Iâm always fascinated by the way people explain events to themselves ..especially when the cause is obscure and not directly observable. In Haiti, for instance, the local population believes that the earthquake was caused by angry mystical entities known as âgedesâ ..or spirits of the dead. Evangelical Christians, arriving on the scene, say the earthquake was caused by exactly that kind of superstitious thinking .. if only they had switched their beliefs, none of this would have happened. According to Pat â ..they made a pact with the devil when they won independence from the French (and Christian rule) .. and now theyâre paying for it.â No one talks about fault lines or tectonic plates, I guess that sounds way too much like scientific ideology. So now Iâm going to say that the mudslides in Los Angeles last week were brought about by the kind of decadent behavior LA is known for, and has nothing to do with the fires last summer ..those happened way too long ago.