With regards to the star seen at his birth, scientists predict the gigantic star was actually the light from a supanova that had reached earth long after it actually went supernova.
I don't see the point of this? How does the fact that the light was from a natural source detract from the act itself? God orchestrated it, utilising the universe he created. Just because there is a natural explanation for something does not exclude any sentient involvement.
( Cue massive debate? .. I hope not, can't be bothered xD )
I agree with you here. I don't understand it people when say 'well that wasn't a miracle, it was just nature'. For example, I read recently that scientists worked out that a strong wind could have caused the Reed Sea to split, hence there's no need to call it miracle. Maybe it was caused by natural causes, but the fact that it happened at that exact time is the miracle, as G-d manipulated nature to cause it to happen at the right time. Simirlarly, 'the walls of Jericho weren't brought down by G-d, it was an earthquake'. Well yeh, but Who caused the earthquake?
How rare an event was the parting on its own though? Did the Hebrews really see choppy waves give way to wet sand in a flash? Or was the drying-up a slower, less exceptional (and possibly cyclical) phenomenon?
Well if you read the source, it appears to have happened overnight. And it didn't give way to wet sand, it was actually dry underneath. In any case, there has been no record of such a phenomenon occuring at any other time in history, so I don't see how you could propose that it is a cyclical event.
Global Warming, too much water in the oceans now to decrease it to the point it was back in ye' olde days.
On a serious note, though:
Religion is given the colloquial term 'faith' for a very good reason. To me, that's exactly what religion provides, a way of hope and faith for people to live their lives. Who cares if Judy down the road wishes to find acceptance of her husband's death in the Christian God, a Buddhist Tenant or the scientific knowledge that he is decomposed into the earth to rejuvenate the life around him. What I'm getting at is it's not as though there's a right or wrong way of believing when they all provide such positive outlooks of life. It's the only way for some people to survive.
However, while there is no right or wrong religion, there are right or wrong people within those religions. These people are the extremists, the ones who believe "If you're not part of our religion then you're our enemy/going to die/going to hell" or "I don't care how much you require this to get by in life, your logic is flawed for *<no one can build a universe in seven days>*." These are the lowest forms of scum in the world that we know of and they deserve no one's time to be acknowledged. And anyway, no one is going to digest a thing you say by force feeding them down the throat. You have to allow them to develop their own way of thinking as they find their own way through life.
*<Insert religious belief here>*
On-topic Note:
OP, definitely celebrate Christmas. It's easily a secular occasion in modern times..
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