Two miracles make a right

I'm as much a sucker for the Elizabeth Smart story as anyone. I love a happy ending, and I got all tingly when I first heard the news. It seems like a miracle indeed, as Elizabeth's uncle put it.

But the media seem to be forgetting about their obligation to provide balance in this story. They're allowing religious advocates to praise their Lord when He returns the missing girl, but they don't provide the other side of the argument--that the Lord inspired the abductor to take her away in the first place. Should God really get any credit for this happy ending? And, if so, shouldn't He shoulder most of the blame for the original crime? After all, "Emmanuel" is apparently more religious than anyone else involved in this story. He even says "thou." He was instructed by God to seek a new wife, so he went and grabbed Elizabeth. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

It's strange to hear Elizabeth's father praising God for her return. Dude, if neither you nor the drifter had been all screwed up with religion, none of this would have happened at all. Do you also praise God for filling Emmanuel the Kidnapper with that ol' abductin' spirit? You can't deny that the guy's devout--he was witnessing to the cops who arrested him! He's a model Christian, kind of. And what Emmanuel likely wanted to do with Elizabeth is just about the same as what the founders of the Smarts' own church did in their day. How do we know that the Smarts are not in fact thwarting God's will here? WWBYD? (What would Brigham Young do?)

Shouldn't the media be bringing that up? Maybe the "miracle" was Elizabeth's abduction, and the "crime" is her forced return. Who has more credibility on these matters--the guy in the million-dollar house or the guy who looks like Jesus?

And why is it that we're supposed to be happy for Elizabeth again? Now that she is free of this brainwashing cult with crazy ideas about religion, she's free to once again be...a Mormon.

Um...yay!