Wow they can blame this on women too!!!
Iranian cleric: Promiscuous women cause
quakes
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BEIRUT – A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear immodest
clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.
Iran is
one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and the
cleric's unusual explanation for why the earth shakes follows a
prediction by President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that a quake is certain to hit Tehran
and that many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate.
"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray,
corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which
(consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam
Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Sedighi is
Tehran's acting Friday prayer leader.
Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from
head to toe, but many, especially the young, ignore
some of the more strict codes and wear tight coats and scarves
pulled back that show much of the hair.
"What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?" Sedighi
asked during a prayer sermon Friday. "There is no other solution
but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's
moral codes."
Seismologists have warned for at least two decades that it is
likely the sprawling capital will be struck by a catastrophic quake
in the near future.
Some experts have even suggested Iran should move its capital to
a less seismically active location. Tehran straddles scores of
fault lines, including one more than 50 miles (80
kilometers) long, though it has not suffered a major quake since
1830.
In 2003, a powerful earthquake hit the southern city of Bam,
killing 31,000 people — about a quarter of that city's population —
and destroying its ancient mud-built citadel.
"A divine authority told me to tell the people to make a general
repentance. Why? Because calamities threaten us," Sedighi said.
Referring to the violence that followed last June's disputed
presidential election, he said, "The political earthquake that
occurred was a reaction to some of the actions (that took place).
And now, if a natural earthquake hits Tehran, no one will be able
to confront such a calamity but God's power, only God's power. ...
So let's not disappoint God."
The Iranian government and its security forces have been locked
in a bloody battle with a large opposition movement that accuses
Ahmadinejad of winning last year's vote by fraud.
Ahmadinejad made his quake prediction two weeks ago but said he
could not give an exact date. He acknowledged that he could not
order all of Tehran's 12 million people to evacuate.
"But provisions have to be made. ... At least 5 million should
leave Tehran so it is less crowded," the president said.
Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadeq
Mahsooli said prayers and pleas for forgiveness were the best
"formulas to repel earthquakes."
"We cannot invent a system that prevents earthquakes, but God
has created this system and that is to avoid sins, to pray, to seek
forgiveness, pay alms and self-sacrifice," Mahsooli said.
silly men..
