{"id":620,"date":"2010-12-05T17:51:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-05T17:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/its-time-for-who-can-say-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-a-natural-disaster.html"},"modified":"2010-12-05T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-05T17:51:00","slug":"its-time-for-who-can-say-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-a-natural-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/its-time-for-who-can-say-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-a-natural-disaster.html","title":{"rendered":"It’s Time For \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A Natural Disaster?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Fires are spreading throughout the \u201choly\u201d land and so it\u2019s time for our favorite religion-based game, \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A Natural Disaster?\u201d\u00a0 Until recently, Pat Robertson has maintained the lead in the wake of blaming Hurricane Katrina on abortion and gays and the earthquake in Haiti on a pact with Satan.\u00a0 But never count out the region that reigns in irrational superstition, the Middle East.<\/p>\n

And, ladies and gentleman, two old contenders are emerging again for predominance!\u00a0 In this corner we have Ismail Haniyeh<\/a> of the Hamas Jihadists who has declared that the northern Israel forest fires are a \u201cstrike from Allah.\u201d\u00a0 Not to be outdone, let\u2019s hear from his challenger, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef<\/a> of the Meah Shearim Shreyers:<\/p>\n

\u201cFires only happen in a place where Shabbat is desecrated,\u201d he quoted from the Babylonian Talmud Shabbat tractate in his weekly sermon. \u201cHomes were ruined,\u201d he continued, \u201centire neighborhoods wiped out, and it is not arbitrary. It is all divine providence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must repent, keep Shabbat appropriately. When the People of Israel repent, God safeguards them with a wall of fire,\u201d but not of the incinerating type, Yosef added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Keeping in mind that Yosef also attributed Katrina to the wrath of Yahweh (he was punishing George W. Bush for something or other), and with extra points for his bizarre Talmudic exegesis, the winner is\u2026Rabbi Yosef!<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for much more religious idiocy because, frankly, it never ends.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fires are spreading throughout the \u201choly\u201d land and so it\u2019s time for our favorite religion-based game, \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A Natural Disaster?\u201d\u00a0 Until recently, Pat Robertson has maintained the lead in the wake of blaming Hurricane Katrina on abortion and gays and the earthquake in Haiti on a pact with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,13,19,31],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-fundamentalist-christianity","tag-haredim","tag-islam","tag-orthodox-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's Time For \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A Natural Disaster?\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fires are spreading throughout the \u201choly\u201d land and so it\u2019s time for our favorite religion-based game, \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/its-time-for-who-can-say-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-a-natural-disaster.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's Time For \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A Natural Disaster?\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fires are spreading throughout the \u201choly\u201d land and so it\u2019s time for our favorite religion-based game, \u201cWho Can Say The Most Ridiculous Thing About A\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/12\/its-time-for-who-can-say-the-most-ridiculous-thing-about-a-natural-disaster.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-05T17:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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