“god destroyed a wicked city”
“We must help and pray for those ravaged by this disaster, but let us not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long,” Marcavage said. “May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God,” Marcavage concluded.
yep, someone actually said that.
oh and if that wasn’t enough, i got this little gem from here:
Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, also sees God’s mercy in the aftermath of Katrina — but in a different way. Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.
The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as “Southern Decadence” — an annual six-day “gay pride” event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week — God’s judgment would be felt.
“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion — it’s free of all of those things now,” Shanks says. “God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there — and now we’re going to start over again.”
The New Orleans pastor is adamant. Christians, he says, need to confront sin. “It’s time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won’t have to deal with that wickedness,” he says.
(Source)
you see that?? stop shedding tears for the poor people of new orleans, it is at least now abortion free! plus, southern decadence got cancelled and what more could good, god fearing christians ask for?? so what if thousands are rendered homeless or dead? at least the gays did not get to parade around, celebrating sodomy and their false religion and their false god!
yayyyy for hurricane katrina!
…you know what i don’t understand? when a muslim says something so infinitely stupid and MEAN, it gets SO much coverage. it is analysed for days on end on CNN and BBC and all the moderate muslims are forced to abandon their 9 to 5 lives, come forward and defend their religion, the religion of peace and all that.
this reverend should really receive the same treatment or better yet, be shot for what he said. instead, because he is a god fearing christian, no one really gives a shit - i had trouble locating the original quote.
what amuses me the most is the amount this guy has in common with your usual mullah, who at this precise moment must be attributing this act to his own god, as revenge for america’s policies and presence in iraq! he spouts his nonsense after friday prayers and our good reverend says the same crap, different god, on sundays.
i don’t know who the fuck came up with religion but it needs to go.
completely.
UPDATE:
i found rev’s best friend!!
presenting Mr. Muhammad Yousef Al-Mlaifi:
“The Terrorist Katrina is One of the Soldiers of Allah…”.
“this wind, which completely wiped out American cities in these days, is a wind of mercy and blessing. It is almost certain that this is a wind of torment and evil that Allah has sent to this American empire.”
(Source)
We have plenty of these here, but most of us ignore them. Giving them press just encourages them. They’re obviously victims of their own warped zealotry and Old Testament sensibilities that have nothing to do with Jesus. Frankly, the reason we feel we can ignore them is because most folks like this do not have a lot of folks willing to be a martyr on the basis of their say-so. They’ve probably been saying this for years, and yet there have been no suicide bombers in New Orleans, no planes flown into the Astrodome. The thing about being a nation of religious pluralism is that we tolerate a lot, and the true believers are fewer. Do we have some nuts? Absolutely. Timothy McVeigh for one, although that was less about religion. People who shoot abortion docs.
The reason we get so bent out of shape when a mullah declares yet another jihad on wicked America is because we fear that he’s got a nice collection of wannabe martyrs who are listening to him. How accurate is that? I tend to believe it’s true, although I’m willing to admit ignorance as to how true.
Comment by Kristie — September 3, 2005 @ 5:47 pm
Doubtless Al-Jazeera will shortly have a tape released by old Bed-Linen claiming responsibility for Hurrican Katrina!
Comment by Red Baron — September 3, 2005 @ 10:18 pm
houston’s ridiculously overwhelmed with victims of this catastrophy. ppl need to actually witness the misery at the Astrodome here before making such unhumane remarks…
Comment by sara — September 3, 2005 @ 11:32 pm
Sadly the divinely inspired storms arrived a couple of days early and thus failed to drown the sodomites. Still the faithful must pray and wait for the next godly disaster.
Would it be ok to refer to the casualties, mostly the innocent poor and frail, here as collateral damage.
Comment by ali — September 4, 2005 @ 4:08 am
The best quote of this kind I’ve read came from our good friend Rev. Pat Robertson a few weeks ago:
“Feminisism encourages women to kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”
Alright, Rev. Pat!
