Religious Haitians see hand of God in earthquake By MICHELLE FAUL Exactly what change He wants depends on the faith: Some Christians say it's a sign that Haitians must deepen their faith, while some Voodoo followers see God's judgment on corruption among the country's mostly light-skinned elite. And then there's American evangelist Pat Robertson, who said Wednesday that Haiti had been cursed by a pact he said its slave founders made with the devil two centuries ago to overthrow their French rulers and become the world's first black republic. The White House called his remarks "stupid." As desperate believers gathered to pray Sunday across the shattered capital, the Rev. Eric Toussaint told a congregation gathered outside the ruined cathedral that the earthquake "is a sign from God, saying that we must recognize his power." Haitians, he said, "need to reinvent themselves, to find a new path to God." Some followers of Voodoo, practised alongside Roman Catholicism by the vast majority of Haitians, said the devastation of key symbols of power was punishment for corrupt leaders who have allowed the mostly light-skinned elite to enrich themselves while the black majority suffers. "If all of a sudden, in 15 seconds, 20 seconds, all the physical representations of corruption are destroyed, it gives you pause for thought," said Richard Morse, a renowned Haitian-American musician whose mother was a singer and revered Voodoo priestess. "The Justice Ministry: down. The Unharmed by the quake was the famed bronze statue, "Le Maron Inconnu" - "the Unknown Escaped Slave" - noted Morse, who owns the Oloffson Hotel featured in Graham Greene's novel "The Comedians." The destruction of every major Catholic church in the capital, including the 81-year-old cathedral, also was a sign, he said: "When there is all this corruption going on, whose role is it in society to speak out? Isn't the Church supposed to say something?" Most Haitians are Christian - largely Catholic with a small but growing number of Protestants. But most also practice Voodoo, which along with Catholicism is an official state religion. Several people were seen issuing apocalyptic warnings on the streets Sunday, including a man standing in front of the collapsed But Morse noted that Haitians are already very religious. His countrymen may suffer many ills, but "when it comes to spiritual strength, And in that sense, the earthquake seems to have been counterproductive in terms of salvation. "How could He do this to us?," cried Remi Polevard, who said his five children lie beneath in the rubble of a home near Sunday night, as downtown residents began burning some of the bodies that have been rotting on the streets for five days, a woman walking by in an orange dress pulled out a copy of the Bible. She flung it into the fire. Students Turn to God in Wake of Virginia Shooting By Andrea Hopkins BLACKSBURG, Va (Reuters) - By all accounts, the prayers started even before the gunshots stopped at Virginia Tech university, and the pleas to God from grief-stricken survivors of the massacre have continued ever since. "God cares about Virginia Tech," said Megan Martin, 24, joining about a dozen fellow students in a traveling prayer vigil that rambled across the sprawling campus a day after the worst U.S. shooting spree in modern history. Carrying placards reading: "Jesus loves you," "God knows and He cares," and "Can we pray with you?" the small knot of students worked their way through the university grounds in Blacksburg, a Bible Belt town in the mountains of southwest Virginia. At a memorial service Tuesday, speakers including President Bush urged students to persevere in hope or comfort one another in prayer as they struggled to cope. "As the scripture tells us, don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good," Bush told the emotional students a day after Cho Seung-Hui, 23, an English literature student, gunned down 32 students and professors before killing himself. Makeshift memorials have sprung up across the campus as students scrawled messages on banners in remembrance of the dead. "God bless you Jarrett, your family, friends, and all of the victims and those around you. Enjoy the Lord's kingdom," read one note, referring to Jarrett Lane, an engineering student killed in the massacre. "Be strong and courageous, Do not be terrified; for the Lord God is with you wherever you go," read another, quoting the Bible. "God is on our side," said a third, signed only "Shawn B." CHURCHES OPEN Churches all over Blacksburg, a pretty mountain town, opened their doors the day of the shooting and have been welcoming mourners ever since. At St. Francis Anglican Church a block from campus, a sign welcomed all for prayers throughout the day, adding: "priest available." Inside, Vicar Chip Sills greeted a slow trickle of visitors with a handshake. "I'm really just poised and ready for anything. Many people have a delayed reaction," said Sills. At a massive candlelight vigil Tuesday, female students knelt before Pastor Josh Akin as he sang "Amazing Grace." "This is the Bible Belt, a lot of these young people already know the love of God," Akin said. After the vigil, 22-year-old Adam Henry said he always prayed, but that this week his prayers had been "a little longer" than usual. "You've got to keep your focus on faith," he said. John Stremlau, associate director of peace programs at The Carter Center in Atlanta, said Americans will look to religion to help them cope with the massacre, as they have in dealing with past shocks like the Sept. 11 attacks. "The terrible scale of this forces people to go back to their souls," said Stremlau in a telephone interview. Because the gunman was not motivated by religion, Stremlau said the nation might find it easier to unite. "There is no sectarian aspect ... so we can seek solace in a common faith that there is still meaning out there." While most students at Virginia Tech are Christian, the Jewish community also mourned the loss of friends and a beloved professor, Israeli Holocaust survivor Liviu Libresco. "They are not so much looking for answers or philosophical insight, they're looking for a shoulder to cry on," Rabbi Yossel Kranz said of the students he's comforted. "That's really what we need to do right now. We need to mourn." MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 5 -- Across the Twin Cities the prayers rose up Sunday -- in Spanish, Greek and English. Prayers of peace for grieving families. Prayers of strength for those still searching the Mississippi River. And prayers of gratitude from those who were spared. At St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, an estimated 1,400 people gathered Sunday night for an interfaith service that included responsive readings and singing by the church choir. "We're