Religious Apologism

There, he was told about a girl who went to Lourdes hoping to receive the miracle of sight, which never occurred. Still, she was later buried there with a tombstone inscribed: "What is important is not to see, but to understand."

Ref.

And the religious among us, all around the world, nodded knowingly and sighed, "Ahhh, yes...indeed".

Permit me, if you will, to parse this out a bit. Oh, why thank you. Right then. This girl had, at some point in her life, gotten the idea that a religious miracle would/could heal her sight. (If I had to guess, I'd say she got that idea from the purveyors of religious beneficence -- those very people who gain from the belief of others). When she went to get the miracle, it never came. Is this seen as a setback to religion in the eyes (pardon the pun) of the girl or of religion? No. Empirically speaking, a situation like that is a nightmare. The rational person would conclude that the religious promise of a miraculous recovery of sight was bunk. But, for whatever reason, religion is constantly given a "pass" by almost everyone in the world. Rather than address the complete failure, the issue is sidestepped. What, exactly, was it that the girl "understood" after having had the promise of sight revoked by religion? And why, if sight isn't the important thing, did anyone claim that her visiting Lourdes would result in the return of it for her? Apparently, that's not important.

When will they open their eyes?