An article from today's LA Times:
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CATASTROPHE IN SOUTHERN ASIA
Some See God's Hand in Remade Landscape
- Believers point to intact religious structures as evidence of a force
far greater than waves. Was the devastating tsunami a warning from on
high?
By Mark Magnier, Times Staff Writer
TALPE, Sri Lanka ? At the moment he was running out of air, trapped
underwater with his head held down by a slab of concrete and his body
repeatedly slammed by the surging tsunami, Evan Russell Kern called to
Jesus to save him.
His appeal, the born-again Christian said, was answered almost
immediately: The concrete broke apart, and he reached the surface.
Here in nearby Talpe, the Starlight Inn hotel suffered only minor
damage ? mud on the veranda and a few branches in the dining room.
Structures for miles around were devastated.
Owner Ginthota Polwattage Susil Asoka, a Buddhist, attributes the
near-miracle to the good karma he has built up over a decade of charity
work.
"Before, people weren't sure there's a God, but now they are," said
Mohammed Nazar, a Muslim businessman in the town of Galle. "God has
brought great floods as a warning. Whether you're a Buddhist, a
Christian or a Muslim, this is a sign to live according to your
religion."
Even as global news networks detail the science behind the Dec. 26
earthquake and tsunami using multicolored graphics and detailed
timelines, many Sri Lankans who lived through this catastrophe see the
work of a force far greater than some powerful waves.
Frequently heard at devastation zones are the echoes of an Old
Testament-style God who rewards the deserving and smites the unworthy,
lashing out at corrupt rulers and punishing those who have abused
nature in their headlong rush for wealth.
"Buddhists believe it's very important to keep a balance," Asoka said.
"Nowadays, so many hotels in Sri Lanka pollute and dump garbage into
the sea, so the sea is taking its revenge."
Even those whose belief in religion has waned admit their brush with
this much raw power, which killed more than 30,000 people in Sri Lanka
alone, has forced them to reexamine their view of faith and
spirituality. New Zealand tourist Simone Grace, 32, said that as she
fought for her life in a swirl of glass, knives and blunt objects after
the waves roared through her hotel in Unawatuna that morning, she found
herself engaged in a profound internal debate.
"In those 10 seconds facing death, I really thought hard about whether
I should or shouldn't revert to religion," said Grace, a lapsed Roman
Catholic, as she sat beside a stone statue of the Hindu god Ganesh.
Grace, who works in costume and film production in London, said she
decided against a last-minute conversion, though the disaster had left
her mulling weighty questions about death, life and her place in it all.
Organized religion provides solace to many, she noted. Still, she'd
rather not be part of something that can divide people and engender
intolerance.
"I'd just say I believe in a universal force," she added.
Malskaer Lispegh, a 47-year-old Danish resident of Unawatuna who ran a
motorcycle rental business before the tsunami washed away all the
bikes, said she had felt more vulnerable since surviving the waves by
climbing on a rooftop and pulling her 12-year-old son to safety by his
long hair.
"I've started to think, what's wrong with our global system, and why
has so much pain fallen down on Sri Lanka?" she said in a friend's
washed-out living room. "While I'm not a member of any organized
religion, I find myself praying to something out there for help."
All that's a bit too ethereal for many Sri Lankans, who live in a
society in which people are generally known by their religion, and the
local temple, mosque or church tends to be the heart of their community.
Many locals' faith has been redoubled by what they view as evidence
that the waves seemed selective in their destruction, sparing most
religious buildings and icons. While structural engineers argue that
religious buildings are typically bigger and better able to withstand a
tsunami's fearsome power than ordinary houses, others here insist their
survival in apparently great numbers is God's handiwork.
In Galle, concrete and plaster statues of Buddha, legs folded and
expression serene, sit with barely a scratch amid piles of rubble. In
Mullaittivu, statues of saints remain on the parapet of an otherwise
destroyed seaside Catholic church. In Talpe, although the glass case
around it has shattered, a 7-foot, orange Buddha at the Meegaha
Dewalaya Temple appears untouched.
"Every place we go, the Buddhist statues are without damage," said
Lionel Eerasinghe, a coordinator with the Sri Lanka Foundation, a civic
group. "People believe they have special protection."
Many temples, mosques and churches have reported a surge in attendance.
At the Kataguda Jumma mosque in Dewata near Galle, the number of people
who attended prayers on the Friday after the tsunami swelled 30% to
2,000, said Imran Uwais, a teacher there.
"We don't have enough room," he said. "The wave is a curse, and people are getting the message, at least for now."
Asoka, the businessman, said Sri Lanka must take collective
responsibility for what's happened. The country was once known as the
Pearl of the Indian Ocean for its prosperity and sophistication.
Recently, he said, it has lost heaven's mandate because of its corrupt
leaders and greedy citizens.
"It's a warning to people to behave themselves," he said.
Edit - Fixed (Gwil)