Comments (22)

Thank you, Sarah Silas, for sharing your faith. Those who criticize simply do not know or understand. They are angry and so they bash Christianity. It is interesting that the Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, was himself a critic of the new Christians, to the point of having them arrested and thrown in jail and killed. And then Jesus confronted him in his unbelief in a remarkable way and changed Paul forever. Some of these critics may change, too, but that will be God's doing, and not ours.

Bless you, Sarah, and all your family and fellow believers.

Yonkers, New York
07 April 2008

If the Sarah and all her kin mentioned in this post believe that there is a God, and that "faith holds us up," it is well to leave her and all the rest of those who believe like her--alone.

Nobody has any right to disturb them in their apparent childlike innocence and ignorance.

Let them continue to believe in "miracles," in their beneficent God, in their faith, in their belief in a life everlasting hereafter.

MarPatalinjug@aol.com

DISSOCIATION is the medical name for what Mrs. Silas experienced that enabled her to focus on the other children without feeling the death of her son. This condition normally attends psychic trauma and only becomes problematic when it lingers as part of a syndrome of PTSD.

It strikes me as irresponsible for WaPo/Newsweek to publish Mrs. Silas' supernatural explanation for a common reaction that can even be reliably induced through hypnosis or by administration of medications like ketamine. It would not deprive Mrs. Silas or anyone of their faith but might protect them from public ridicule.

I agree with the second and third posts of MYGODISBIGGERTHANYOURGOD, but when it comes down to it, it is wonderful that Mrs. Silas can find comfort in something - in her case, religious belief, but perhaps also family and community - during such a difficult time in her life.

MYGODISBIGGERTHANYOURGOD -

Your supposition that the US government has done to the Alaskan Natives is akin to what China is doing in Tibet is proposterous and downright foolish. Checked your Alaska history lately? Christianity was brought out here, yes I live in a village of 400 Yupik Eskimos, during the 1800 by the Moravian Church from PA, the Orthodox Church, and the Catholic Church initially. In many places, where you live will dictate which church you will find.

Since I am teaching AK history now, I really did not find any government conspiracy to suppress the naturalistic forms of worship that the natives engaged in. Who knows, maybe the authors simply overlooked it in their research of the textbook. I do not agree with much of what the various churches did in prohibiting speaking of the native language and dancing, a large part of the culture, but they did. Yes, there were terrible abuses, but not on the part of the US, for most of those took place before it was even a territory, much less a state. In addition, the abuses did not occur ONLY at the hands of Americans, but Russians also. Our government never did attempt any suppression of the Native religion in Alaska. Granted, it did take several years before the Natives were recognized on the same level as "white" men. The Natives really just wanted to be left alone to fish and hunt in their traditional ways, but the whites - Russian, European and American had to exploit the natural resources that this beautiful land offers, starting with gold.

Maybe if you did not read such liberal publications you'd realize that there are Christians who are raising their voices about it. The media doesn't cover or print it; it just doesn't sell papers.

Villagers near Thule AFB in Greenland don't got no sons. Thule.

It must take incredible strength for a mother to act so selflessly in a crisis like the one described. This account truly is humbling and I only hope that I could act so rationally in as terrifying an accident.

But I can't help thinking here -- and I apologize if I appear cold -- that God, or whoever, was nowhere present that night. Does the Christian really believe that He would take this woman's son in this horrific accident and ask -- no, guide -- her to attend the children of luckier parents? This apparent contradiction is depressing in its universality. It must comfort the bereaved to know that Jesus has special jobs in heaven for our loved ones that can't wait for natural deaths, but this is just a coping mechanism and ultimately leads to a suffocating cycle of doubt and revival.

I lost a close relative in a similar accident. She died and and everyone else in the accident walked away unhurt. She was 18, headed to college that fall and like so many, hadn't lived long enough to really hurt anyone. I never could accept that God just wanted her in heaven that badly, that tearing open a good family and ending such a promising life was just collateral damage and that it's missing His divine plan to try to understand it all.

