[UPDATE: Here's an item about Mayor Nagin's apology for this statement.]
Rev. Shanks, Pat Robertson (albeit in a different context), and now New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin:
Surely God is mad at America. He's sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane. Surely he's not approval of us being in Iraq under false pretenses.
But surely he's upset at black America also. We as black people, it's time. It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be, a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.
(Source: Transcript of video clip aired on MSNBC's The Situation, Jan. 16, 2006; there might have been some editing, but I presume that it didn't change the substance; CNN and also MSNBC's Scarborough Country reports this as "Surely God is mad at America. He's sending hurricane after hurricane after hurricane. And it's destroying and putting stress on this country. Surely he's not approval of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also.")
But if God is mad at America, why exactly did he decide to kill, injure, and make homeless this particular chunk of America? Are poor people, who generally suffer the most from natural disasters, particularly likely to be guilty in God's eyes? (Though the dead in Katrina weren't disproportionately poor by New Orleans standards, the dislocation caused by natural disasters generally disproportionately hurts poor people, who are least likely to have savings to fall back on, least likely to have educations and other credentials that would make it easy to start over, and least likely to be adequately insured. Surely God knows that.)
Were those hurt by Katrina particularly able to control America's Iraq policy? Were they particularly able to prevent whatever problems of black America Mayor Nagin is pointing to? Actually, wouldn't Mayor Nagin and his fellow politicians have had more influence (though of course surely not unlimited influence) that could have helped "black America" "come together"? And, if so, why didn't God target them especially? (Or is it that Mayor Nagin was spared because of his righteousness, and others were punished because they were especially sinful? You can't have it both ways — it's either that, or it's that God was punishing people without regard to their own deserts.)
Of course, one possible response is that God works in mysterious ways, and either chooses not to control natural disasters, or sends them for reasons and in manners that are beyond human understanding. But if that's so, then why is Mayor Nagin so confident that God is mad at America, and that the reason is God's disapproval of America's actions in Iraq, or of the actions of black America? And how, if at all, is Mayor Nagin different from Rev. Shanks and Rev. Robertson in this respect?
Thanks to InstaPundit for the pointer.
Related Posts (on one page):
- Mayor Ray Nagin Apologizes:
- Chocolate New Orleans:
- Surely God Has Better Aim Than That:
Effect: Bad hurricane, damages lives and property in N'Awlins:
Cause: God was mad.
Umm, NO, Mr. Nagin. The probable "cause" was a combination of idiots not maintaining the levee system in proper repair, incompetent local adminstrators, who've been on the take for decades, if not centuries, and a persistent underclass of people, all connected politically to the Democratic Party -- who have lost all self-direction, are completely dependent on a large welfare state, and were unable to properly prepare for the hurricane by simply leaving town.
Also, the City is built below sea level.
Those are the multiple causes, my friend, underlying this terrible, tragic effect.
Flynn
Yes, that seems to be the logical conclusion from the statement. Mayor Nagin really needs to go back and read the Sermon on the Mount.
Also, Bob Flynn is onto something-- we shouldn't look to see why God sent these hurricanes, but rather why they were the fault of the Democratic Party.
One would think that invoking God's will after a veritable "Act of God" hammered the city (including the heavily "chocolate" sections the hardest) is presumptuous as to the true nature of God's will at the very least.
Prayers need to be carefully worded since God gives us all free will. I pray New Orleans be a blessing to us all. Especially to those who were stressed.
There is none righteous, no, not one. Romans 8:10
Why do you call me good, for no one is good but God alone. Luke 18:19
Claiming to man's righteousness as a basis for forestalling God's judgment is not something man can do. We all live under God's grace alone. Not, a claim then to our individual righteousness.
Anywho, I strongly recommend Romans to any who'd be interested
Blaming one party for the weak levees is really funny, especially when they were designed federally with input from the Army Corps of Engineers, and that Louisiana had a Republican governor eight of the last 10 years, oh, and it was some guy named Bush who signed budgets that lowered funding for upkeep projects. Seriously, Democratic politicians have mismanaged New Orleans into a system of cronyism that makes Mike Brown look remotely qualified, but there's a limit to what a good friend working at the clerk's office can do.
Meanwhile, on topic, Nagin should receive as much scorn as Pat Robertson for suggesting that god caused this destruction. It's ludicrous.
But Pat Robertson is a repeat offender. Apologies from repeat offenders are never taken as seriously as from first-timers.
Heck, they're an argument against evolution.
Nick
It was 10...10 was what God and Abraham agreed to, not one.
where are you getting the info that 8 of the last 10 years Louisiana has had a Republican Gov??