Sodom & Orleans

The events in the southern gulf states are catastrophic. I see the pictures on CNN.com and watch the news, and become sick to think people are so desperate. The entire city of New Orleans is a giant toilet: the city is shaped like a bowl, and sewage is leaking and contaminating everything. Americas rush to aid their fellow citizens, much like what happened in the Tsunami disaster. I have some thoughts on this:

(1) There is a lot of press regarding Hurrican Katrina. But somehow, it seems, at least to this midwesterner, that America is not as ready to give themselves to this cause.

Yes, we are donating money and supplies, but are people flooding down there as well? In the wake of the winter tsunamis, you saw tons of young people on the news from all over the US who saw it as a political and humanitarian duty to go there and rebuild. I hope that now, as they did for those folks far away, they will do here for our fellow countrymen.

You may think, "well, YOU go then, Josh." Nope - I didn't before, I won't now. No offense, but everyone has their role. While you go, I'll pray....that helpes just as much.

(2) I have been to Mardi Gras. Two fo my best friends and I went down there our 5th year of college. It was a crazy good time...but my friend Javier said multiple times, "this is like Sodom & Gamorrah." It was. There was nothing int he big easy but sex, alcohol and drugs. Everything revolved around it, it was as much a part of the lives of that area as the morning commute.

So was this natural disaster God's may of cleaning up the city? I am not saying that anyone down there deserved to have this happen to them. There were so many honest folks in LA who had been there for years, raising generations of families. Much like a victim of an AIDS infected transfusion, they did nothing to earn this horror. But, perhaps, looking at it from a biblical and historical perspective, God decided that the rampant sin in that city needed to be flushed. I am not sure I even belive this, but it popped into my mind...

And then think of this... How sick is it that people are shooting at helicopters, fighting with the cops and stealing at a time like this! That city is crazy!!!! Even with a wake up call like this (regarding how fragile we are in such a vast world) men are still pilaging, raping and shooting each other. And the fact that the news agencies are giving tele-time to people who are outraged at the government for not helping quickly enough...I know that are upset/frantic/angry...but the media needs to realize that we are MOVING AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! When relief efforts turn into riots, who WANTS to go help??? Why go in fast, when you might get shot trying to lend a hand??

It is a devastating disaster...and I refer not to the Hurricane, but to the aftermath caused my selfish people. One man on the radio said, "these are not looters - these are people trying to survive." Yes, true...but it is still sad.

And another thing, why are the media agencies covering all THAT?? Why not cover the triumphs, the volunteers, the families reunited, the groups standing strong and giving thanks for being alive...???

Heartsick, and disgusted by the madness,
josh