I was tempted to feel that God was sitting satisfied in heaven that night with his new ward but ultimately I felt it demeaning to my cousin to presume there was a purpose in her death. It might have made me feel better for a bit but placebos stop working after the deception is exposed.

..........Christians MLK, Martin Luther and others know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free, and when you are free....."YOU HAVE HOPE!

Those who don't have HOPE have nothing and when you have nothing you have no HOPE!

MYGODIS BIGGER:

God loves you; he loves everyone!

None of us have any means to verify any of the competing claims about paradise having 72 virgins, or whether hell has fire and brimstone. All of this is just make-believe, and I have no problems "respecting" and playing along with these delusions, until the industry that makes money of these deluded people start demanding that my respect extend to obeying their wishes. I am obviously talking about the religious right lobbying for laws restricting scientific study and the teaching of science in schools, and giving government money to religious organizations.

As for those who insinuate that those who "found Jesus" are the only ones who have found love, take a look at the Dalai Lama. It is ironic that China is trampling indigenous religion in Tibet and the religious lobby in the US is entirely quiet about this. Isn't the prosecution of the Tibetan Buddhists comparable to the persecution of the Jews in Germany? Why won't the "loving" Christians raise their voice on this issue? Wait -- I know the answer ... What China is doing now to Tibet is what we did to the Alaskan natives and the native americans. How can the religious lobby in the US object to the abuse of state power in China, when that is exactly what they have been doing in the US.

......"YOu wouldn't be reading these words, if it wasn't for "THE LIVING GOD" who saved a wretch like me." I came to know the Living God when I was 10 years old, "I took a LEAP...of Faith."

NOw knowing him, in my heart, I came close to losing him and my faith when the worse thing in the world happened to me, when I lost my best friend my mom to cancel, I know she is in Heaven now and I'll see her soon." I know that this was the worse thing that has ever happened to me."

She brougt me to CHRIST and he's never left me, but "BOY, did I almost throw away my "FAITH" in him when she died, and if I had, you wouldn't be reading these words now. He still is carrying me."

Had I thrown away this "GREAT FAITH" then I wouldn't have had nothing, and then I'd just got in my car and drove off a cliff."

Faith is remarkable thing, many come close to losing it, many have never found it, and many never will, it is a power beyond words, and a force beyond life that surrounds us, and guides those of us who have it."

In conclusion, I have her in my heart as I have Christ in my heart, a voice that guides me and gives me great comfort, and love that enables me to go on...

......"Time is short folks, and life is short, and we all running out of time, but to those like MLK and myself who know "The Living God" we have Peace that only Faith in Christ can give, and this surpasses all understanding, because we have what the world cannot give and we share what we can to help others see..."THAT Christ in all you need in a lost world, where broken dreams and broken hearts can be healed if you know him, and only by taking that "LEAP OF FAITH" will you ever get to know him, and when you do, "YOu will find what many don't have........."HOPE."

......"Thats what faith is, that's what Chirst is, and that's why "FAITH" saves carries and brings us home, you see we are only passing through this world, and HOPE" is what gives us the strength, and drive to fight the good fight and RUN THE RACE before us, because "HOPE is more powerful than life, and Christ is more powerful than death, and now you know why a LEAP of FAITH" saved a wretch like me."

......"Call Unto Me..."And I Will Answer Thee,
And Show Thee Great and Mighty Things."
---Jermiah 33:3

Myth is not an evil thing nor a lie. We all need and live with myths: justice for all, equality, liberty, divine love, and more. The question is what is the myth based on? Love? If the latter then it is always good no matter how expressed. Reading the comments I can easily see those with love and those without. To Sarah Silas on the loss of a child--good for you in finding love expressed in life that you can now share. You are the kind of nurse we all need and want, and the myth you live by gives strength. Anyone who rejects that in you is choosing to live life in a difficult way and the tone of their comments reflect their sadness. Best to you Sarah and all others.

Donneta Gaither wrote:

"I don't know how anyone can make it successfully and joyfully without knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Both happen every day all around he world. Believe it or not, there are successful and joyful people who never met Christ or have their own religion and beliefs.

