Right Wing Blogosphere Pronounces Mecca Crane Collapse In Which 107 People Died ‘God’s Judgement For 9/11’

The right wing blogosphere in the U.S. has responded to reports that a crane crashed into the ceiling of the Grand Mosque in Mecca Friday, killing 107 people and injuring 234, with widespread comments that the tragic incident was “God’s judgment” for the September 11. 2001 terrorist attacks.

Saudi authorities and the national media reported that on Friday evening, a crane collapsed on the ceiling of the Grand Mosque — Masjid al-Haram — during a thunderstorm.

Footage uploaded to YouTube appears to capture the moment that the crane crashed down on top of the mosque while hundreds attended a prayer service inside the building.

Warning: Some viewers may find the following video disturbing

The crane crashed through the ceiling, sending a deadly shower of concrete on the people below.

Photos and videos captured in the aftermath of the incident show the tiled floor of the mosque littered with corpses and smeared with blood.

Reacting to the tragic incident in Mecca, the religious conservative and right wing blogosphere came alive with blog posts and comments attributing the incident to the judgment of God. Many Christian conservative commenters borrowed the Hindu term “karma” to express their feelings about the fatal incident.

Leading conservative blogs, such as Gateway Pundit, emphasized in their reports the fact that the incident occurred on the day that Americans were commemorating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The reports also focused on the fact that the crane which caused the carnage belonged to a construction company owned by the Bin Laden family.

The Gateway Pundit writes, “At least 101 Muslims were killed and 180 injured when a crane collapsed in Mecca today – on 9-11.”

Many conservative commenters also highlighted reports that lightning struck the crane before it crashed on the roof of the mosque.

A reader on Gateway Pundit voiced the feeling among conservatives that the “coincidences” were evidence of “God’s judgment.”

“On 9-11, a crane owned by the Bin Laden family and deployed to a construction project at Mecca, the holiest site in all of Islam, is struck by lightning and falls through the roof of the Grand Mosque, killing at least 101 devout Muslims. Wow, what are the odds of that set of circumstances coinciding?”

The blog, Conservative Post, ran a commentary with the heading, “What just happened to the Muslim holy city ‘Mecca’ looks like God’s judgment for 9/11.”

The blogger stated that “because of Muslims’ annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which can bring as many as 3 million people to the holy city around this time of year, the mosque was particularly crowded on Friday.”

The blog post was followed by comments from Christian conservative readers of the blog.

“Revenge is mine saith the Lord.”

“Too bad Baracc wasn’t there.”

“Hmmmm… Looks like God is serving a little justice of his own! Thank you! AMEN”

“If the U.S. would have taken the war on terror seriously we would have blown up every mosque on the whole planet.”

“It couldn’t have happened to a better place. Thank you Lord.”

But a few readers were upset by the apparent gloating over the deaths.

“Sad that people were killed. God don’t like ugly (sic).”

Under the heading “Bin Laden crane collapses, kills 107 on 9/11 anniversary,” the blog Conservative Byte announced that “the [Bin Laden] family business has a bit of Karma due. Check it out.”

Readers’ reactions followed the pattern on Conservative Post.

“To bad that number doesn’t have a few more zeros at the end, like 6 or 8 more.”

“How appropriate that the tragedy occurred on the anniversary of Sept 11th. It is also a tragedy that more Muslims did not die as a result.”

“I suspect some of the injured will not recover, so the number may go higher as the days pass.”

“We can only hope [that the numbers go higher]… Too bad ovomit wasn’t there with them.”

“107 Satan worshiper/terrorists are dead, eh? Why is that considered a tragedy? It couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of people. The only thing that could possibly make this news more satisfying and poetically justified, is if there were homosexuals and liberals on that causality list. Guess we can’t have everything, right?”

Do you think these reactions are justified and appropriate? Share your thoughts below.

[Images: Getty; Twitter]