In the Agora: Oh. My. Gawd.

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January 28, 2005

Oh. My. Gawd.

Here's an explanation for the tsunami in the letters page of the Rocky Mountain News:

'A bad case of fleas'

The act of war deliberately and thoughtlessly wounds, poisons and handicaps the life-sustaining womb of all mankind. The Earth reacts, as any living thing would, when attacked. Earthquake, tsunami, flood, tornado, hurricane, mudslide, and resulting loss of life may be the natural emotional response.

We must behave responsibly and live peacefully or we may all be "shaken" off like a bad case of fleas.

Millie Mitchell
Fort Collins

I didn't know stupidity could reach such lows. Millie is a real estate agent in Fort Collins, CO. Click here to view her email address, should that interest you.

Posted by Joshua Claybourn at January 28, 2005 12:00 AM

Comments

Gosh, that sounds almost as crazy as the idea that every natural disaster that happens is a result of God deciding that humans have sinned too much and aren't worthy of protection.

For the e-mail address of someone who believes in that theory go to www.700Club.com

Posted by: Aaron at January 28, 2005 07:55 AM | permalink

I think someone has taken the Gaea hypothesis a leettle bit too literally....

Posted by: philosopher at January 28, 2005 09:51 AM | permalink

Aaron,
Ooooooo! Burrrrnnnn!

Posted by: Brian at January 28, 2005 11:29 AM | permalink

I didn't know stupidity could reach such lows.

I often have the same reaction when dealing with Intelligent Design proponents.

Posted by: Elf Sternberg at January 28, 2005 01:28 PM | permalink

Last week, I spent an hour convincing my stubborn 7 year old daughter that what her freinds were saying about the Tsunami being the retaliation of an angry "Mother Earth" was BS.

I had to tell her - yes, it's true that when those SriLankans decided to cut down all the mangrove trees and put in resorts, they eliminated their own natural protection against this kind of disaster, the tsunami itself wasn't a *response* to the tree-cutting. The impact of the tsunami was a consequence of poor resource management. Maybe there would have been fewer deaths. (or maybe not). But Earthquakes happen, completely independently of ALL human activity, and tsunamis are just effects of earthquakes.

If "Mother Earth" were truly angry at people who polluted her, she'd go after people who own and operate polluting coal-plants, or strip mines, or clear-cutting logging operations, waylay them in the middle of the night, drag them off to some tofu-farming labor camp or something.

The fact that most of the people who died in the Tsunami were just hapless villagers who were just minding their own business seems to underscore the point.

I eventually convinced my 7 year old daughter.

But her friends are still arguing over it. Maybe they'll be cleaning my daughter's house when she grows up.

Posted by: Osama_Been_Forgotten at January 28, 2005 03:51 PM | permalink

Well, we know where the next generation of plate tectonics scientists isn't coming from.

Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at January 31, 2005 02:36 AM | permalink

Commovisti,Domine, terram, et conturbasti eam. Sana contritiones ejus, quia mota est. Ut fugiant a facie arcus: ut liberentur electi tui. You know those fundamentalists, always quoting. The above from Psalms 59:4,6

Posted by: Anonymous at January 31, 2005 05:37 PM | permalink