Whenever the Romans had a period of persecuting Christians, it was due to the belief that Christians caused various calamities suffered by Rome (e.g., the Great Fire under Nero in 64 CE) because they refused to worship or offer sacrifices to the Roman deities, thus bringing on collective punishment. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
Definitely, we don't want to be like Syria and other countries that have got themselves entangled in various calamities. (nigeriapoliticsonline.com)
In essence, they will try to place bookmakers» odds on various calamities. (newscientist.com)