"You can't hear this story and not see God in it," says woman who lost her arm to a shark

[True Dough]

I'm glad this lady survived her terrifying encounter, but she invites comments by attributing her survival to god. The same god who allowed her arm to be swallowed by this ferocious beast...


The North Carolina woman whose arm was bitten off by a shark while on vacation last week is speaking out about the terrifying encounter. Tiffany Johnson, a mother of three from Charlotte, was in the Bahamas with husband when the incident happened, WSOC reports.

“I wasn’t in pain, it just felt like I had bumped into something so I just casually turned to my right to look to see and that’s when I was face to face with the shark,” Tiffany said. “He had my whole arm in his mouth and he was just floating there, just staring at me.”

When she tried to pull her arm out, the shark clamped down. Eventually, she was able to get free, but not until her arm was completely off.

<snip>

“I’m thankful to be able to share this story and I hope, and I know, that it’s going to change people’s lives because you can’t hear this story and not see God in it,” she told the station.

http://myfox8.com/2017/06/12/nc-woman-who-lost-arm-in-shark-attack-he-had-my-whole-arm-in-his-mouth/

[bettyellen]

1. Thank you God, may I have another!

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. just like when a tornado hits a neighborhood and kills some people, a survivor says

"god saved me". Well, narcissist, what about the people who just got killed - what makes you so special?

You are LUCKY. Period.

One of the reasons we stopped watching TV 10 years ago - the horror of local news!

[SCantiGOP]

4. In one of the recent mass shootings

The maniac killer left one person alive to "tell the story." Would any sane person think to praise him for "saving" her life or do we just condemn him for his senseless act?

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. it is a form of sickness, isn't it?

[shenmue]

31. I don't think so

[Ligyron]

3. Incredible isn't it?

[Voltaire2]

6. What she really meant:

"goddammit that fucking shark ate my arm!" I see god in that, don't you?

[hrmjustin]

7. I think we should give the woman a break instead of mocking her.

When she said it she was probably glad to be alive.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. And?

Why does that change the scenario?

[hrmjustin]

10. It doesn't change anything.

What happened to her was not because of God but just plain old life here on Earth. I just think it is unseemly to mock her.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Why?

Even you apparently don't think it has anything to do with what she says it has to do with.

Sometimes the 'hey man, you might not have thought through that thing you just said' message delivery can be a bit abrasive, but does it actually matter?

[hrmjustin]

13. Basic human decency.

[AtheistCrusader]

14. What she is saying can be just as hurtful to other people, as the sentiment you are decrying here.

Her comments have emotional consequences for other people as well. If she doesn't like ridicule, perhaps she should not say ridiculous things.

[hrmjustin]

15. That is a stretch.

[Act_of_Reparation]

16. No, it isn't.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. She's telling people god 'does things to you'.

There are plenty of people who are religious, and do believe in god, that would never think he/she/it would direct a shark to rip someone's arm completely off.

'Not only did this thing happen to you, but GOD DID IT TO YOU' is a disconcerting idea for tens of millions of believers of various stripes.

Edit: Have you seriously never seen a person struggling with 'why' something happened to them? Cancer? An accident? A divorce? Someone else's death? The death of a child?

Shark lady is just more FUD around the 'why' question that so many people can't grok as it is.

[hrmjustin]

18. "Shark Lady"

Your empathy is oh so touching.

[Lordquinton]

23. Tone policing people who dare speak out

If she were here it would be different, but she's not, and this is a news story where the focus isn't about the shark attack, it's about her god.

[hrmjustin]

26. Yes how dare I make anyone feel guilty for mocking this woman.

[guillaumeb]

34. You have hit on the real issue.

For some, mockery is the preferred tactic. As if mocking people will cause some type of enlightenment.

[hrmjustin]

35. Yes some posters here enjoy mocking people of faith.

I just thought they would give a woman who lost a limb and who's life will never be the same a break.

I guess not.

