My post a few weeks ago on God’s Hands generated quite a bit of discussion. I wanted to address some of the things that people have said.

Several people pointed out that there is a John James on staff at Channel 36 and accused me of either not having my facts straight or of lying. But I never claimed that John James was not on staff at Channel 36. Instead, I merely said that I could not find reference to him on their web page. And whether or not there is a John James on staff is not a part of my argument against the picture being valid. Instead, I mentioned John James and several other facts in a footnote where I discussed the fact that having actual places and names is unusual for a hoax such as this. But my argument that this is a hoax is based on other factors.

Second, Linda O says:

It doesn’t matter to me that the picture is not real, God is, and this can happen in the skies. We are all looking for signs and wonders, and I think this is one to remind us of how great God really is.

Linda’s statements miss the point. Yes, God is real. Yes, God could make this happen in the sky. I have not questioned either of those propositions. But the issue is whether this particular picture is real. All of the evidence points to it being a fake. And if it is a fake, then it is not evidence of how great God is. It reminds us of how some people are willing to manipulate images in Photoshop or GIMP in order to fool people. And, perhaps more importantly, it reminds us of how quick some people are to accept images like this when the image serves to reinforce their beliefs.

Manipulated images are quite easy to do, but they are hardly evidence of reality. Does anyone think that the image at the top of this post really indicates that my daughter can shoot lightning from her fingertips? Or does the picture to the right show that my son can conjure a ball of light? (You can click on either picture to see a larger version.) We know that God can work wonders, but that does not mean that we have to accept every picture as evidence of that.

What amazes me the most about all of this is that even though my original post contained a link that showed the original picture without “God’s hands” and a statement by the person who manipulated the image, people are still willing to believe this is evidence of God.

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