Science Is Not a Miracle. Medicine Is Not a Miracle.
Pat Robertson had a stroke Friday afternoon, but access to a stroke center, a medication that dissolves blood clots, and a neurologist and stroke specialist helped the 81-year old televangelist recover quickly.
Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network released a statement Saturday detailing the steps doctors took, including use of “tPA,” also known as tissue plasminogen activator, to help reduce long-term affects of Robertson’s stroke.
“Within minutes of receiving tPA, Dr. Robertson was awake and responsive and able to move all of his limbs. The neurologist declared the rapid recovery to be a ‘tPA miracle,'” CBN reports. “Dr. Robertson is alert, awake and expected to make a full recovery. He should be discharged from the hospital on Monday at the latest.
Science is not a miracle. Medicine is not a miracle. Saving lives is the direct result of countless hours and untold billions of dollars of research, study, and education – important entities Republicans and conservative Christians like Robertson eschew in lieu of prayer and faith in God.
“Modern medicine working isn’t a miracle,” Hemant Mehta, author of the “Friendly Atheist” blog at Patheos, reminded readers. “Robertson should be grateful that he could rely on skilled doctors instead of thoughts and prayers. (In 2015, he awkwardly rationalized his way through a viewer’s question about why Christians should visit doctors if they were supposed to have faith.)”
Obviously, the jokes write themselves. I’m not playing that game. But keep in mind that, a few months ago, Robertson blamed the mass shooting in Las Vegas on a lack of respect for Donald Trump and God.
Joe Jervis at Joe.My.God. shared Mehta’s response, and pointed to an AP report from 2006 titled, “Robertson: Stroke was God’s wrath,” about a stroke Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had.Â
Hat tip:Â Joe.My.God.