[guillaumeb]

36. At least they are consistent.

My opinion is that she was stating that God was using her as an example. A teaching moment. And yes, her life IS changed forever. But I also feel that if any of the non-theists actually met her they would be sympathetic to her situation.

[AtheistCrusader]

59. I absolutely would be sympathetic to her in person. But not to her message in a public forum.

One hopes you might start to notice there is a difference.

[AtheistCrusader]

61. Again you seem oblivious to what is actually happening here.

*Again*, we did not reach into her life to spread derision or sarcasm.

We are reacting to her public advocacy/speech, with more speech.

[hrmjustin]

66. Try reading below and see how she's being mocked.

[AtheistCrusader]

67. I read the thread. Her position/claim is ridiculous.

Ridicule and Ridiculous share root word forms for a reason.

[hrmjustin]

79. Ok enjoy mocking her.

I would never mock an atheist for his atheism.

[AtheistCrusader]

81. It's not about her. It's about the message she is sending, and how it is going to hurt others.

Why do you keep pretending that's not the case?

[hrmjustin]

84. Why do you keep pretending she is hurting anyone with her message?

[AtheistCrusader]

86. Because I know people that have struggled with the 'why did this happen to me' question.

And I know what kind of hurt that claim she made will do to some of them.

As has been pointed out to you several times now.

[hrmjustin]

88. She is the victim.

No one else.

[AtheistCrusader]

90. You still refuse to make the connection.

Again, the OP isn't about HER, it's about HER MESSAGE to others, specifically and including people who suffer grievous loss of all sorts.

[hrmjustin]

91. No what a refuse to do is go along with the idea she hurt anyone with her statement.

[AtheistCrusader]

92. Maybe get out more. Talk to people who have lost limbs/loved ones, etc.

See how they work through grief, 'why', and what they think of messages like that one.

Undoubtable, some people appreciate it. Most I know, don't.

[hrmjustin]

93. For your information I have.

And this conversation is pointless because we are not going to agree.

[AtheistCrusader]

95. Uh-huh.

So, while we're disagreeing, consider your 'concerns' about how we are treating the person, dismissed.

I'm not concerned about the person in the OP, only the message she's radiating.

[hrmjustin]

97. Yes your lack of concern for her shows.

And the un huh I grew up in a family with people without limbs. Both of my mother's parents lost their legs.

[AtheistCrusader]

98. Ok, that's one data point.

And how did these people feel about it when told platitudes like 'god has a plan for this' or any other linkage between the loss of legs, and an overt intent by 'god'?

Even if they found hope in that, which is possible I will happily admit; not all people do.
Some people really HATE that idea. Some people really hate being told, over and over, that it is the case. Some people of faith don't even believe in intercession by their god, so that can be a double whammy of 'god singled you out and took your limb' AND 'you believe in the wrong god' in one breath.

There are people of faith, whose faith is different from yours, you do realize this yes?

[hrmjustin]

99. We never said to them it was God's plan.

My family is not religious.

And I don't believe it is God's plan for these things to happen.

[AtheistCrusader]

100. If someone did, and it upset them, how would you feel?

There's plenty of review sentiment around this idea for the movie 'Soul Surfer' that came out a few years ago, about the woman who lost her right arm to a shark while surfing, when much younger. Early teens I think.


She embraces the message that it happened by god for a reason, to the degree that If she had the option to have a do-over and keep the arm, she'd happily let the shark take the arm again. She actively promulgates the idea that these bad things happen, including to her, by god and that it's for a reason, to make us grow or experience greater things, etc.

It's a hurtful message to some people

[hrmjustin]

102. if it upset them I would have said something.

When they were alive they weren't very religious but my sense is they would have let it go.

As I think we should give this woman a break.

[Lordquinton]

71. *people's faith

Stop confusing the two, please.

[femmedem]

94. I'm an atheist and I would never mock her for her belief.

Thanks for speaking up.

Sometimes DU feels like a mirror image of the lack of empathy I'd expect to see on a rightwing site.

