistant director was also struck by lightning. This time, no person was hit, but the bolt struck the cross on which Caviezel was later to be "hung."

Sounds like they were filming during spring thunderstorms or maybe Zeus was angry he wasn’t getting top billing.

• The film has been called intense, which may have contributed to a fatal heart attack of a 57-year-old woman in Wichita, Kansas while she watched the film.

Uh-huh, uh-huh. Considering the number of people that saw the film, this doesn’t sound like it’s terribly unlikely.

Perhaps better are the stories that people tell about “personal miracles.” Like the one from the lady that claimed after asking for a sign from Jesus she had rain spelling out the word “l-o-v-e” on the back porch. Claims to have taken a picture of it too. Or the lady that claims she sees lights coming off test answer sheets showing the right answers and also has the gift of prophesy. Allow me to suggest you give James Randi a call and scoop up a fast million bucks. Hell, it would a bargain for Randi. He would get TWO supernatural talents for the price of one.

Speaking of Randi I believe he was the one that coined the name for people that readily accept anecdotes about miraculous or parnormal events. He called them "credophiles." A credophile is someone that a has a need to believe either because that belief is comforting or simply because they have problems coping with uncertainty.

Ooops, I've just been corrected. Randi didn't invent the term, L. Sprague de Camp did. I probably first read about it on Randi's site which is why I thought he had invented it. I'm wrong. Sorry about that.