Comment by silvertassles — September 4, 2005 @ 8:48 am
That quote has been around for years, Silvertassles. In fact, I know where you can get a t-shirt of it, if’n you like.
Comment by Kristie — September 4, 2005 @ 6:04 pm
I’d wear that.
Comment by ali — September 4, 2005 @ 11:28 pm
Pray tell!!!
Comment by silvertassles — September 5, 2005 @ 5:59 am
echo rocky. it is so frustrating to read about this shit, irrespective which religion it comes from. Get what you say Kristie, about the reality of statements having any consequences being different. Still believe though that these statements need not be condoned (am not saying you do!). 50 years hence, who knows…
Comment by vAgue — September 5, 2005 @ 6:00 am
We are in a bit of a trap here because humanity needs mysticism but the form of religion that it has currently taken is merely an extension of social control by the establishment.
The “church” has rarely been a form for good in any setting. It is in fact certain individuals who happen to be religious and practice a progressive theology who tend to be the ones giving the church a good name.
Getting people off this opium tho’ is going to require a hell of a lot of metaphorical methodone.
Comment by Red Baron — September 5, 2005 @ 10:43 am
Here you go, Silvertassles and Ali. For just 15 American dollars, you, too, can have this shirt. If you’re out of the U.S. and need help getting it, drop me an e-mail. We’ll work something out.
Comment by Kristie — September 5, 2005 @ 5:03 pm
Hey Rocky, my comment with the link to the t-shirt was moderated. Fish it out of the queue, wouldja please? Gratias tibi.
Comment by Kristie — September 5, 2005 @ 5:04 pm
out of all the people in the world, celine dion stepped up and said what most have been thinking. you can watch the video here - basically, she said something about how US has enough money to send planes to iraq to kill people and destroy lives but can’t save the ones in New Orleans!
seriously impressive stuff - i have new found respect for the woman and hereby solemnly promise not to diss, cringe or puke when ‘my heart will go on’ plays in the cafe across my office.
Comment by rocky — September 5, 2005 @ 5:27 pm
It’s not that simple Rocky. The disaster in New Orleans was unseen. They survived the hurricane and the levies on the lake broke later. It is a natural disaster made worse by the fact that the city sits below the lake that is dammed by the levies. Shit happens. That is life.
The initial response to the problems has to come from the local authorities and they failed miserably. The US does not send planes of aid the day after the disaster. No one can do that. The survivors have to survive on their own initially and put themselves in position for rescue.
Celine Dion? Come on! Liberals are in big trouble in the US. So they grab at every opportunity to stab at the govt. This would have been a great opportunity for liberal groups to spend money and muscle to help the people on day one. Get the move on Katrina. Put your waders on and win back that red state, neighborhood by neighborhood. But slinging mud is easier than getting down and cleaning it up.
Comment by ali — September 5, 2005 @ 7:29 pm
o, good gawd!
;-) wrong response? lol.
Comment by closetalk — September 6, 2005 @ 3:39 pm
Actually Ali, I disagree the New Orleans disaster was not unforeseen. There has been the threat of this for some time firstly because New Orleans is below sea level hence the reason for the levees to exist at all and secondly because the gulf area is a notorious hurricane corridor.
Had the levees been updated the way they were suppossed to have been the problem would have been lessened if not averted. But in 2004 Bush diverted 20% of the budget for doing so and the project was not completed. Furthermore had the Federal govt. honoured the Emergency plan they agreed to and signed 2 DAYS before the hurricane hit then again the problem would have been far less. Other factors that have not helped is the attempted privatisations etc. of parts associated with the FEMA.
The hurricane itself was known about well in advance and its raising to a category 4 or 5 rating was known more than 48 hours in advance. Had the federal government acted at that time contingency at the very least could have been enacted.
This would not have happened in Texas, nor California nor New York. The federal government acted too little too late because the people in New Orleans are not high priority which is why the money had not been spent on the area in the first place.
