Posted by Ilya Somin: Did I Anger the Shinto Gods? http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_09-2009_08_15.shtml#1249906636
Soon after I arrived in Tokyo yesterday, a major earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale), hit the area. I felt our hotel shake, but was completely unharmed; my fiancee actually slept through the whole experience. Tomorrow morning, a typhoon is expected. As a rationalist and an atheist, I have to assume that these events are just coincidental. Certainly, both earthquakes and typhoons are relatively common in this part of the world. Still, the close proximity of these events might lead some to suspect that the Shinto gods don't welcome my presence in the Land of the Rising Sun. Typhoons[1] supposedly inspired by the gods saved Japan from two thirteenth century Mongol invasions. Perhaps they view my own invasion as a comparable threat to Japanese civilization. References 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze_(typhoon) _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
