Expect a Miracle (Final Report)

[ This is the final update on my visit to a good old fashioned Tent Revival and Faith Healing here in Missoula, MT. Be sure to see the original post and the update before proceeding. ]

Well, that was truly a worthwhile experience, and not precisely what I was expecting. My goal was to simply be a respectful observer. I wasn't there to heckle, or otherwise be disruptive, but simply to witness what I could and document as much as possible. In that regard... Mission Accomplished. It appeared that this event was associated with "The Potter's House", a nearby "Christian Fellowship Church", but many of the attendees had traveled in from all over. Roger (see below) for instance is from Coeur D'Alene, and the main attraction preacher was from New Mexico. Several others claimed to be from "Springfield", the nearest of which I can find is south of Idaho Falls.

I was somewhat surprised that at no point did anybody ask anybody else for money. There were no hats passed around or anything. In fact, they were even giving away hot dogs and soda (although I didn't think it would be fair to take any of that, considering my motives for being there, so I politely declined when offered).

I was also surprised at how much they let me take pictures and video. I was fully expecting that at some point they would ask me to stop (especially once they discovered that I wasn't "one of them"), but on the contrary, many people made a distinct point of not walking in front of the camera. Unfortunately, the really interesting parts were the conversations I had with people when the camera was off.

Several times, whomever had the microphone at the moment would ask everyone to bow their heads. I just couldn't bring myself to do that, and it didn't take long for Roger to notice. I gathered that Roger was one of the organizers/insiders of the event. Upon noticing my anti-conformist behavior, he walked right up and started talking to me, which I thought was somewhat disrespectful of the guy on the stage trying to lead whatever prayer they were on.

Anyway, Roger and I got to chatting there in the back of the tent. He claimed that he himself had had an ulcer and a broken ankle healed by god (as opposed to modern science based medicine), and witnessed similar healings of other people. I replied that I wasn't going to believe anything like that without some solid evidence and challenged him to show me some medical records to prove it. He accused me of not walking around everywhere carrying my medical records to show to people. I retorted that I wasn't making extraordinary claims of miracle healings. He conceded that point to me, and took down my mailing address so that he could mail me his records. I won't be holding my breath on that one. (And before anybody asks... I gave him my P.O.Box, not my home address. What kind of moron do you think I am?)

At some point in the conversation, he brought up war and famine, and how some people see things like that as proof that god does not exist, but that he thinks they're proof god does exist. Then, he proceeded to make his point by talking about something that had nothing to do with war or famine. When I finally pointed out that he still hadn't explained how war and famine are proof of gods existence, he said "Oh, oops, I pulled a Democrat... Oh, sorry, I hope you're not a Democrat... or maybe you are." I let him sweat a moment, then replied that, "I'm an Independent, I think for myself" which he seemed relieved by. In the end, he never did explain how war and famine prove god exists. I don't think he really knew.

I also talked very briefly with a guy named John (I'm assuming the 'h'), another of the organizers/insiders. He also claimed to have witnessed all kinds of healings, and claimed that we don't hear about these things in the news because the media doesn't like to report on certain things. He also seemed to think that I was being unreasonable by suggesting I would need to see some good evidence to back up these extraordinary claims. So, the media doesn't want to report a story about some crackpot "faith healers" who think providing scientific evidence of their claims is unreasonable. Go figure.

Oddly, Jesus and his healers were only doing lower back aches and sore feet tonight. I guess they're saving the androgenic alopecia and amputees for Saturday. Unfortunately, I have bowling plans with the rest of M.A.S.S. for Saturday, and so won't be able to witness those miracles. Darn it. I would have liked to get in on that for my receding hairline.

In the end, I reached the conclusion that they were all (at least the ones I talked to) very nice people who really, truly, believe that they're doing good. I only wish they could step outside themselves and listen to the crazy things they say with fresh ears. Honestly. If I tell you that I don't believe in god, what's telling me that "god still loves you" supposed to do? Am I supposed to say, "Oh, well in that case, I guess god does exist." (sigh)

When it was over, I shook Roger's hand and he asked if I was taking off. I replied, "Yah, I think I'm going to go slaughter some baby kittens, or something... I don't know." He laughed, obviously recognizing how ridiculous that sounds... "baby kittens" beings redundant and all.