Ancient egyptian Quote by Christopher Hitchens
““The suspicion that a calamity might also be a punishment is further useful in that it allows an infinity of speculation. After New Orleans, which suffered from a lethal combination of being built below sea level and neglected by the Bush administration, I learned from a senior rabbi in Israel that it was revenge for the evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, and from the mayor of New Orleans (who had not performed his own job with exceptional prowess) that it was god’s verdict on the invasion of Iraq. You can nominate your own favorite sin here, as did the “reverends” Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell after the immolation of the World Trade Center. In that instance, the proximate cause was to be sought and found in America’s surrender to homosexuality and abortion. (Some ancient Egyptians believed that sodomy was the cause of earthquakes: I expect this interpretation to revive with especial force when the San Andreas Fault next gives a shudder under the Gomorrah of San Francisco.)””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The End of the World as We Know It” (1998)
The quote argues that people often attribute disasters to divine punishment, using speculation to assign moral blame to various groups or events
In simple terms: People like to explain tragedies by blaming moral failings or divine wrath
Question the tendency to moralize disasters
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- political commentary
- media analysis
- public discourse
- religious debate
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does assigning moral blame affect disaster recovery?
- What alternative explanations could reduce scapegoating?
Such attributions can oversimplify complex causes and hinder effective response