“Faith, hope, unity, blah, blah, blah. Quit talking and show more rescues.”
So said a friend’s Facebook status, referring to the drama unfolding in Chile. It’s obvious that something absolutely incredible is happening as miners trapped below ground for 69 days “ascend to the surface,” as The Associated Press describes it.
But is there a religion angle to this miracle? That depends, it seems, on which news account you read.
The New York Times’ original “Chile Rejoices as Miners Taste Freedom” story from today’s PageA1 seemed to ignore the faith angle. But maybe that can be blamed on the late-night timing and print deadlines. Click the same link now, and two of the top five paragraphs offer strong quotes from rescued miners who mention, yes, God:
SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — With anxious anticipation increasingly yielding to exuberant celebration, more than a third of the haggard men trapped under a half-mile of rock for more than two months have emerged to the arms of their families and an electrified nation.
The second miner to reach the surface, Mario Sepulveda, left the rescue capsule in a kind of victory dance, hugging family members and officials. He embraced the Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera, three times and presented people with gifts: rocks from the mine. He punched fists with the crowd and led a cheer: “Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le,” they shouted. “Miners of Chile!” The refrain echoed as subsequent miners reached the surface.
“I’ve been near God, but I’ve also been near the devil,” Mr. Sepulveda said through a translator. “God won.”
The 12th miner — Edison Pena, 34, known for running miles in the mine tunnels every day — stepped from the escape capsule to rapturous cheers and the embrace of his girlfriend, and then another from Mr. Pinera.
“Thank God we’re alive,” Mr. Pena said. “I know now why we’re alive.”
Likewise, the Los Angeles Times’ main story references the miners’ faith up high:
Reporting from Copiapo, Chile — The 15th man trapped for more than two months in a Chilean mine was pulled to safety Wednesday as the sounds of rejoicing filled the camp in the Chilean desert where hundreds of international media were holding vigil along with family members of 33 gold and copper miners entombed half a mile below ground.
“I never doubted. I always knew God would rescue us,” Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to be rescued, said in a television interview.
And the Washington Post, too, includes religious imagery in its lede:
SAN JOSE MINE, CHILE — After 10 weeks in a dark, hot purgatory 2,000 feet underground, the first of 33 trapped miners were hoisted to freedom early Wednesday, a rescue marking the beginning of the end of a drama that captivated people worldwide.
Again, Sepulveda’s reference to “God and the Devil” takes top quote billing, this time in the Post:
“I think I had extraordinary luck,” Sepulveda later told reporters. “I was with God and with the devil - and God took me.”
Even before the rescues, CNN highlighted the role of hope and faith in the miners surviving below ground for so long. Time reported Tuesday on what it called “Chile’s Mine Rescue: Media Circus and Religious Revival.” For a rundown of the religion angles, check out this story from Christianity Today.
So, let me ask again: Is there a religion angle to this miracle? Undoubtedly, there is. Kudos to the media for a decent job so far of allowing that angle to unfold in the breaking news coverage. Feel free to share other links, insights, questions and concerns in the comments section.
Then again, as my friend suggested, “Quit talking and show more rescues.”
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Comments (28) |
October 13, 2010, at 2:06 pm
Right now, the AP feed is showing a relative waiting for a miner by the shaft (it looks like a wife, but I have no sound here). She’s holding a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the camera operator is zooming in on the image. Now, the capsule just exited the shaft; a miner steps out and before he embraces the waiting woman, he kneels, makes the Sign of the Cross, prays with perfect posture, lifts his hands up, signs himself again, and then embraces the woman. They both cry as they hold each other tightly while the banner of Our Lady stays with them. One could reasonably argue that there is a religious angle to this story.
So now I’ll wait to see how such moments are addressed by the MSM.
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October 13, 2010, at 2:28 pm
Thanks, Bill. Yes, it will be interesting to see whether such details make it into the mainstream coverage.
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October 13, 2010, at 2:35 pm
This is from the real time feed http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/8058924/Chile-miners-rescue-live.html so at least some of the media is reporting that quote.
