‘Disgusted. Disgusting’: Netizens slam viral post that blames ‘Godless’ behaviour behind Los Angeles fire

Netizens have slammed a post on social media that has blamed the ‘Godless’ behaviour behind the devastating Los Angeles fire, which has killed 16 people so far. 

The video clip, shared on Reddit, is centred around a ‘in this Godless town’ remark during the Golden Globes award event and takes a jibe at a supposed poll which shows God scoring 0 in terms of control. 

The narrator goes on a rant about how just after 2-3 days of this incident the apocalyptic blaze gripped the city and destroyed thousands of properties including homes of celebrities. 

The person claims that the fire was neither started by the government (while referring to the alleged cancellation of fire insurance for homes) or by God. The fire started because of Godless behaviour and for people’s claim of they live in a ‘godless town’. Poking fun at the tragedy, the person also says, “Now, people are saying O my God what happened.” 

Users of social media has slammed the person, who appears to be a follower of some faith. Many asked “Does God have a fragile ego?” while others have asked the person to have some shame over the disaster. 

A user wrote, “It’s so ironic when people who believe in 'god', 'karma' go on to talk so insensitively about people from other cultures losing their lives or assets in such a painful manner. I remember when someone said the same insensitive thing about people who lost their lives in the Bhopal gas tragedy. Karma includes having empathy for others and these people know nothing about empathy.” 

Another wrote, “According to this lady, the things that are happening in LA is because they denied the control of God and this behaviour led them to suffer from hardship.. So why do places like Palestine, where faith in God is strong, experience such immense suffering--war, hunger, mass killings, and other hardships? Does this mean that such suffering aligns with God's will, or is there another explanation?” 

“I m religious myself, and it’s not atheists or people from different religion who irk me, why would they? it is people like these. people who claim to know it all (and actually don’t know basic shit) and then from their misinformed and half knowledged dumb brain spread hate and divisive shit,” wrote another.

The death toll from the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area rose to 16 as crews battled to cut off the spreading blazes before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward some of the city’s most famous landmarks.

By January 11 evening, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed about 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton fires accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers).

The National Weather Service warned that strong Santa Ana winds could soon return. Those winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around to city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.