[hrmjustin]

96. .

[Lordquinton]

68. *her belief

People are expressing their sympathy for what happened, but condemning her statements about why.

And your conflating the two and tone policing those who take objection. Unless you think we should treat this as evidence of god, in which case we can add to the list; unknowable, infinite, attacks women with sharks.

[hrmjustin]

69. I see not one bit of sympathy.

[Lordquinton]

70. Ok

And the entire rest of what I said?

Or anyone else said for that matter?

[hrmjustin]

72. Am I entitled to give my opinion or do I need to get your permission?

[Lordquinton]

73. You're the one attacking people for giving theirs

Do you have any response aside from tone policing?

[hrmjustin]

74. No I spoke up for the defense of this victim.

You and several of your friends didn't like it. Remember I didn't go looking for you, you came responding to me.

[Lordquinton]

75. Nah

You responded to views expressed in the thread, so you called them out first.

[hrmjustin]

77. Yeah how dare I have a different opinion than you.

[AtheistCrusader]

80. What do you want me to say? That my hopes and feels are with her?

I don't do meaningless platitudes.

You know, I didn't spend a half hour last month talking to an Astronaut and ISS Mission Controller about the merits of sending one or more amputees to the ISS, even if they can't meet the current physical test constraints, because I don't see the value and humanity in an amputee. Probably the only opportunity I'll get in my life with that audience, could have talked about a million different things related to the upcoming Mars mission, but I spent it on a subject that doesn't even apply to me. We know next to nothing about how an amputee of any kind will be able to perform in variable gravity/low gravity/zero gravity. Nobody's testing it. Exploration is physically hazardous. Bone loss, thermal damage, crush injuries, you name it. Mars will be dangerous and we NEED to know how to continue on, even in the face of a loss of limb, in 1/3 earth gravity or less.

I don't look at people who are missing a limb and think 'oh you're no use to me, you're broken'. I look to enable them to perform to their full potential. I see them as human beings. They have just as much value to me as you do.

Just because I come in this thread and don't slobber all over the OP about how gosh darned sad the whole thing is, doesn't mean i'm unsympathetic or uncaring. The OP isn't really about her or her situation, it's about the message she's broadcasting, and because I DO have a few shreds of sympathy lurking within me, I am concerned with the MESSAGE, it's nature, and how it is going to impact other people.

SO FUCKING SORRY I don't conform to your expectations.

[hrmjustin]

82. Honestly I knew what you and others would post in this thread.

My expectations were met.

[AtheistCrusader]

83. So, then on some level, you DO understand the impact her message will have on others.

That's progress of a sort.

[hrmjustin]

85. No. I knew what you and others would say.

[AtheistCrusader]

87. Same response.

[hrmjustin]

89. ok.

[AtheistCrusader]

24. It is different from yours, perhaps. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

She's on a soapbox. She decided to share this experience, and what she perceived as a message within the experience, with the world.

If she had not, we wouldn't be having this discussion. She did, and therefore my concern is not with her feelings, but those of the hundreds of thousands of people that her 'news' has reached, and how it impacts them.

A large portion of which would find her message anywhere from repulsive, to frightening.


I didn't reach into her life to make this an issue. She climbed up on the public soapbox herself.

[hrmjustin]

25. Yeah and most people would see her as a woman happy and thankful to be alive.

I am no fan of overly religious people but give her a break.

[AtheistCrusader]

58. I'm sorry, but I heard what she actually said. And my empathy circuit insists that the message

she gave is hurtful to other people, so a little indicator light came on in the corner, and I clicked 'post' to observe this.

You seem awfully concerned about how people dismissing her as patently ridiculous might hurt her, but give no thought at all to how her advocacy for a personified, active, intercessory god that would literally direct an animal to rip your entire arm off, might affect other people of faith who do not share the view of an intercessory god, or people who have suffered great loss and are struggling with whom or what to 'blame'.

