Rabbi Says Quake Is Your Fault

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

August 24 2011 2:50 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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After members of his "community" asked archconservative Orthodox rabbi Yehuda Levin how long it would take for him to blame Tuesday's East Coast earthquake on gay people, Levin took the bait and did just that in a YouTube video that was later removed.

After discussing how other natural disasters like the Haitian earthquake were the fault of humans (Haiti ostensibly deserved its disaster because of its high AIDS rates), Levin said the Virginia-based temblor was indeed the fault of gays. YouTube later removed the video, describing it as hate speech.

Pat Robertson also said on his 700 Club program that individuals were to blame for the quake -- though this time it was those "who act kind of gay," such as men who get manicures or wear stylish sunglasses -- that were behind the quake, which didn't result in any injuries. Read more here.