--Previous Message--
: A prominent hard-line Iranian cleric elaborated on his claim that
: promiscuity and immodest dress cause earthquakes, saying Friday
: that God may be holding off on natural disasters in the West in
: order to let people sin more and doom themselves to hell. The
: cleric, Kazem Sedighi, sparked widespread derision with his
: pronouncements in a prayer sermon last month that women who
: don't dress modesty spread adultery in society, in turn
: increasing earthquakes.
:
: In Tehran's main weekly prayer sermon on Friday, he defended the
: claim but added some further explanation on why some places are
: hit more than others.
:
: "Some ask why (more) earthquakes and storms don't occur in
: the Western world, which suffers from the slime of
: homosexuality, the slime of promiscuity and has plunged up to
: the neck" in immorality, he said. "Who says they don't
: occur? Storms take place in the US and other parts of the world.
: We don't say committing sin is the entire reason but it's one of
: the reasons."
:
: But, "sometimes, God tests a nation. ... (God says) if
: believers sin, We slap them because We love them and give them
: calamity in order to stop their bad deeds," he said.
: "And those who have provoked God's wrath, He allows them
: (to commit sins) so that they go to the bottom of hell."
:
: Iran is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and
: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that a quake is certain
: to hit Tehran and that many of its 12 million inhabitants should
: relocate. Tehran straddles scores of fault lines, though it has
: not suffered a major quake since 1830.
:
: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, another prominent hard-line cleric,
: urged Iranians last month to give alms and pray for forgiveness
: to prevent earthquakes. Hours later, four small earthquakes
: struck different corners of Iran.
:
:
Message Thread
« Back to index