A Rational Response?

Mark this date on your calendars.

On October the 22nd, 2007 at approximately 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time, something amazing happened. Something so incredible that, if I were not an atheist, I would be tempted to call it a miracle.

At this date and time, Todd Friel actually acted in a rational manner.

I know, I’m shocked too! And I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears. In fact, I’m so sure that even you, our loyal readers, won’t believe me, that I’m going to supply the link. (It’s the first thing on the show, so don’t worry about searching for it.)

A young man called into Way of the Master’s ‘Beep Talk’. For those of you who don’t know, this is essentially a voicemail program that they utilize for people who want to call up and leave questions, comments, or criticisms. And while I doubt that they air even a small percentage of the criticisms they receive (in fact, I have yet to hear a single one), I will give Todd this much credit. He has actually chosen to use Beep Talk for something other than a way to have listeners sing his praises.

Call me a cynic, but I don’t expect this to last.

Now, for those of you who don’t want to sit through even a few minutes of Todd’s voice, this is what happened.

A young man called in and left a message of a medical nature. Although the beginning is a bit garbled, it seems that a faith healer told him he was healed and so he decided to stop taking his epilepsy medication. Since then, he has had seizures (obviously), and he asked Todd if this was because he had sinned in presuming that someone other than god could heal him directly.

Todd, shockingly, disabused the kid of this. He told the caller that he should resume taking his medication, because others have stopped taking their meds in similar situations and had died as a result.

That’s right. Todd did the rational, logical thing.

Before you faint, I should point out that Todd’s reasons weren’t completely rational. According to the Way of the Master worldview, god created everything for our benefit. Apparently that includes doctors, science and medication.

While they don’t understand evolution and embrace the pseudo-science of ID (intelligent design), it’s nice to see that the boys at WOTM haven’t gone completely over the deep end and rejected all of science. Todd put the health of someone over shilling his ministry. He may have used his bad philosophy to justify it, but he still deserves some credit for doing the right thing.

Does this mean that there may be hope for Todd, Ray and Kirk? Have they perhaps not gone so far into irrationality that we may yet call them back to the logical world?

Maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it.

Comments

Most likely he was afraid

Most likely he was afraid he'd get sued if he told the kid to seek Jesus instead of a doctor and the kid ended up dead as a result. I wouldn't read too much scientific forethought into his actions - more legal foresight.