Let the good times roll, my a##!

Another entry to the Crackpot Christian Hall of Shame was on the TV last night (or was it this morning? The horror that is the Katrina aftermath has all run together in my brain). It wasn't a Fallwell or a Robertson, but it was a preacher in a church in Biloxi, Mississippi who felt compelled to note that perhaps the people of the affected region, especially in New Orleans, need to rethink their motto of "Let the good times roll." Perhaps, he suggested, it's time to embrace an ethos that involves God and church, not just "good times."

Oh, like the poverty that plagued the folks who weren't included in the official evacuation plans was due to their enjoyment of "good times," not the institutionalized racism that has plagued this country since it was begun hundreds of years ago.

Like the decision to divert funds earmarked for the Gulf coast restoration project to the Iraq war was made because the people of New Orleans were too devoted to "good times."

And the decision by FEMA to rebuff efforts to send supplies to the devastated peoples of New Orleans and elsewhere--to the point where they cut phone lines of centers devoted to helping these people, according to this morning's "Meet the Press"--this was due to the "good times" rolling down the streets of New Orleans.

Any suggestion that the people of the region got what they deserved isn't any sort of Christianity I recognize. Because it's the exact opposite of Christian to point fingers and try to make people ashamed of being poor, homeless, and without any resources at all. It's Christian instead to reach out to these people, to take action to lift them out of their poverty and despair, isn't it?

Besides, if one needs to point fingers, why aren't they pointing them at the government who failed its citizens on a scale unimaginable in modern times?

Also, there's the possibility that this was an act of nature that was not brought on by anybody's "good times", but perhaps instead our entire society's inability to wean itself from fossil fuels and the havoc they wreak on our environment and weather systems.

And last but not least, if we embrace the premise of what this pastor suggests, then the fact that I and my lesbian partner have been living in relative peace, safety and tranquility lo these 12+ years we've been together must mean we're on the right side of the Lord, no?

Well, doesn't it?

I'm sorry, but this whole mess has me so angry, my humor hasn't much chance to show itself. Though I know it has many faults, I adore New Orleans, and each day I think of something else that likely is no more thanks to this debacle. Today, I remembered the new space that the GLBT 12-step meetings were held in when I visited in April, and how nice it was compared to the old space they had. It's likely all gone.

And what of the people I met there? Right now, I'm remembering a man who attended a meeting with me; he had just moved into a new place that had a good yard for his dog. (Love those sorts of priorities, don't you know.) Pray that he and his pooch got out of town before the flooding....but who knows?