Why no miracle for the Chinese miners?

The God-botherers are telling us that the Chile mine rescue was a miracle from the Almighty, writes Peter Rhodes.

So what's new? For 2,000 years they have been preaching that man is unworthy and full of sin and that all good things come from God.

So all the expertise of the technicians, all the brilliance of the computer-controlled rigs, all the hard work of the rescuers and all the endurance of the trapped miners count for nothing.

It was all a miracle by some sky-god waving a magic wand.

Of course, when anyone asks the embarrassing question of why the Almighty didn't arrange a similar miracle to save the 31 Chinese miners who perished at the weekend, the God-botherers just put on an earnest, perplexed face and admit they can't begin to comprehend the God-given mystery of it all.

When are we going to move on?