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October 13, 2010, at 2:38 pm
Thanks, Jerry. That quote and variations of it do seem to be making it into a whole lot of the stories. I’m unclear on whether he said it different ways or if what he said has been translated into different forms.
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October 13, 2010, at 2:44 pm
CNN just posted a great story, which won’t let me link. But it’s titled: Rescued miner says he saw God, devil during captivity
Here’s a sample:
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October 13, 2010, at 2:49 pm
Here’s that CNN link. Appreciate it, Bill.
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October 13, 2010, at 3:49 pm
Of course. There’s a religion angle to any ordeal of this magnitude. You just have to let it emerge.
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October 13, 2010, at 4:15 pm
The Spanish language newspapers, particularly in Chile, have lots of good stuff. Like the banners of Our Lady of Guadelupe came from some Aztec Mexican scientists, who gave them to one of the mothers of a miner. Like the miraculous statue of the Virgin de la Candelaria of Copiapo, still at the mining camp. Like the Bolivian miner thanking the goddess Pachamama. (Not sure if that’s just a miner good luck thing, or if he’s really a “pachamamist”.) Like the continuous prayer vigil in the Cathedral in Santiago, Chile, being held from the time the rescue started until it ends. Like the expatriate Chileans who dressed up as miners to walk in procession on yesterday’s feast of Our Lady of the Pillar (the one girls named Pilar are named after) at her original shrine in Zaragoza, Spain. Like the fact that the rescue was named Operacion San Lorenzo, after the patron saint of miners.
Like the way the ordeal started on the feast of the Church of St. Mary Major, Our Lady of the Snows; the rescue started on the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar and will apparently end shortly after the end of the anniversary of the big dancing sun apparition at Fatima, on Oct. 13, 1917.
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October 13, 2010, at 4:30 pm
Great stuff, Maureen. Thanks for sharing.
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October 13, 2010, at 4:38 pm
I thought the Guradian’s coverage took an interesting angle.
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October 13, 2010, at 4:45 pm
That is an interesting angle, Ray. The top two grafs:
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October 13, 2010, at 6:28 pm
Bobby, PBS Newshour tonight got religion! They mentioned that quote in an extended form, the chapel set up by another of the miners and that Chile believes that God had a hand in the rescue. The opening segment on tonight’s show “The Latest on the Chilean Miners Rescue” has all of that. It’s not available on the web yet but will be in a few hours.
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October 13, 2010, at 6:55 pm
I had CNN on in the background today so I could rejoice as each miner was rescued. When the dude who is unfaithful to his wife came up, there was a bit of discussion about whether his wife or his mistress was greeting him. But then the anchor at CNN concluded that it didn’t matter. It was … odd.
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October 13, 2010, at 8:04 pm
Sorry, I don’t see that the Guardian article proves it’s thesis. The Adventist minister seems like the only one indulging in self-promotion:
The article specifically says that the Catholic bishop:
They do make a couple of snarky notes on the media present at the bishop’s Mass. Did he invite them? How does that media presence compare with the overall media involvement? I’m not saying that the bishop wasn’t engaging in public relations, just that the Guardian doesn’t make the case that he did.
There’s not much on the evangelical pastor, except that he played guitar for the families and said that God heard the music. I find it hard to argue with that myself, nor do I see it as evidence that he was in competition with the other two religious groups there.If the Guardian has evidence, they should print it.
It’s an interesting angle, yes, but the article lacks support for the claim that:
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October 13, 2010, at 9:03 pm
Even though I mentioned it earlier, I thought it was worthwhile to post the exact comments from the PBS NewsHour segment.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/july-dec10/chile1_10-13.html
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October 13, 2010, at 9:37 pm
The bishop and/or the local parish pastor has been saying Mass at the camp since the beginning (initially in the back of a pickup truck). They were there before anybody knew the miners were even alive. And that’s not strange; obviously the families weren’t going to be in any state to leave the mine, go to church for Mass, and come back, and obviously they’d need spiritual help. I wouldn’t expect a priest not to come.
