I had plans to post another rant soon, but real life happened several thousand miles away and it needs addressing.
Last Friday, a massive 9.0 earthquake hit the northeast coast of Japan, nearly wiping out the region. It has left millions of people without homes. Thousands of people are dead (and the death toll could be over 20,000 when all is said and done). The entire country is running rolling blackouts to conserve energy and, most important for everyone, at least four nuclear reactors have been damaged releasing radiation into the atmosphere.
The death toll could have been worse. The government installed the world's most sophisticated early warning system for detecting earthquakes and it helped tremendously.
Which brings me to request that people give to the Red Cross's relief fund. In Canada, you can text "Asia" to 30333 to donate, courtesy of Rogers Communication.
Now on to a mini-rant.
What gives people the right to claim that the earthquake was the result of the Japanese people not embracing X, Y or Z religion/ideology. Almost as soon as the disaster happened, wingnuts from the far ends of the religious spectrum issued statements to that effect and it makes me ill. Statements suggesting this have come from the far ends of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. No doubt others, such as radical pagans and environmentalists will chime in with similar crazed statements.
Nobody, least of all villagers and townspeople just living their lives quietly, deserves anything like what happened, ever.
Its the truly small-minded, idiotic and superstitious people of the world who would insist that their way is the "right" and "true" way to live and blame people's behaviour for uncontrollable acts of nature. I'm just waiting for a fatwa to be issued, blaming Japan for not embracing Islam.
Which point brings me to another, important, point about fatwas and earthquakes and such. Iran blamed the "American-Zionist conspiracy" for their quake which happened last year. How ridiculous and hypocritical.
When a non-Muslim country gets hit by a natural disaster, its a sign that they are not living according to the koran and Islam. When a Muslim country gets hit by the same type of disaster, its not because the people themselves are bad, but because of this imaginary "American-Zionist conspiracy". How do they think that the US and Israel can control tectonic plates in exactly the same way that their deity does? This is presumptuous as they are claiming that the US and Israel have the same level of powers over the world and natural forces as their deity. Such hypocrisy. Yet for many millions of ignorant, ill-educated and illiterate people, this stupidity is believed.
Such people exist in every religion and ideology.
So, to all those who will blame the Japanese for this earthquake because they didn't embrace whatever ideology that you do, go blow. Its not your place to judge others and its utterly ridiculous to assume that nature cares on whit about who believes what. Get a grip. Natural disasters can happen to anyone, not just "the unbelievers" of the world. When something like this happens to you, will you blame yourself, or try to survive intact?
The choice is up to you, not some remote religious or ideological authority..
