Scaring the kids with a fake prophecy

from w
I get a bit mad at the kind of people who scare the kids and the community by talking about specific times and places for disaster. We do get frightened by talk of tsunamis and earthquakes when we know that people who live in islands on the 'Pacific Rim' may occasionally experience a shift in the plates.

I'm not into the 'End of Times' or the 'Second Coming' or being zapped up into heaven and so on. So when I read about a certain Mr Lion (Laeoni) from some unknown church in Nadi airport putting out an email with something about 2.30 p.m. today, my blood pressure goes up. Not that I'm against some people who may be gifted and have insight into strange phenonema perhaps but... Not that I'm scared myself, but I know that in Fiji lots of the children were, some families going up the hillsides in a panic, some not going to school today.

What was interesting was that the so-called prophet is spending today in the gaol, and Bill Gavoka, the Rugby guy, also had his call-up for twenty-four hours. Well, that's life in Fiji. The Fiji Times did not run the story but it was in some of the other media as follows:

DISMAC will stick to science says Dobui
June 23, 2010 07:46:18 AM
Fiji’s disaster management agency DISMAC will stick to professional advice instead of so-called prophecies when it comes to warnings of natural disasters says the agency’s acting director Pajiliai Dobui.

Commenting on a widely-circulated prophecy about an earthquake and tsunami striking Fiji today, Dobui said there had been nothing detected by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTC) in Hawaii, which issues tsunami alerts for the region.

“We will depend on our machines,” Dobui told FijiLive.

“We’ll wait for instructions from Hawaii,” he said.

“We’ll only take any action from PTC. We’re not going to be moved by anything else on what course of action we’d like to take.”

“It’s much safer to depend on professional advice as against the prophecy which has nothing credible that we can depend upon.”

“The prophecy is more for church people to pray for the nation. We’ll go by technical advice.”

Fiji Rugby Union chairman Bill Gavoka has been arrested and questioned in relation to an email about the prophecy, with other arrests reportedly due over the matter, said to be in breach of Fiji’s Public Emergency Regulations which make it a crime to cause any kind of public disturbance.

The prophesy of disruptions
Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Many are laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, but a substantial number of people remain concerned about the so-called prophesy that an earthquake will hit Suva at 2.30 pm today.

There were many calls to FBC News this morning asking whether schools and other services would remain open, and many business leaders have expressed frustration with the disruption and sense of gloom.

Yesterday, one of the biggest primary schools in the country even conducted a tsunami drill. Tsunami drills are held regularly in schools near the coast, but it was not lost on many of the students that the drill was held a day before the tsunami was pronounced to happen.

Teachers from a boarding school in Tailevu called Nausori Police Station to clarify the issue, as parents were turning up to pick up their children.

The Public Service Commission issued a warning this morning for all civil servants to turn up to work.

Our reporter traveling with a government delegation in Rotuma called to say that reports were coming in from the islands that some people were actually relocating to higher ground.

However, many things will be revealed today.

First on the so-called prophet, who will either prove that God indeed spoke to him, or forever be condemned and ridiculed as a false prophet and a liar.

It will also show if the people of Fiji remain so gullible, that any religious leader who professes to have seen a vision, will be able to cause anxiety throughout the country and cause disruptions.

For those of you who remain anxious, there has been no tsunami warning given by the Fiji Meteorological Office or predicted by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii.

As for earthquakes, no scientist or prophet in history has been able to predict when an earthquake will occur.

In fact, about 50 earthquakes are recorded everyday, but not felt by anyone.

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Tonga and east of Moala at 10.15 this morning but the Fiji Met Office says it is too small to generate any disruption.

Authorities are warning people against furthering the rumours, and those found doing so will be taken to task.


Fiji Broadcasting Corporation