If ministers were also around to help, that’s good too. It’s weird to call people doing their job opportunistic. Are they going to call the rescue people “vultures only seeking an opportunity to play with people’s lives”?
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October 14, 2010, at 1:44 am
MSNBC on the relationship between psychology and belief in traumatic experiences such as this. There might be atheists in foxholes but a strengthened belief is good for one’s mental health.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39658360/ns/health-behavior/
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October 14, 2010, at 2:02 am
It would be interesting to see a story that tracks the religious experience of these men over time, comparing that to the fairly common experience of “jail house religion”, where incarcerated people also experience religion more intensely.
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October 14, 2010, at 2:21 am
Watching the ABC live overnight coverage of the initial rescue stages, the local commentator said that religion would obviously play an important role for the miners and families, given that it’s a religious country.
The WSJ has a nice quote: “It was 75% engineering and 25% a miracle.”
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October 14, 2010, at 8:50 am
Jay, noticed that WSJ even used that in the headline: “Chile’s Rescue Formula: ‘75% Science, 25% Miracle.’”
Passing By, can you remind us in five years to check and see if anyone has followed up on that?
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October 14, 2010, at 12:45 pm
I wonder why I’m seeing all the religion references here. Maybe disasters like this and rescues are a frame-of-reference that the media finds congenial for reporting religious references? Another I saw this morning from the AP and printed in my local paper but online here:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/50465440-68/miners-rescue-miner-chilean.html.csp
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October 14, 2010, at 12:49 pm
Bobby, I do wish you read USA TODAY, the nation’s largest newspaper, either in print or online, when you’re doing a round-up look at major coverage. Certainly we included the faith aspect from the beginning. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-10-12-Chile-miners_N.htm?csp=YahooModule_News
And if you threw in my blog, that would be cool as well since I highlighted the faith angle and it was promoted from the home front for 18 hours. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/10/chile-mine-rescue-god-devil-sepulveda/1
Also curious about the use of the word “miracle” — as the Catholic church prefers to reserve it for that which cannot be explained by human action.
Faith, however, in the best will of the best minds to bring these men to the surface alive, makes perfect sense and can certainly be fired up and sustained by belief in God — or not.
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October 14, 2010, at 1:09 pm
Cathy, I am sorry I missed the USA TODAY coverage. The links I referenced came from a Google News search. I realize that doesn’t catch everything, so I invited GR readers to share other links - and I certainly appreciate you bringing our attention to those from USA TODAY.
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October 14, 2010, at 2:10 pm
It’s on the calender, Bobby.
Actually, you could work the other direction: gather data on jailhouse religion and tie it to the miners.
Ms. Grossman is correct: technically a miracle circumvents nature’s laws, making the Chilean rescue no more miraculous than the “miracle of birth”. Like a baby, however, it’s a beautiful thing that can point us toward a loving God who’s hand guided the rescue. Or not. Maybe this is just a wonderful event religious and non-religious people can enjoy together, and that is also a beautiful thing.
Now, if the Rangers beat the Yankees… THAT will be a miracle.
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October 14, 2010, at 2:13 pm
Forgot to add: the Fort Worth Star-Telegram headline today was the line about “I was with God and with the devil - and God took me.” Except I think it said something like: I saw God and I saw the Devil - I reached out to God. It was in the paper version, and I can’t find it online.
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October 14, 2010, at 2:17 pm
I did put miracle in italics if that takes me off the hook at all.
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October 14, 2010, at 6:18 pm
I think the miracle part is that, for all the great science, nothing went wrong. Cables didn’t snap, miners didn’t panic or pass out on the ride up. All the mechanics of the process worked beautifully…and perfectly together to achieve this rescue. The whole thing was just awesome!
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October 17, 2010, at 8:49 am
Awesome—in it’s original meaning, not the common teenage vernacular—not unlike the miracle on the Hudson (define miracle as you will).
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