This Just In: Short Skirts and Loose Women Cause Earthquakes

Short skirts and loose women aren't just causing the moral degradation of our society — they're also ripping apart the very earth beneath us.

Yes, a senior Muslim cleric in Iran wants everybody to know that earthquakes are not the result of tectonic plates rubbing together, but rather the result of women's tempting clothes. "Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes." The only way for Iran to avoid being "buried under the rubble" is turn to conservative Islam, begin to cover women up from head to toe, a cut out the non-marital sex.

Or they could check in with science. Tehran, the capital of Iran, is sitting smack on top of a number of fault lines, so it's due for a catastrophic quake. In fact, experts have suggested relocating the capital to a less risky location, and Iran's president has warned the city's 12 million inhabitants that it would be a good idea to relocate. So this cleric's stance on where earthquakes come from would be hilarious, if it the danger of a natural disaster weren't so serious.

As Mike Jones points out, cleric Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi follows in an infamous line of religious zealots who believe that catastrophes, both natural and man-made, are actually a punishment from God. He lines up: Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who blamed the 9/11 terrorist attack on abortion and homosexuality; John Hagee, who put Hurricane Katrina on the backs of gays and lesbians; and Rabbi Yehuda Levin, who thinks gay sex is really powerful, and caused the Haitian earthquake, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and the 2004 tsunami in Asia.

Less sex is not going to get rid of the fault lines — no matter how much the bed is a-rockin', nobody is vigorous enough to cause an earthquake by getting it on.

Photo credit: miss_rogue