Comment by Red Baron — September 7, 2005 @ 11:13 am
the baron said a lot of what i was going to say…
first of all, i don’t think its okay to allow thousands to die or suffer just because the local authorities are incompetent. sure, the mayor or the governor should have been better prepared/equipped but does it really matter now? shouldn’t the president step in to save his own people when it’s obvious that the ones he appointed can not?
and why should the liberals step up? they aren’t the ones running the government! it is not their responsibility. its like asking a film critic to make a movie if he doesn’t like the trash coming out of hollywood!!
of course every bush hater will jump up and use this opportunity to criticise - bush has been strutting around acting as the savior of the world, marching in to rescue the people of iraq from their dictator and promising to make the world a better place. obviously the high death toll and this disaster in his own country makes everyone question the abilities and leadership of such a man (most of us already knew he had none). he is in too high a position and has put himself up on too high a pedestal to be able to make, or get away with, such gross mistakes.
and in all fairness to celine dion, she donated a million dollars immediately to the cause
!
Comment by rocky — September 7, 2005 @ 12:47 pm
Oh God no, don’t tell me I’m going to have to like Celine Dion! It’s bad enough that I have to tolerate Bill Gates for his philanthropy as opposed to Steve Jobs who’s a wanker!
BTW is it just me or does Bush always come across as completely insincere as if he’s always trying to supress a smirk?
Comment by Red Baron — September 7, 2005 @ 6:53 pm
It’s not just you. I cannot stand the chimp-like smirking, nor the voice. It grates on my very last nerve.
Perhaps he looks completely insincere only because he is.
Comment by Kristie — September 8, 2005 @ 4:37 am
I blame the French founders of the city. The natives warned them about building a city there.
As for the war in Iraq, it is not for democracy, it is for control and stabilization of mid-east oil. That stability is a pre-condition for the long term health of the global economy. If democracy is the system that replaces the psychopaths who ruled the country, you couldn’t ask for a better fringe benefit. I think oil is the most legit reason to go to war. I am all for such a war. The vast majority of Iraqis still support the war effort. The war is being prolonged and innocent civilians killed by the minority sunnis. The whole country is being held hostage by a bunch of fanatics.
If you think fishing out a couple of thousand people out of water in New Orleans is more urgent than liberating the future of millions in the middle east, shout racist pig and look in a mirror.
The government is not your parent, it is not your caretaker. People need to take reponsiblity for themselves at some point. The majority of the citizens heeded the warnings and evacuated New Orleans. Those who have chosen to stay back despite warnings and threats are partially to blame for increasing the human cost.
Tomorrow a ten point shaker could wreck havoc in los angeles. People weren’t prepared for the 94′ earthquake and they wouldn’t be prepared for the next big one either. Atleast I hope not. Disasters make such compelling reality TV.
Comment by ali — September 8, 2005 @ 6:48 am
“The whole country is being held hostage by a bunch of fanatics.”
Ain’t it always the way, Ali. Ain’t it always the way.
Comment by Kristie — September 8, 2005 @ 3:07 pm
Oh dear.
On behalf of all people who truly believe that there is a God, I am truly ashamed and shocked at how these people, who claim to be men of God, act so callously in the face of tragedy.
Power corrupts and these people, churchmen as they claim, have been corrupted by their own sense of self-righteousness.
I’m so very sorry.
Comment by mac — September 8, 2005 @ 11:51 pm
“I think oil is the most legit reason to go to war.”
We fundamentally disagree on this point. I think to go to war and kill thousands just to prop up an ageing Leviathan that won’t reform before the commodity runs out is the epitomy of why capitalism in this guise is inevitably inequitous. This is the problem you will have when you draw artificial borders and squabble over the raw materials left within.
Ali may I ask if your distain for the Sunni stems from their more secular nature at all?
The psychopaths who ruled the country from within have been replaced by a bunch of psychopaths from without. Don’t think for a moment that the US will leave the Shiites alone if there is even the whiff of an Islamic state or Shariah law.
