I Believe in Miracles...You Sexy Thing

In the May 7th, 2007 issue of The New Yorker, there is an article about a Brazilian writer named Paul Coelho. Apparently, He has sold a zillion books worldwide, including the Alchemist, soon to be a major motion picture. I have not read Coelho, but according to the article he writes allegorical stories that really push upbeat, new-age, mystical beliefs. Coelho also writes self-help books, naturally. And he is quoted on Starbucks coffee cups:

"'Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. Never forget your Personal Legend. Never forget your Personal Dream....'"

I don't have anything against self-help epigrams. If they make you feel better, who am I to judge? But the belief in miracles is what I have a problem with. Obviously, I am an atheist. Although that doesn't mean I'm not spiritual. I just happen to believe in humanity, more specifically in humanity's art. And art not only accepts tragedy and the pointlessness of life, it also celebrates it as a part of the binary of living. Joy and laughter being the other side of the binary. What happens when you start to believe in miracles, in gods and demons, you give up logic and accountability. And two recent news stories illustrate this point.

A Vegan couple was sentenced to life in prison for killing their six-week old baby. They fed their baby according to their beliefs that humans should not use anything made by or from an animal. The baby was fed soy milk and apple juice. Apparently, mother's milk falls under food made by animals. Vegans that I have met look sallow and malnourished, so it's no surprise that a vegan diet would kill a child. The parents believed that their Spartan diet would sustain a baby: basically they believed in a miracle. Now they are living a nightmare.

Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq this week. He went there to jumpstart the progress in making a democracy flourish. Cheney's message to the Iraqis is, “We’ve all got challenges together. We’ve got to pull together. We’ve got to get this work done. It’s game time." Now that should be on a Starbuck's cup.

Of course, the appearance of Cheney in Iraq will not trigger the miracle of peace and prosperity. If Cheney believes this, then he is more deluded than the Vegan couple. The whole administration believed in their Neocon miracle, but like most miracles, it was not to be. But once you state your belief in miracles it's hard to back down. You just keep hoping for something. In Cheney's case, he thinks legislation will bring together the Shiites, Sunnis, and the Kurds. Now that would be a true miracle.

The big difference between Cheney and the Vegan couple is Cheney has killed thousands of people with his deluded belief, while the Vegan couple killed one. They both should be imprisoned. But that would entail a miracle.