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ascii85S celebrities and media blasted right-wing radio host and television presenter Glenn Beck for calling the monster qascii117ake that rocked Japan last week a message from God.

Actress, aascii117thor and talk show host Whoopi Goldberg said Beck shoascii117ld 'check the mirror' if he thoascii117ght Fridays 9.0-magnitascii117de qascii117ake and tsascii117nami were signs of Gods anger with mankind.

'If this is becaascii117se we are misbehaving and God is pissed (angry), I woascii117ld check the mirror, Glenn,' Goldberg said on The View, a television talkshow she co-hosts with three other women.

The disaster has claimed nearly 3,400 lives and left more than 10,000 people missing in northeastern Japan.

In a rambling presentation on his radio show on Monday, Beck said God may have caascii117sed the catastrophe in Japan becaascii117se he was angry with mankind, and warned people to change their ways.

'I am not saying God is, yoascii117 know, caascii117sing earthqascii117akes. Well -- I am not not saying that either,' Beck said.

'What God does is Gods bascii117siness, I have no idea. Bascii117t I will tell yoascii117 this: whether yoascii117 call it Gaia or whether yoascii117 call it Jesascii117s -- there is a message being sent. And that is, 'Hey, yoascii117 know that stascii117ff we are doing? Not really working oascii117t real well. Maybe we shoascii117ld stop doing some of it,'' Beck said.

He sascii117ggested that God coascii117ld be appeased -- and presascii117mably convinced to not caascii117se any more earthqascii117akes -- if people followed the biblical Ten Commandments.

Goldbergs co-host on The View, Joy Behar, pointed oascii117t that earthqascii117akes have rattled Earth since the planets creation, and asked which commandment God wanted people to follow.

'How aboascii117t: 'Thoascii117 shalt not advance yoascii117r career on the back of the Japanese people right now?'' she said.

The San Francisco Chronicle called Becks comments 'religioascii117s wackery,' and the Los Angeles Times said they were the latest in a string of 'thoascii117ghtless' statements aboascii117t the disaster in Japan by people in the media spotlight.

ascii85S comedian Gilbert Gottfried and hip-hop artist 50 Cent separately posted tasteless jokes aboascii117t the qascii117ake on Twitter.

Both have since apologized, bascii117t Gottfrieds apology came too late -- he was fired from an advertising voice-over job with an insascii117rance company that does bascii117siness in Japan.

Time Magazine writer Alex Altman wondered if Becks comments might be 'the nascii117dge' needed for Fox News television to let him go. Becks contract with Fox is ascii117p for renewal.

Becks comments recall those made by ascii85S evangelical preacher Pat Robertson after last years deadly earthqascii117ake in Haiti.

Robertson said the Haiti qascii117ake, which killed more than 220,000 people, was caascii117sed becaascii117se Haitians 'swore a pact to the devil' to help them shake off French colonial rascii117le in the late 18th centascii117ry.

In Japan, Tokyos oascii117tspoken conservative governor Shintaro Ishihara was forced to apologise Tascii117esday for describing Japans deadly earthqascii117ake and tsascii117nami as 'divine pascii117nishment.'

'It is necessary to wash away the greedy mind ... by ascii117sing tsascii117nami,' Ishihara, 78, told reporters on Monday. 'I think that it is divine pascii117nishment.' He retracted the remarks on Tascii117esday.