Mecca Tragedy leads to increased religious fervor

The recent tragedy in Mecca where a hostel colapsed, pinning below it and killing more than 50 Muslim pilgrims that had travelled there for the annual Hajj has already resulted in overbooking of Hajj tickets and hotels for next year's ritual.

Devout Muslims throughout the world, taking this tragedy to be an act of a furious God, have vowed to finally carry out that Hajj pilgrimage they have always been putting off year after year. On being asked for comment, one such would-be pilgrim said, "Praise be to the Lord, He is angry at us. Why we do not know. But we need to pray to him and satiate his blood lust by gathering in huge numbers to a place that is infrastructurally not equipped to deal with such crowds, thus resulting in tragedies like this every year. But this is just how He is testing our resolve, and we will sacrifice all common sense at the altar of blind devotion and continue to gather en masse in unhygienic conditions, where, even a small rumor would be enough to send an entire crowd into a stampede resulting in a number of deaths."

At the other end of the spectrum, devout Hindus who are also in the process of gathering in equally large numbers for their annual pilgrimage, the Kumbh Mela, which has had its share of tragedies due to pilgrim overcrowding as well, have expressed their views on the deaths in Mecca. "The Lord has spoken with his hand, smiting with his Trishul those of the religion of the crescent. This proves that we Hindus are the faith of His choice, and hence, we will continue to do our fair share of overcrowding at the Ganges river as well. Any deaths that might follow due to drowning or people stepping on each other's throats would just be pure coincidence."

In addition, numerous Hindus have also indicated that in order to express their fealty to their Lord, they will be embarking on religious expeditions to far-flung places high up in the Himalayas that are only accessible by treacherous roads, on buses which have a habit of frequently falling into deep gorges, killing all the pilgrims within.

In the developed world, Christians in the US have renewed their belief in their Lord due to the terror-free celebrations of Christmas this year that went by without President Bush instilling any more terror inside their hearts by promising more terror attacks.

In related news, women suffering from the first stage of battered wife syndrome continued to receive spousal abuse and continued to return back for more.