Comment by Red Baron — September 10, 2005 @ 11:34 am
Baron the kurds are also sunni. I should have made the distinction b/w arab and kurd sunnis. I have been raised Sunni too. Sunnis aren’t any more secular than the shia. You shouldn’t confuse the secular socialist baath party with the sunnis. Sure they held the majority of office in the former regime, but most of them got religion only once they had a taste of some american shock and awe.
Thanks for bringing up the artificial borders issue again. The british left most of their colonies with lifelong problems with mishandling this task. I for one was also always in favor of the Iraqi invasion and anexation of kuwait. A city with oil well should not be made a state when it has always been part of the country around it. Kuwait should have been a part of iraq from the begining. The kurds should have had a state of their own instead of being stuck for perpetuity as minorities in countries that constantly attack their culture and economy. Wouldn’t brunei’s petro billions be better served in the Malaysian economy instead of the indulgences of the royal family. I would go on about what supports these unjust constructs and what should be done about that, but I must digress as my script will soon resemble a terrorist’s.
Comment by ali — September 10, 2005 @ 9:09 pm
civilian deaths are a consequence of all wars…you truly think that these deaths are okay, given that the war is for oil? i am not saying that religion is a better reason to go to war or even land (i’m obviously pretty anti-war) but OIL??!
and if it was such a legit reason, then there should have been no need for the bs about WMD’s and terrorists and democracy and freedom of the iraqis.
and if saving the thousands in NO was apparently the job of the LOCAL AUTHORITIES (according to your previous comment), shouldn’t the job of liberating millions of iraqis be the job of THEIR local authorities? why do they need USA?
and yes, i think that it is FAR more important for america to fish out their own people from NO than to wage war on another country for oil. for starters, they really don’t give a shit about liberating the iraqis and most of those iraqis in favor of this war are ones that are not living in iraq.
the people who are actually there, under curfews, lack of water, electricity and food and who have lost their relatives are definitely not in favor of this and can not wait for the day that the american soldiers leave.
Comment by rocky — September 11, 2005 @ 12:40 pm
Rocky, surely you don’t believe the american propoganda about spreading freedom and democracy. So what is the war really about. It is either about oil or for making the mideast weaker for the benefit of israel. For the american policy makers these are very legit reasons to make war. Freedom from Saddam & Co. and democracy could have resulted from the war had the sunnis no decided to play spoilers.
When you say Iraqis in Iraq are not in favor of the war you are disregarding the views of the majority of Shia, Kurds, and a number of smaller ethnic groups. Most Shia are able to live in peace now. Death comes to them at the hands of sunni bombers. The Kurds are definately thriving. Their language and culture free from oppression. Their economy is growing. The only parts of Iraq worse off are the regions that
include large sunni populations that are bent upon the breakup of the country.
Rocky, the former local authority in Iraq was one of the most subversive regimes in the world. It killed hundreds of thousands of its own people in the last three decades. Not to mention the tragic stalemate of a war with Iran that killed millions in the two countries. And if not for this war they would have ruled for successively worse generations.
As for this biblical flood everyone is talking about. This pales in comparison to what people in the flood planes of major rivers in China and the Indian continent go through every 2-3 tears. Half of the country of Bangladesh with 150 million people goes through flooding 100 times worse than this every year. And no Bengalis haven’t evolved gill yet.
If any country can make war and carry out hurricane relief on that scale it is america. They have more than enough troops at home to help. Police and emergency units from around the country are donating men and resources to the effort. Whether you like Americas policies or not, you have to give it to the americans for their ability to come together at times of need.
“..curfews, lack of water, electricity …”, Rocky please don’t superimpose life in Karachi on the situation in Iraq. Makes their lives seem normal for our peoples.
Comment by ali — September 11, 2005 @ 7:08 pm
Interestingly, Bangladesh pledged a healthy amount of cash to help with Hurricane Katrina clean-up. Talk about digging deep. Iraq gave a million dollars via the Red Crescent.