here to begin the process of restoration," said Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "We are also here to begin the rebuilding process." Some in the crowd hugged and wiped tears from their eyes as speakers remembered the dead and missing. Religious leaders offered prayers from the Bible and the Koran. The Rev. Peg Chemberlin told audience members that although they "shared anger and anguish," the city had rallied in crisis. "It's important that we stand together and say, 'Minnesota, your heart is full of courage and compassion,' " Chemberlin said. "The heroes in this moment, like the tears, are many." In a leafy St. Paul neighborhood, about 70 parishioners gathered at St. George Greek Orthodox Church to ask for the recovery of Christine Sacorafas, one of eight people missing since the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed Wednesday. Her cousin, Michelle Berge, stood quietly and alone in the back row as the Rev. Richard Demetrius Andrews asked God for compassion and comfort. "And we ask you, Lord, to return Christine to her family and her community," he said. "We don't know where she is," Andrews said at the conclusion of the service. "There has been no word. As far as I know, they have not even found her car. This is a very agonizing time for the family -- not knowing her status. Not knowing if she's alive, not knowing if she's injured or how badly." Sacorafas, 45, of White Bear Lake, was headed to teach a Greek folk-dancing class when she got caught in a traffic jam. She called a fellow teacher minutes before the collapse and has not been heard from since. At least five people were killed and about 100 injured when the concrete and steel span abruptly gave way in rush-hour traffic, sending dozens of vehicles and tons of debris into the river. At Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis, the faithful thanked God for the "angels" who rescued 50 terrified children from a school bus when the span collapsed Wednesday. Some of those children sat in the first few rows and laid bouquets of flowers at a candle-lit shrine to the Virgin Mary. "The thing I always think about is, if we were seconds ahead or seconds behind, we could've been under the bridge or in the water. It makes me feel lucky I'm still alive," said Elfego Vences Jr., 16, who was on the bus with his 13-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister. He couldn't sleep for several nights afterward. "It was the scariest thing. . . . It felt like the end of the world," he said. Searchers on Sunday concluded a fourth day in the water without finding any of the missing, the Hennepin County sheriff's office said. The National Transportation Safety Board has told state transportation officials that they can begin removing bridge debris and smashed cars from the site of the collapse. State officials said the work would begin Monday and offered no timetable for how long it would take. "Thai amulet craze 'unacceptable face of Buddhism'" by Noppawan Bunluesilp (Reuters, July 13, 2007) Bangkok, Thailand - A craze for plasticine amulets that promise to make their owners "Super Rich" or "Rich without Reason" is sweeping across Thailand to the dismay of traditionalists in the predominantly Buddhist nation. Some monks have come out swinging against the so-called Jatukam Ramathep frenzy, saying it has turned the Buddhist priesthood into an "amulet-blessing industry" despite the religion's shunning of earthly possessions and materialism. Temples across the country are churning out thousands of the disc-shaped amulets, which are about the size of a coffee-cup lid and stamped with anything from images of Hindu deities to former Thai kings to Buddha. To gain maximum "power", the amulet and its ingredients have to be prayed over by monks for days. A top-of-the-range gold-leaf edition from a well-respected temple costs 10,000 baht (148 pounds) or more -- more than a month's wages for many Thais. The nation of 65 million people, most of whom remain deeply superstitious despite the rapid modernisation of places such as Bangkok, has spent more than 20 billion baht on the amulets this year, newspapers say. The scale of the phenomenon is now so large the Revenue Department is looking into ways of taxing amulet sales despite a convention that donations or money going to Buddhist temples are exempt from tax. EMOTIONAL PROP OR SIMPLE SCAM? The craze stems from a highly respected policeman called Phantarak Rajadej, who died aged 103 last year in the southern seaside town of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Phantarak, who many Thais believe had magic powers, was said to have made the first amulet. After his death, the number of amulets exploded, with hundreds of different "product lines" emerging with names such as "Super Rich", "Super Millionaire" and "Rich without Reason". In the early stages of the craze, a woman was crushed to death in a crowd trying to place amulet orders at a Nakhon Si Thammarat temple. Rather than wearing their talisman discreetly under their shirts, as Thais have done since time immemorial, Jatukam owners display it proudly on the outside, suspended on a thick gold chain that would be more at home on the neck of a U.S. rap star. "My life has got better since I bought my first Jatukam," said 45-year-old Somchai Vichitbanjong, who now owns nearly 500 different varieties. "I usually have a Jatukam with me all the time. Whenever I go out, if I'm not wearing one I have to go back home and get it." Besides Thais' long-standing belief in luck, some believe the craze is a reflection of the political uncertainty that has gripped the country since last year's military coup against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. "Jatukam supports people and makes them feel strong, as well as giving them clarity of thought," Phra Taweesak, abbot of Bangkok's Wat Srinuan, said after a blessing ceremony for a consignment of several thousand amulets. Others disagree, saying it is a blatant scam by unscrupulous monks playing upon the superstitions of ordinary people to raise money. "When some temples want a new building, they just use Jatukam to raise funds," said Phra Payom Kalayano, a high-profile abbot who has launched a range of edible, chocolate-flavoured "Jatukam cookies" to encourage Thais to spend money on essentials such as food rather than trinkets. The craze is also undermining a religion already under threat from Bangkok's transition into a throbbing international metropolis over the last few decades, he says. "Recently, materialism and the amulets have diverted people from the core of Buddha's teaching," he told Reuters at his leafy monastic compound on the outskirts of the teeming capital. "This makes Buddha's teaching fade away."
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