In my prior post I mentioned that for many skeptics of religion, the starting point for all inquiry is naturalism. Nature is all there is. There is no God or gods or spiritual realm. And further: all events have a natural explanation , or at least potentially so. Ghosts, magic, miracles, voodoo, etc. — all will be debunked, now or in the future. …

When I was in college my friend John and I were roaming around a state park when he was hit by an intense seizure. I had no idea what was happening. We were alone in the park and I was frightened to my bones, so I knelt down and laid hands on the pulsating, groaning  form of my friend. I prayed against the powers of …