Comment by Kristie — September 12, 2005 @ 3:17 pm
Ali, I think you have a point about short-term thriving in the Shia and Kurdish communities but I think that is rather fragile.
The Kurds have had a degree of autonomy even under Saddam Hussein the recent war simply enshrines that but the Turks are not happy about this at all and the Turks are growing in influence, so this may be a problem from the North.
The Shia communities are divided as to a democratic secular state or an Islamic one under shariah law, the latter being favoured by those in Iran, also Shia. The US will not tolerate a pro-Iranian religious state in Iraq as it would make their oil supply too volitile. So this is a problem from the East.
Then of course there is Syria, I don’t know what ethnicity the Syrians are but I do now the US doesn’t like them, I suspect the US doesn’t know their ethnicity either tho! Any regime in Iraq being pro-Syria would also be seen as a threat so that could constitute a potential problem from the West.
Leaving the South, now there is little doubt that the US would have no problem in a pro-Saudi regime in Iraq but such a regime would hardly have human rights at the forefront of its agenda.
I don’t think anyone is in any doubt that the Iraq war was based on the US desire to control the oil supply, after all so was Afghanistan, (you didn’t think that was all about the Taliban did you?!) the debate is whether this is a policy that the international community should allow.
Funny that many people see the US as saving Iraq from Saddam, when it was of course the US that put him in there in the first place.
Comment by Red Baron — September 13, 2005 @ 4:21 pm
Our favourite evangelical has been at it again. According to his loonyness rev. Pat Robertson, Katrina was god’s message to the Hollywood elite for letting Ellen host the Emmys. She is from NO. So the city, with such a religious history that it is divided into parishes instead of districts, gets slammed by the merciful almighty because a lesbian comedian called it home once. He went on to blame her for 9-11 and a few other incidents by linking them to events in her career and life.
Comment by ali — September 14, 2005 @ 1:26 am
people never change. what made you think that switching blogs would also change your content. same yammering, same pseudo-intellectualism: fake trees are juiceless.
Comment by anonymous — September 20, 2005 @ 4:15 pm
i agree that people never change…the ones who hurled insults at the old blog did so while remaining anonymous and they do the same here.
yawn.
do come back when you want to make a REAL point; this looks like the same kinda whiny bs that i used to get, back at the old blog.
Comment by rocky — September 20, 2005 @ 8:21 pm
The only thing that pissed me off about Katrina were the journalists and news agencies giving us beautiful live pictures of the dead lying on streets. Yet none of them brought supplies nor tried to help the devestated (that i know of). They did bring cameras and crews and reported LIVE and about the dead and dying and how the bush admin failed to react. i dont understand, if your helicopter can hover over a roof, and show hungry people with their starving dog taking refuge from nature on the caving in roof. Drop a hotdog dude. A pack of cigarettes, a gun for mercy’s sake. No but the Bush admin failed to react…woohoo now we have something to report, a sort of I WAS THERE thing. At least Bush would have been worried about his ratings which rightly fell a bit, but i am sure that the board members at CNBC, CNN and the likes were really pissin their pants for the lives that Katrina disrupted (the ones that stayed home to watch the news…LIVE)
Comment by D — September 22, 2005 @ 8:55 am
D, don’t be pissed at them for something they have little control over. it is my understanding that the authorities allowed only one media chooper in the air. All the news services and tv channels got their coverage from this one helicopter crew. They rest of the airspace was reserved for rescue operations.
The job of the journalist is to report the facts of the news and leave the reaction to the audience. I agree with this ethic 100%. No matter what, they should let events take their course and just report as complete a picture as they can. Maybe one person can be a do-no-wrong hero in movies but in real life people should keep things simple and just do their assigned job to their best ability.
