Two tales of a City

Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans and the rest of the gulf coast and produces devastation second to none. As the rescue operations are ongoing and the suffering of the people continues, already the Blame Game is being played.

On one extreme, we have those who blame the Bush administration for this tragedy. Some blame 'W' for his environmental policies which are contributing to global warming which helped to produce this hurricane. Some of the real members of the We Are Crazy Kids Organization (WACKO) are accusing 'W' of wanting to help his rich oil buddies and therefore created this disaster. Now, even if he did want to help his oil baron friends, to say that he has the power to create a class 5 hurricane that will strike the gulf coast at a certain time shows that these folks are charter members of WACKO.

On the other extreme are those who blame God for this event as His punishment for the sin of New Orleans. Granted, this disaster has biblical proportions. Granted, New Orleans is known for its political corruption and of course, Mardi Gras, where sin is rampant. But to say that God decided to strike the people with a flood, denies the existence of God's covenant to never do that again. Remember the rainbow.

If we want to read the Old Testament (OT) into today's headlines we need to find some other factors as well. In the OT, when God wanted to punish sin, He first sent a prophet and in some cases, prophets, in order to call the people to repentance before the sky would fall. Where are the prophets today. Yes there have been many prophets of doom over the years, but have they been credible spokesmen for God? I think not. Remember Y2K? The prophets of doom had a field day in 1999, but they were proven wrong.

There is plenty of blame to go around in this story, but I think blaming the President and / or blaming God are extreme positions.

Rather than playing the blame game, we should use these events to ask ourselves some questions. To take an inventory of our own lives.
Are we prepared for the worst of disasters? Do I have a plan to do what is necessary in the worst possible scenario? Honestly, most of us would have to answer 'no'.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.