Some readers of this blog will be familiar with a forumcalled  Why Won't God Heal Amputees. It's an in-your-face title, to besure, but it does attract a lively

and intelligent bunch of people on both sides of thetheism debate.

At times, people do in fact debate the question ofwhether God actually heals

people's illnesses. It leads to interesting debates, butseldom do debaters

acknowledge the question behind the question, namely, isthere a God who

intervenes in human affairs?

Recently, one poster asked whether people who disbelievein miraculous healing

automatically question the sanity or veracity of theclaimant. 

You have nothing but calling me a liar ordelusional. I am genuinely interested in

people who have actually spent time trying to work outwhy these things happen.

I have to prove nothing to you.

Now what did our friend do here? Do you see the logicalfallacy? The question

under consideration is whether God heals people (andtherefore, does God

exist). But the statement, "I am genuinelyinterested in people who have actually

spent time trying to work out why these thingshappen" absolves the writer of any

obligation to provide evidence that miraculous healingsdo in fact take place (and

that God exists). This is known as "begging the question," assuming the truth of

the thing under examination. Were the writer actuallyinterested in why apparent

miracles happen, he needs to consider the possibilitythat there is nothing

miraculous in the event.

However, if his only explanation is "God didit," then he assumes (a) the God

exists and (b) that he performs miraculous healings, whenthose were precisely

the items being discussed.

UNRELATED NOTE: In modern parlance, "to beg thequestion" has come to

mean "to raise the question," as in: "Thecurrent climate in Europe regarding the

war in Iraq begs the question, 'Does the US have anyallies left in Europe?'" In

my never-to-be-humble opinion, this usage grew out ofignorance of the original

meaning of the phrase, and is essentially illiterate.Although I recognize that

usage dictates meaning, I am still enough of aprescriptivist to recommend

against this heinous misapplication of "begging thequestion."