Cynical Nation

I probably shouldn't even blog about this but I just can't help it. Some scientists, evidently, have concocted an elaborate theory about how fluke ice floes in the Sea of Galilee could have allowed Jesus to appear to walk on the surface of the water, thus explaining the accounts in the New Testament.

All right, where to begin? Why in the hell would any scientist actually research this? Why would any peer-reviewed journal publish it? It seems to me that you either accept the miraculous or you don't. If you're of a scientific bent, and reject miracles, then why bother to postulate some one-in-a-millennium climatalogical fluke that just happened to coincide with the New Testament accounts of Jesus walking on the water?

If you're a scientist and you're trying to explain how a biblical account can be squared with the rational, scientific world, how about using Occam's Razor? How about speculating, "Hey, maybe that just made that up?" I mean, what am I missing here? Since when do scientists feel the need to explain the bible? And does this mean that they're also working on explanations for the burning bush, Lot's wife turning into a giant salt lick, and talking donkeys? Or do they allow for some miracles and not others? Or do they admit that some parts of the bible are mythological, but still feel compelled to concoct extremely improbably hypothetical situations to justify others?

I just. Don't. Get it.