If people walk around saying that they believe in vampires or werewolves or zombies or river spirits or ghosts and further tell us that they take comfort in the existence of such things, and they take actions in order to do their will and bidding, then we call these people mentally ill and lock them up for their own safety and everybody else's.

If, on the other hand, people walk around saying they believe in holy ghosts and holy spirits, and their prophets resurrecting from the grave, and say that they take actions to do "God's will", then we are expected to "respect their religious feelings". IMHO, the latter are also mentally ill and a threat to others. In the West, they don't overtly threaten people (though some do), but in the Middle East they certainly don't take any "insults" lightly.

Think for a minute - why is the Christian version of ghosts and spirits and the afterlife more worthy of respect than the Muslim version with 72 virgins etc.? Whenever someone needs a make believe quantity to make them comfortable, there will always be a con man or a con woman to take their hard earned money. There is a entire industry of people like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and maybe Deepak Chopra to take your money and tell you things that you wish to hear. Wake up people!!! Tell the squinting champion Pat Robertson to work in a Walmart for a couple of years and experience what real life is like ....

CDM, it's obvious from your reaction to this article that you still haven't come to terms with your son's death. I hope you can find the peace that Sarah has someday. Please don't be hurt because other don't share your pain.

CDM, how could you react in such a way to this article? Your response to what you called "a waste of time" may have saved someone else. You said "belief is personal"...as if disbelief. Some us may have been helped, healed, or otherwise by this article. Tell your story, but even in all your cynicism, you shouldn't downplay another's faith.

Minto is located south of the Yukon river between Livengood and Manley Hot Springs. It's good to see coverage from remote areas most people are unaware of.

As Euro-christianity becomes incresingly effete, it is high time to dispose of Christianity as the white people's religion and to start seeing the heart and soul of the Church in believers in places like Minto, AK, Chinle AZ, Trinity UCC in Chicago, pentacostal churches in Guatemala, Anglican congregations in Africa, presbyterians in Korea, and lots of others.

MYGODISBIGGER:

How cruel and hard-hearted you are to insult anyone's faith in such tragic circumstances! Your comments are more a reflection of your OWN inner demons and lack of peace than anything else.

Having lost a son at age 19, I find nothing of comfort in this article. I too wonder what these people believed before they were introduced to Christianity, and what their original faith would have to say about these tragedies. Some insight into that might have given this article a purpose. Instead, we get a weak sermon that leads nowhere.

Life either goes on, or it doesn't. It's up to each of us to find our way. If your faith helps you do that, that's fine. What has helped me is my faith in my wife and my other children, and in myself, that I was capable of rising above this most horrible of challenges. I didn't do it for God, because what kind of God would visit such a devastating tragedy on me? Am I a puppet in his personal playground? To believe that would simply be insulting.

That's not to say that I don't believe in the supernatural; I've witnessed too many unexplained things to deny that there are forces out there that we don't fully understand. But the idea of a God that's in our own image seems to me to be a selfish conceit of humans. Dogs probably believe that God is a dog, and his name is merely misspelled.

Belief is personal, do with it what you will. But when you publish words for others to read, I think you have a responsibility to deliver some substance and not just waste people's time with drivel such as this, which doesn't help the families who lost their children and offers nothing to others beyond what they already know - that the world is a tragic place and bad things happen. We are reminded of this often enough as it is, it serves no purpose to add to the pain.

I too am a Christian and I also know of the comfort of the Holy Spirit during times of crisis.
In the Bible He is called The Comforter. In this day and age I don't know how anyone can make it successfully and joyfully without knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who sends us The Comforter as He promised He would in His Word. Trails and tribulations come to everyone from time to time yet those who don't know the Lord have to suffer through alone and sometimes they don't make it without being scarred.

All this video and article shows is of once proud people brainwashed into "believing" Christianity. This article is just a self-serving, self-glorification of how the "white-people" religion is being practiced by the natives of Alaska. No doubt the next in the series will be more of the same from Africa, Asia (even China), Latin America to show that the white man's religion is supreme.