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Evangelical tracts tell tsunami survivors to 'prepare for death'
A major evangelistic organisation in the US has given a relief agency leaflets to distribute to tsunami survivors which tell them to prepare for death.

The tracts, which describe in detail famous disasters and tragedies from around the world, suggest that people can be 'saved' if they confess their sins.

The American Tract Society has released the new tracts entitled "When Disaster Strikes" for donation to Victims Relief Ministries who are sending more than 200 workers to Sri Lanka.

The leaflet begins by listing "Killer tsunamis, devastating earthquakes, massive hurricanes and floods."

"Nature has dealt staggering blows to the earth and its people over the years. Many of them come without warning" the tract continues.

The publication then goes on to describe in detail some of the worst disasters in history including other tsunamis, the Galveston hurricane - "the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history", the 1990 landslide in Iran that killed 50,000 people, and the earthquake that struck Tiajin, China, in 1976.

"The official casualty figure released by the Chinese government was 255,000...but unofficial estimates put the number as high as 655,000" the tract says. The section ends with a description of the flooding of the Yangtze River in China in 1931, which "caused more than 3 million deaths from flooding and starvation."

In text that will be considered by many particularly insensitive, the tract continues; "Natural disasters are part of the way the Earth operates...but there is hope. Although we can't prevent disasters from happening (many times we can't even issue warnings in time) there are some things coming that we can prepare for now. For instance, we will all die someday. That's a natural event God has given us plenty of warning about."

Two bible verses are then quoted; "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27) and "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; (and) The wages of sin is death" (Romans 3:23; 6:23)

The tract goes on to suggest; "God loves you, and when you die He wants you to be with Him in heaven for all eternity. Although He knows we may not heed His warning, God offers us all the way to safety." ...