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Maybe God is mad at Texas

Remember Hurricane Katrina? Remember the response of certain evangelical Christians - most notably Pat Robertson - to that terrible storm? Robertson and his ilk gloated that Katrina was God's wrath made visible. God hated New Orleans and America because of our so-called soft-pedaling of homosexuality, among other sins, and so hundreds of innocent people - children, women, and men - had to suffer horrible deaths and a great city had to be virtually destroyed to appease an angry God.

As far as I am aware, the same characters who denounced New Orleans as it was drowning have had little to say about the state of Texas that is now frying. It seems to me, though, that if God can send a flood to drown New Orleans, He could probably take the water away from Texas and let it parch in the hot, drying sun and the relentless wind that has been blowing here for weeks now.

Virtually all of the state is now officially in drought. Some of us are already in what is termed an "exceptional drought." In my yard, the last wet month we've had was July of last year. Since then rains have been very few and far between. For the month of April, those fabled showers have been totally absent.

What has been the response of our elected officials to this crisis? The governor says we should pray for rain. Our congressional delegration says that by no means should we do anything to ameliorate human-caused climate change which may be contributing to our drought misery, because, you know, global warming is just a hoax.

But, then, maybe Robertson was actually on to something and maybe God is just mad at Texas. After all, there is this little snippet from the King James Bible, Matthew 25:

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal


Texas is one of the meanest and most niggardly of all the states when it comes to caring for the "least of these," the poorest and most needy of its citizens. I would think it's enough to make even the most patient and long-suffering God mad and consider sending a wake-up call. What better portent of things to come than drought and heat in Texas?
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Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 23, 2011 at 12:15 AM

    Wow! A great post!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SnapApril 23, 2011 at 7:10 AM

    Amen!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan April 23, 2011 at 9:00 AM

    Interesting. Perhaps Wade is right afterall about moving out of this state. I do love living here, but Texas probably is the meanest state in the country. "You reep what you sow" - how true it seems right now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dorothy BordersApril 23, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    Having worked nearly thirty years in the social services system in Texas, I have few illusions left of Texas' compassion and care for those in need, so when I think of things that might make God mad about our state, this tops my list. Unfortunately, it is a long list, Anonymous, Snap, and Susan.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousApril 25, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Just recently I have talked with two young families that have told me they hope to move. These are educated hard working young adults with young children and people I would love to call my neighbor! But they wish to leave because they can no longer bear to live in the " meanest" state. Texas is on it's way to becoming the 3rd world nation for our country. Cheap labor, poverty, no taxes on business, health care nonexistent, right to work -- yes we are every corporation's dream.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dorothy BordersApril 25, 2011 at 9:47 PM

    I count my daughter and son-in-law among those would-be emigrants, Anonymous. Texas is paying a price for its mean-spiritedness and I am afraid it will pay an even higher price in the future. Our failure to address social problems is, as you say, putting us on a par with Third World nations.

    ReplyDelete

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