Christ and Katrina: Five Years Later
— Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 —
The July/August issue of Touchstone features my article “Christ and Katrina.” You can read it here. The article, recognizing the fifth anniversary of the worst natural disaster in American history, is less about the hurricane itself than it is about a Christian view of home and homecoming.
It was a painful article to write, in many ways, especially since, after I wrote the article, my hometown was hit with now the worst man-made catastrophe in American history, a kind of slow-motion Katrina.
But thinking this through left me with a sense of hope and worship and peace. We do not yet see all things under his feet, it is true, but we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:8-9).
Hey Doc
I just heard your interview on N.P.R. this morning. Thank you so much for that. I am baffled as to why fellow Believers have traditionally been so opposed to most “Creation Care” issues. I’m really happy that someone like you has stood up on this issue.
Sad to say, you’ll probably catch some flack for it. But keep it up anyway.
Joe
Hi Dr. Moore,
It was interesting to hear your commentary on NPR the other day. I was heartened to hear that at least one person at the SBC felt that we have a duty, not only to God, but to our children and their children, to take care of the world and to try to leave it a better place or at least no worse than we found it. But, as a long time Baptist, I then remembered how far from the mainstream of Baptist thought such thinking represents. I’m amazed that you were able to get any kind of “enviromental” resolution passed and am cynical enough to suspect that it was a feel good vote that was only in response to the BP fiasco. Three months ago I doubt it would have even have been brought up for a vote and three months now it will be forgotten.
I’m glad to see you’re out there fighting the good fight and I wish you well. Unfortunately it reminds me a little of the few Southern Baptist preachers who favored integration in the civil rights era - they didn’t last very long.
Regarding the NPR interview:
Creation care is the responsibility of all believers. But let’s not rewrite the historical account here - we actually did have a government bureaucracy in place to prevent this sort of thing and it failed us.
It may have failed us simply because the people in their jobs were there for political reasons (just like Brown was at FEMA) and it also may have something to do with how big the bureaucracy was. Lean bureaucracies tend to work decently well, bloated ones do not- they tend to be unresponsive and corrupt, just like we are now discovering about Minerals Management Service (MMS). So (1) We ought to call for house cleaning with any bureaucracy that is bloated, corrupt and unresponsive and (2) people who want reform should not be slandered and misrepresented, as if they don’t care about the environment.
With all due respect, Dr. Moore, I believe you set up a sort of straw man in the NPR interview, especially in front of a secular liberal audience who have a series of loaded and inaccurate caricatures in their mind about Christians, conservatives and Southerners.
Christians and conservatives were not protesting the presence of MMS, nor of the responsibility that our government has to monitor oil drilling in the Gulf or anywhere else. If they had been, you might have a point. As such, I believe your criticism was directed at the wrong individuals, and that, to make a political point/jab.
Dr. Moore,
For the record, I’m glad that you have an opportunity to speak on NPR. I also enjoy listening to you on Dr. Mohler’s program (RIP).
I just ask you to consider that many people in NPR’s audience assume/believe that conservatives and conservative Christians in particular don’t want any government regulation or restrictions on drilling, etc. Conservatives should have the right to call for limited government and less bureaucracy without being charged with wreckless disregard for God’s creation. I’ll go one step more and say that until a Christian actually demonstrates disregard for creation, isn’t is safe to assume that they do care about it? I don’t understand why conservatives are by default, assumed to be uncareful or uncaring here.
To put the shoe on the other foot, wouldn’t it be unfair to imply that a Christian who is also a Democrat doesn’t care about babies? I think that would be unfair too. I guess that’s my point.
God bless you, brother. Just wanted to clarify my previous comment because I read it again and realized it could easily be taken in a different manner or more critical than how I wrote it.