In my post the other day, I made light of the then-new events in New Orleans, abstracting out the real people and inserting a goofy cartoon. It is right there - I'm not deleting it - it is right there below us. I was in a goofy mood that morning, yes. But looking at it now, I am ashamed of myself. I have broken the fifth commandemnt. For, as Martin Luther's Large Catechism reminds us, that commandment means for us not to harm our neighbor (and sarcasm is a form of harm) and also that we should have compassion upon him and do whatever is in our power to rescue and save him. Luther even goes so far as to write:
"It is just as if I saw some one navigating and laboring in deep water and struggling against adverse winds [emphasis mine] or one fallen into fire, and could extend to him the hand to pull him out and save him, and yet refused to do it. What else would I appear, even in the eyes of the world, than as a murderer and a criminal?"
Since posting, I am almost moment-to-moment struck to the heart by what I see and hear coming out of New Orleans. The elderly, the sick, the poor, tourists ("aliens among us") cry out into cameras and microphones, devastated, helpfless, in fear for their lives, and in some cases dying for want of basic necessities. As Tim Naftali of Slate said in an article posted yesterday:
"How is it possible that with the fourth anniversary of 9/11 almost upon us, the federal government doesn't have in hand the capability to prepare for and then manage a large urban disaster, natural or man-made? In terms of the challenge to government, there is little difference between a terrorist attack that wounds many people and renders a significant portion of a city uninhabitable, and the fallout this week from the failure of one of New Orleans' major levees."
It makes me angry that with so much advanced warning - clear warning - it has taken days for medical supplies to begin to trickle into the outskirts of the city, and that gangs of untrained thugs can gain and keep power over so many in an area within the continental United States. Yes, it makes me angry, but I can't forget my own flippant unkindness. God help those who are effected by this tragedy, and help me to demonstrate kindness instead of callousness.
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2 comments:
Ok, yes... but was this really the Feds responsibility? Who should know better regarding New Orleans? The Feds who have to worry about Tornados, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Terror Attacks, Blizzards, Alien Invasions, International Issues, and somehow removing bluesates from the map. Or the gov of LA, the Mayor of NO, the people who, we come to find out, knew that the levies could only sustain a level 3 Hurricane? The people of N.O. who, with the same clear notice, the same early warning chose to "ride it out?" I haven't been watching the news as much as others, but I've not heard anyone on the TV when asked "why did you stay?" say "We had no other option." All I've heard was, "I didn't think it was going to be that bad." "I didn't want to leave my stuff behind." "I survived (insert hurricane name here) I could handle this one."
Do we depend too much on the federal government? Are we truely entitled to the things that we demand from them? Or should we look to our local politicians, who know our situations far better than "uncle sam" who has to be concerned with the dust bowl droughts, the wildfires in the Northwest, flooding along the Mississippi, and blizzards in the Northeast? Let's stop pointing fingers and start offering a helping hand.
::applause:: I enjoyed both the post and the response. Luther, On Justification, section 319? :)
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