Can Sin and Catastrophe be Synonymous?

It seems like this millennium has brought with at many events that will go down in history as huge disasters or catastrophes, i.e., 9/11, the Tsunami and NOW the washing away of New Orleans.

While driving this morning listening to some of my favorite talk radio hosts, a recurring theme kept popping up it's head - "Could Sin and Catastrophe be Synonymous?" Hand in hand with this questions was "If there is a God, how could he let something like this happen to innocent people?" Each of these are great questions to ponder.

Let's dissect these a little? I will take the last question as the first question - "If there is a God, how could he let something like this happen?" For the first part of my answer to this question, I will hearken back to a dinner event I attended with Alan Dersowitz.

This dinner was held just before the O.J. Simpson verdict was handed down and Dersowitz was the guest speaker. During an after dinner conversation Mr. Dersowitz shared the following astute observation, "Even as horrible as the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson was, that single event will forever change the way forensic investigations are handled. And, as a result, society as a whole will benefit from the happening of that single tragic event." Those words rang true for me then and today, looking back over the tragic events of this new millennium, ring even more true.

As a DIRECT RESULT of 9/11 the aviation and national security programs are forever changed and better. It's unlikely (although not altogether impossible) for another 9/11 to happen again today. Why? We have better security at our airports and mostly because, both passengers and flight crews will no longer and sit quite and cooperative if a hijacking is taking place. The standard has changed. Just like what Dershowitz was talking about.

The Tsunami that killed thousands and thousands will most likely NEVER happen again because the victimized countries now have or are working on "early warning systems". The tragic event has forever changed the future. Just as Dershowitz predicted in the O.J. Simpson case.

Now there is New Orleans and Katrina. As of this blogging, they are predicting as many as 10,000 dead as a result of Katrina. This horrific event will change MANY things, i.e., Hurricane Warning Systems, Flood Control in below sea level areas, Disaster Response, Local Disaster Preparedness and even Disaster Survivor Management. Every single one of this areas, and many more that I am not listing here, will be FORCED to change for the better as a DIRECT RESULT of the wrath of Katrina. So now to the question: "If there is a God, how could he let something like this happen?"

Let's break this down. Who failed here? God or Man? The bible states that God gave man dominion over the Earth and it is up to us to tame it. With that said, did God build poor levies in the New Orleans area? No man did. Did God keep from updating the levies and ignore warning that there could potentially be a problem in the event of a major storm? No man did. Did God cause New Orleans residents to poo-poo evacuation announcements and try to ride out the storm at home? No man chose his and her own path here. Did God make the bulk of the Katrina victims be poor and live on the dependent dole of democracy? No God demands we make our own way and prosper, so really mankind is to blame for encouraging a system of dole dependency and literally hobbling these poor inner-city welfare dwellers.

The way I see it is "man and money are the root of everything that happened". Man simply did not want to spend the money to make things right and thus thousands are dead as a result. It was just like a conversation I had with a dear, dear female friend of mine. Beautiful, fit, multi-lingual, Ivy League educated AND Atheist (well is 4 out of 5 that bad? - in this case a BIG NO GO), anyway she had just seen Mel Gibson's The Passion and she said it made her feel, but then she had to think about why so many get killed by "Acts of God" (her point of reference here is she lived in Mexico and watched thousands die in earthquakes and landslides). So I pointed out that it was man who had his brother living in squalor or built cheap building fast with no regard for earthquake codes, thus man was the true one responsible for the deaths. Once again that "money and man conundrum".

So in my view, man and man's ways are to blame for the huge death tools. Not wanting to spend the money on warning systems in the Tsunami event. Not wanting to improve levies in New Orleans case. Political Correctness in 9/11's case and I could go on and on. Money and man and man's pursuit of money and power.

So that's my case for blame. Not President Bush or God, but Mankind as a whole. We enable entitlement, unaccountably, decadence and secularism. As far as the question "Can sin and catastrophe be synonymous (or better said - connected)?

As horrible as it is, the effects of Katrina was a purge of a broken system. No, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT DEATH HERE, those who died is certainly a tragic event, but what I MEAN is thousands upon thousands where purged from New Orleans into other states and systems that do not necessarily encourage "dole dependences" like Louisiana did. They WILL go out, find new homes, make their way, find new jobs and create NEW lives WITH THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of other Americans helping them along the way. Many for the first time in generations will support themselves, make their own way and break the chains of entitlement for their future generations. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. Katrina WILL bring about good, it's just hard to see right now.

As far as sin, I really don't know on this one. All I do know is, in the TV business we have always had our national conventions in New Orleans. Part of the draw (and all who are honest will tell you) to New Orleans was GREAT sex, group sex, gay sex, food, drugs and alcohol and an anything goes "air" about the city. Except this time the "Girls didn't GO WILD- the forces of nature did!" AND, it just happened that the day Katrina hit was supposed to be "Southern Decadence Day" an annual, long running Gay Parade and 5 day party. Known for naked flesh, out in the open acts of oral sex and sodomy for all to see, rate, grade or participate in. Coincidence or Synonymous? Who knows?