Print ArticleWhen the average person looks upon the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, he sheds a few tears and wonders how he can help.
When some televangelists look upon human misery caused by natural disasters, they ponder how they can exploit the situation to "win souls for Christ."
At an appearance at Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church, Franklin Graham delivered a message in which he thundered, "There's been satanic worship. There's been sexual perversion. God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose."
Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on gays, pagans and feminists, and now another evangelical blowhard is blaming Hurricane Katrina on "sexual perversion" -- a thinly veiled reference to homosexuality. I am sick and tired of religious homophobes using homosexuals as scapegoats for natural and man-made disasters.
The only person qualified to explain the path of a hurricane is a meteorologist not a theologian. If Hurricane Katrina is a judgment of God against the evil citizens of New Orleans, then why did the Almighty spare the French Quarter -- the very epicenter of the "evil doings" in the Big Easy?
The thousands left homeless, jobless and penniless by Hurricane Katrina, don't need to hear words of condemnation and judgment, they need and deserve to hear words of comfort and hope.
To give the devil his due, Franklin's organization, Samaritan's Purse is working in five communities in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, including New Orleans.
But Samaritan's Purse taints their good works by delivering gift bags to displaced children that include Gospel tracts and a stuffed animal that plays "Jesus Loves You."
Genuine love gives without any strings attached, the only agenda of a charitable organization should be to provide food, water and shelter to the victims of natural disasters.
It's not surprising that this agnostic columnist would condemn the hateful words of Franklin Graham, but any religious person who hates bigotry should also condemn the Rev. Graham.
When some televangelists look upon human misery caused by natural disasters, they ponder how they can exploit the situation to "win souls for Christ."
At an appearance at Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church, Franklin Graham delivered a message in which he thundered, "There's been satanic worship. There's been sexual perversion. God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose."
Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on gays, pagans and feminists, and now another evangelical blowhard is blaming Hurricane Katrina on "sexual perversion" -- a thinly veiled reference to homosexuality. I am sick and tired of religious homophobes using homosexuals as scapegoats for natural and man-made disasters.
The only person qualified to explain the path of a hurricane is a meteorologist not a theologian. If Hurricane Katrina is a judgment of God against the evil citizens of New Orleans, then why did the Almighty spare the French Quarter -- the very epicenter of the "evil doings" in the Big Easy?
The thousands left homeless, jobless and penniless by Hurricane Katrina, don't need to hear words of condemnation and judgment, they need and deserve to hear words of comfort and hope.
To give the devil his due, Franklin's organization, Samaritan's Purse is working in five communities in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, including New Orleans.
But Samaritan's Purse taints their good works by delivering gift bags to displaced children that include Gospel tracts and a stuffed animal that plays "Jesus Loves You."
Genuine love gives without any strings attached, the only agenda of a charitable organization should be to provide food, water and shelter to the victims of natural disasters.
It's not surprising that this agnostic columnist would condemn the hateful words of Franklin Graham, but any religious person who hates bigotry should also condemn the Rev. Graham.
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