Atheist Debates - Miracle Healing? The Marlene Klepees story...

I'm not a doctor, but I was born with cerebral palsy, I went to a school for disabled children and I have known dozens of people with cerebral palsy throughout my life. Cerebral palsy is not a disease. It does not progress as was described in that story. That description of her cerebral palsy has no verisimilitude. It sounded like it was written by someone guessing what they think cerebral palsy is like. I have never heard of cerebral palsy leading to paralysis. Difficulty with movement due to rigidity in musculature, yes. But that's not paralysis.

I find the idea of God sending an allegedly paralyzed person on a side-quest to receive her healing reward both hilarious and incredibly sad.

Miracles are only possible when documentation is poor or nonexistent

I immediately googled this miracle once your debate opponent mentioned this, and I couldn't find anything substantial. I'm really happy you followed up on this.

Thanks for everything you do in the Atheist space, Matt.

It’s always funny how the version of the story that they tell us is so different from the actual story. Great work, Matt.

As a former medical professional, I would also like to note that it is unlikely that nurses or doctors would’ve discussed someone’s health information to some strange caller. Although it wasn’t yet a HIPPA thing, it’s doubtful that nurses would disclose health info to just some guy.

We have heard those stories since forever, because they are great wrenches to throw in a conversation. It puts the burden on the listener, who needs to do the investigative work later, if they can be arsed to. They always crumble almost immediately upon any serious scrutiny, but there's always THAT other case... and the cycle goes on.

Ty for displaying skepticism and critical thinking all these years

you don't need to be a sceptic to doubt the woman's story, just have a heartbeat.

The delicious Jersey Mike's sandwich I just ate was anointed with oil and vinegar. No miracle was required nor expected. Anyway, The Amazing Randy would be proud of your fine research and conclusion.😊❤❤

And that nurses name was Albert Einstein.

In summation: Tinny Tim throws down his crutches and does a flip -Scrooged

The thing I've noticed about miracle claims is that they are often used in bulk, as though the sheer volume of claims contributes to the likelihood of at least one of them being legit. But the devil is in the details, because when wild claims are carefully researched, they fall apart. I like when Matt says things like, "No, don't give me a whole bunch of arguments for the existence of God, give me ONE BULLETPROOF ARGUMENT!"

Matt, I found this gem on a Christian site sharing it in March of this year. SITE: The CFO Classics Library "Marlene started college with a first-grade reading level. God got her into college. There she shared Jesus, getting people saved. After that year in college, Marlene went to the hospital where they operated, doing tendon transplants and tendon lengthening." So apparently the legend here is that she actually went to college and saved people not that she planned to go and didn't go!

During your debate with Than I noticed how rude and insulting just about every theist was in the live chat. It's very telling that they'd rather enage in juvenile insults than actually address any of your points/counterpoints.

"... doctors feared that she was brain dead, though she still maintained control of her eyes and parts of her face." Now that in itself, is a miracle. She was able to move her eyes, eventhough she was brain dead ! Case closed. "Miracle, four shoor!" /s

Met with 45 physicians? That's the most unbelievable part of this whole story.

Those kinds of footnotes always make me think they're solely there to make people who want to believe feel like the evidence is good, and that they're made with the assumption they'll never be checked.

Thanks Matt your always doing the heavy lifting and we appreciate it.