[hrmjustin]

64. If anyone is offended by this they need to readjust their outrage meter.

[AtheistCrusader]

65. Very compassionate of you. What empathy. What an example for others.

[edhopper]

19. You know

if she just thanked God that she was still alive, I would give her a pass.
But the hubris of saying her story is evidence of God, that he story will change peoples lives by bringing God into them, that's deserves these responses.

[hrmjustin]

21. Yeah well my view is to leave a woman who lost a limb alone.

[edhopper]

40. Do you think she is reading this?

Or someone here is sending her these comments?

[hrmjustin]

41. I don't know.

[edhopper]

42. How are we not leaving her alone?

She's the one going public with her "inspirational" story.

Saying we shouldn't give our opinion on a membership only forum is chilling.

What other things shouldn't we criticize?

[hrmjustin]

43. Ed please point me to the area where I said you could not give your opinion?

Be specific!

[edhopper]

44. How exactly are we suppose to

"leave her alone"

It seems the very thing you object to is us giving our opinion of her.

[hrmjustin]

45. Nice try but I said my view is to leave her alone.

Keep trying though!

[edhopper]

48. come on

You've been going all "Church Lady" on everyone here who criticized her speaking up about how special God thinks she is.

[hrmjustin]

49. No ed I have criticised people here who have decided to mock a woman who lost her arm and is relying

Last edited Tue Jun 13, 2017, 10:29 PM - Edit history (1)

on her faith to get through it.

I would have thought it was common decency but...

[edhopper]

50. if that was all she did

But she decided to make grand statements about how her story would make people accept her God.

She used her story to proselytize.

[hrmjustin]

51. call Amnesty International right freaking now!

[edhopper]

57. My!

aren't we overreacting to religious criticism.

Anyway, I'll give you the last snarky comment.

Please proceed.

[AtheistCrusader]

62. Your bias is showing.

[AtheistCrusader]

63. Everyone has, because this isn't a woman who lost a limb.

This is a woman who lost a limb and is using that fact as a mechanism to recruit for a god she claims intervened with a shark to rip her arm off.

The character you are defending doesn't exist. She's not just a person who lost a limb. Context, it's a thing! Who knew?

[bitterross]

46. Whenever I hear people defend religion I remind them of things like this:

Christie rejects ban on marriage for N.J. teens under 18

In his veto message, Christie wrote that "protecting the well-being, dignity, and freedom of minors is vital, but the severe bar this bill creates is not necessary to address the concerns voiced by the bill's proponents and does not comport with the sensibilities and, in some cases, the religious customs, of the people of this state."

Instead, Christie suggested lawmakers amend the measure to bar anyone under 16 from getting married and require a judge to approve a marriage license for anyone 16 or 17.

"An exclusion without exceptions would violate the cultures and traditions of some communities in New Jersey based on religious traditions," the Republican governor wrote.

link: [link:http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/christie_rejects_ban_on_marriage_for_nj_teens_unde.html|

Fuck concern about people's religious sensibilities. I'm pretty sick of people's religion getting in the way of the well being of others.

[hrmjustin]

47. Yeah well this woman is not Chris Christie.

[bitterross]

56. No, She's Worse than Christie

Last edited Wed Jun 14, 2017, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)

If it is okay to mock people for clinging to ignorant beliefs like there is no climate change or that white males are just naturally superior then it is perfectly okay to mock this woman. It is okay to mock her for her ignorant belief that her magical sky-daddy at the same time allowed her to be attacked but saved her life.

People like this woman are scarier than Christie because they are the "true believers." The type of believer who find their God in everything. Like the people who found God in their torture of witches and the pagans who didn't believe in their God. Like the people who find their God and culture in honor killings, genital mutilation, and strapping on a suicide vest.

Think I'm over-stating it because those people are/were extremists? I'm not. It is extremism in both cases. This woman has and extreme belief just as much as a suicide bomber does. Her's may not manifest itself in the immediate harm and destruction of others. But it manifests in harmful ways in the long term.

