I wasn't planning on making this my next post but, that's fine. I think it's more important than whatever I was planning to post about.
I wanted to say that I feel for the people effected by this hurricane because I've been effected by plenty (just about every year) in some way here in the Florida panhandle. During Ivan we had tornadoes spinning throughout Panama City Beach and several people were killed during that storm here. Of course, we've been lucky not to have a major disaster in quite a while here.
I hope the people of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana are able to regain some semblance of normalcy in their lives over the next few months after this great tragedy, but I know that's something that's most likely not going to be possible for a long and indeterminable amount of time. I would like to say that all those effected are in my prayers and I hope that they are in many other people's as well.
I would also like to address something that I've heard some people of so-called faith declare in the last few days that I find very disturbing and uncalled for. And that would be the conclusion that New Orleans has been put into such dire straits by the hand of God for their pursuits of a decadent and sinful lifestyle. I as a Christian could never come to such a conclusion. Not because I question God, or his will, but I'm too humble to conclude ANY act of nature is an act of God against His people. That is something that is not for ME or YOU to question, conclude or determine what the reason to God's plan is for others and why. No one knows why this has happened to Louisiana and to cast judgment on our fellow man, to say that they're suffering is their own cause because they obviously must have sinned or done something to bring this on themselves, is as dispicable and reprehensible as anything I can imagine. For those who say otherwise need to read Job again, and see for themselves that even the most righteous man of God is not exempt from pain and suffering, and those who would know better are fools just like the friends of Job were in his time. Judgment and condmemnation is not our place, uplifting and helping our fellow man is the only thing we need to be doing. Not trying to make ourselves feel superior in some spiritual self-righteousness.
On another note, I would also like to say that I'm not really too surprised that New Orleans flooded like it did after the hurricane. Everyone who lives anywhere near New Orleans knows how the pumps fail after even a heavy rain, not to mention that the city is at least 3 feet below sea level all the way through. It's practically a bowl. Maybe those new levees that weren't coming until 2018 will become a reality a little sooner. But I'm more of the mindset that maybe people shouldn't be living in that area anyway. I know I wouldn't live in such a place, but I have the luxury of not being from New Orleans and not being attatched in any way.
Either way, the response of the government seemed slower than I've ever seen before. The governor of Louisiana seems like a total dink to me. And anyone who has dealt with FEMA before can tell you those people ain't right. We've got people here still waiting on money from Ivan! I don't, however, believe it's becuase "George Bush doesn't care about black people" as Kanye West (shmuck) stated. I'm sure some people just didn't want to get shot! I know I wouldn't help people acting like they were in the Watts Riots. Why on earth would you want to shoot at people who are flying victims out of the Super Dome? Are you just that dumb? I guess people are.
Now, days and days later, they have some kind of federal presence there, and things are slowly progressing. I just hope more people don't suffer because of the lengthy delay in response, and I will continue to pray for those people effected, and I hope you do too.
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