Comment by ali — September 23, 2005 @ 3:57 pm
I did`nt know about the single chopper giving all the coverage. i guess being pissed off means lower perception. But i disagree with you about the journalist reporting all facts. That does’nt seem to happen ever, mostly because of what you yourself have stated. Just like there can be a do-no-wrong person only in movies, there can be a 100% fact journalist only in movies and very rarely in real life. And we all know what the reaction to the pictures showing natural devestation is. why should a journalist let events take their course? Lets say a reporter is telling us about a decision by congress about Importing cars. State the facts, go home. Now, Katrina happened, and look at….. What i dont understand is how a reporter’s actually physically helping a sick man will hurt the impact of the news. Forget Bush’s lame reflexes regarding emergencies. These are people we are talking about, on Cable TV, not National Geographic telling us about poachers and the diamond back congo based gorrilas. All i am saying is that in some cases, if one man can’t be the hero, then he can at least try to be a man.
Comment by D — September 24, 2005 @ 5:08 am
The New Orleans pastor and his Muslim Counterpart would have us believe that that all of the catastrophies are god’s clean-up system. If they want to put across their insensitive and stupid comments, they should do it on their own without trying to drag in god in bw. Who has asked them to take upon the responsibility of being god’s media spokes person.
Ali bhae regarding this media responsibilty issue i recall this incident in karachi some years ago when a woman self-ignited herself on fire on a protest of some kind. While her body burned up,(the clothes got burnt to reveal a naked body that began to get charred) a few reporters where there to make second-by-second pictures of that. The last shot was of a man who was trying to extinguish the fire by trying to drape a jute bag over her. She died in the hosiptal. The reporters where then put on trial for fulfilling their duty as reporters but neglecting their duty as human beings. They were released later but with a warning.
Comment by toora — September 24, 2005 @ 9:57 am
Those two or three men in a small helicopter don’t own the helicopter. They work for someone who is paying them for staying in the helicopter and recording everything they can. I saw interviews with this crew and everytime they would see a person in distress they would radio that location to the rescue authorities. I think that is more efficient than trying to make a life risking landing in a weak roof to pick one person up and transport them to a hospital. They are not trained or equipped for a rescue. If they don’t kill themselves trying to get down, they will certainly miss covering a lot of area and finding more survivors on rooftops.
D, with 6 billion people on earth that I don’t know, the value of that one animal of a nearly extinct species is greater than a human. Perspective.
I agree with calling Bush out on the delayed federal response. His inept appointee at FEMA for instance dropped the ball big time. But I have yet to see a non-partisan finger point out the local govt. The city and state have democratic heads of govt. They were warned of the magnitude of the threat in advance. Yet they seem to have had absolutely no plans. The mayor had a large number of emergency responders awol. Why not house their families 50 miles out in a motel in advance of the storm. Then have your police and fire departments at full strength on duty. The governer controls the state national guard. She should have had them mobilized and ready to move in at a moment’s notice before the hurricane hit not two days later. In contrast look at the orderly and timely evacuation of Galveston, TX. I would raise hell about the stupid mayor of new orleans who wanted the people to move back in. The have only patched the wall. It would need to be thoroughly repaired and strengthened before people should move in. Wouldn’t you know the city floods again with rain from Rita.
A hundred years ago these were wetlands. That is a microsecond in earths’ life. Nature will try to take it back. Smart money move to Baton Rouge. Stupid money invest in rebuilding New Orleans.
Toora, I didn’t know about this Karachi immolation case. But glad to hear that the reporters got off. If there were a few reporters there, than there must have been hundreds if not thousands of bystanders at the scene too. Half of them were probably women. All of them stood by and watched. But it is easy for a prosecutor to find the men with the cameras. Besides why should you be charged for trying to prevent a person for killing themselves. They want to die, let them. Good riddance. Save the saving for people who want to live. With 15 million people Karachi is not going to miss this deranged woman. Save the saving for people who want to live.
Comment by ali — September 24, 2005 @ 5:27 pm
No, that last sentence is not my motto. It advertantly got cut and pasted.
Comment by ali — September 24, 2005 @ 5:31 pm