Just because millions or billions of people believe in something as part of a religion or it is their historical cultural norm does not make it right or moral. And it most certainly should not exempt it from mockery. By mocking those who hold those ignorant beliefs we devalue them in the public square in the actual moral effort to discredit those harmful beliefs. To make them go away.

Christie is a political animal. His veto, I'm sure, was based upon political calculus. He bet that he'd lose fewer votes with the veto because the religious whack-jobs tend to be ardent voters. More so than liberals who favor women's rights. Christie can be reasoned with based upon reality and real outcomes. True believers like this woman cannot be reasoned with. They are waiting for their reward in some imaginary afterlife so whatever they suffer here, today, is of less (or no) importance. That is a huge problem.

[Ilsa]

27. I think she must still be in shock. And she hasn't gone back to her normal

life yet, either, since she is still recovering. I bet she has relatives helping out right now, but I wonder how long that help will be available? She has to learn to do many things differently now, and she has three kids to take care of, if they are young. Hugging her children won't even feel the same.

My guess is that she'll go through an anger stage soon and find plenty to be mad at God about. But over time, she'll probably drift back to where she is today on her spirituality.

[hrmjustin]

30. Exactly! Life is never going to be the same for her.

[enid602]

37. Insurance

She was probably grateful to God it happened before the Congress takes her insurance away.

[hrmjustin]

38. Yes it looks like they will do that.

We are screwed.

[trotsky]

8. There's just as much evidence that Donald Trump helped spare her life.

Yet if she claimed that, everyone on this site would think she's crazy.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Miracles. Freedom AND a snack.

One second you're destined for the boiling pot, the next you've got ~1500 people to dispose of.

[Ilsa]

28. That's a new one for me. Thanks! NT

[edhopper]

20. Worldwide the percent of fatalities from Shark attacks

is about 25%, in the US it is closer to 4%.

So there is nothing exceptional about her story.

Oh, there is, the medical staff that treated her and probably saved her life.

She should be thanking them instead of her God.

[True Dough]

22. So, clearly, what you're saying edhopper

is that the statistics make it evident that god favors Americans. Right?

[FiveGoodMen]

33. We probably have better-prepared first-responders (and their equipment)

So, I think the moral is: "God helps those who help themselves"

[edhopper]

39. Doesn't that go

without saying?

[amuse bouche]

29. I saw the interview and thought...She's nuts.

She's all happy and loopy right now..(pain meds)

Just wait until reality sets in and she realizes that arm and hand is never coming back. She'll be singing a different tune..at least in private.

[Croney]

32. My daughter lost half a leg in a motorcycle accident.

Did God guide the drunk driver over into her lane to crush her? If so, was it a failed attempted murder (impossible if God never fails), was it a successful maiming with a motive known only to God (the theory that matches the shark woman's mindset) or was it a random accident? As an atheist, I'll choose the last one thank you very much.

[nil desperandum]

60. Maybe

she takes Job literally....

the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD

That LORD guy seems pretty callous...eat an arm leave an arm....damn.

[Binkie The Clown]

52. God hates arms. It is known. n/t

[True Dough]

53. With a statement like that

you're really going out on a limb, Binkie!

[Binkie The Clown]

54. Groan n/t

[True Dough]

55. Minus the sound effects...

[Mariana]

78. God has always hated amputees.

All of those stories out there of miraculous healing and answered prayers. If you believe them God has healed cancer, blindness, epilepsy, paralysis, infertility, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. He even brought a dead and rotting man back to life. But is there a single story about God causing an amputated limb to grow back?

[Binkie The Clown]

101. Or perhaps amputees don't grovel hard enough.

It can be hard to bow and scrape with missing limbs.

[exboyfil]

76. My kids and I watched the movie

about the woman surfer who lost her arm to a shark (Soul Surfer).

The conclusion we reached is God sent the shark to bite off her arm because she didn't go on the mission trip.

The other irritating thing about the movie was the slight actress who played the surfer. The actual surfer is a very large muscular woman (about twice the size of the actress).