Fixing America In 500 Words Or
Less
Chapter 21
WAS HURRICANE KATRINA GOD'S
JUDGMENT ON
NEW ORLEANS?
One would assume that if Pat Robertson and John Hagee are correct about Hurricane Katrina being
God's judgment on the liberal folks of New Orleans, then it logically follows that recent
extensive tornado damage in the conservative rural South and, extending into Hagee's own
home turf of Texas, represents the Creator's wrath against pro-war, right-wing religious
conservatives.
A recent infestation of zillions of ants in the greater Houston area sounds a whole lot like
biblical plagues to me, but who am I, an untrained common layman, to argue? However, what
about the recent invasion of tiny frogs in Bakersfield? What does the Creator have against
Merle Haggard?
And logically following, since citizens of Pat Robertson's red state of Virginia recently voted
in record numbers for "godless" liberals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the home of
Robertson's onward Christian soldiers of fortune must be high on the Creator's retribution list.
It becomes a rather selective and dangerous path to tread down when those claiming to represent
Jesus, while promoting the opposite of what he actually said and did, determine within their
own self-righteous minds, to point the fickle finger of judgment at others. Perhaps there
is a good reason why Jesus taught to "judge not, that you be not judged". ¹
If weather is a fair and reliable barometer of God's judgment, then one must consider recent
earthquakes in China and Iran, not to mention the great 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and
resultant Tsunami. And, one could go on and on, about recent horrific fires worsened by
severe winds in California, drought in several farm belt states and unusually severe winters in
the Northeast.
If one truly believes the New Testament record, as Robertson and Hagee claim to do, then
according to what Jesus actually said, God will judge the United States and every other nation
by whether or not we help the sick and poor. ² And according to the prophet Ezekiel
in the Old Testament, God destroyed Sodom because she did not help her sick and poor. ³
Logically one would assume then, that the most patriotic thing for Pat Robertson, John Hagee
and the rest of us to do, would be to stop pointing a finger of judgment at everyone else and
instead, start using our energy and excess financial resources to help the less fortunate
among us.
Come to think of it, perhaps Robertson and Hagee have a point. Just why
wouldn't our Creator be angry with a nation that is responsible for the deaths of over a
million Iraqi civilians and the maiming of millions more, while it's citizens back home
continue to ignore homeless seniors, veterans and children, vote for leaders who oppose
universal healthcare, allow torture and imprisonment without trial and, purchase SUV's in
the face of looming oil shortages and a global warming crises?
Maybe we have been weighed in the great divided red-blue state historical balances and found
more than a little severely wanting. Was Hurricane Katrina God's judgment on New
Orleans? You decide.
NOTES:
1. Matthew 7:1.
2. Matthew 25:31-46.
3. Ezekiel 16:49.
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