Hurricane Katrina as divine retribution
Encyclopedia
Various political and religious leaders have suggested that Hurricane Katrina
, which killed 1,836 people, was sent as a divine retribution
for the sin
s of New Orleans, or of the South
, or for the United States
as a whole. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
is said to have asserted in a speech on January 16, 2006, addressing the effects of Hurricane Katrina, "Surely God is mad at America". Various different reasons have been given for God's wrath. Some victims of the disaster also made attributions to supernatural causes, that they were being punished for their sins, or that God was testing them, or even that the event was "the work of Satan
."
, a prominent ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi, declared that Hurricane Katrina to be "God's punishment for President Bush's support of the August 2005 withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip". He added that black people died because they did not study the Torah:
The Jerusalem Newswire, a Christian Zionist online news service, ran an editorial headlined "Katrina— The Fist of God?"
stating:
This was echoed shortly thereafter by the Jerusalem based Christian Friends of Israel, which wrote, "we know that God only disciplines his own. Perhaps there are enough good men left in the United States that God thinks it worthwhile to send an occasional reminder not to tamper with the Land that He calls His own".
Evangelical Jack Chick
produced a chick tract
entitled Somebody Angry? which also explained the hurricane as a sign of God's wrath over US pressure on Israel.
declared of the hurricane that "God attacked America, and the prayers of the oppressed were answered".
asserted that Hurricane Katrina was "God's way of punishing America for its warmongering and racism". Said Farrakhan, "Maybe God ain't pleased. Maybe this caste system that pits us against each other has to be destroyed and something new and better put in its place."
implied on the September 12th broadcast of The 700 Club
that the Hurricane was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that 9/11 and the disaster in New Orleans "could... be connected in some way".
Steve Lefemine expressed a similar view, stating that "In my belief, God judged New Orleans for the sin of shedding innocent blood through abortion
.... Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.... Greater divine judgment is coming upon America unless we repent of the national sin of abortion." (article originally from the Washington Post, as carried on the Houston Chronicle
site, also reposted on the ExChristian.net site)
Gerhard Maria Wagner
, briefly an auxiliary bishop of Linz
, attributed Hurricane Katrina to God's ire caused by the town's reputation for lax sexual behavior, claiming that the hurricane destroyed brothels, nightclubs and abortion clinics: "It's no coincidence that in New Orleans all five abortion clinics as well as night clubs were destroyed.". James Gill
, columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, satirically called for the Pope next to elevate Wagner as Archbishop of New Orleans after protests from Roman Catholics
in three New Orleans congregations over the merging of their churches by aging Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes
. The churches had been depopulated in part by out-migration resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Elevated by Pope Benedict XVI
on January 31, 2009, Wagner resigned on February 15, 2009 amidst criticism, in part over his views of Hurricane Katrina.
American evangelist John Hagee
linked the hurricane to a gay pride event known as "Southern Decadence Day
", which was to have been held in the town's French Quarter a few days after the hurricane hit. He said in 2006, "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were — recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina
came." However, on April 25, 2008, Hagee backed away from his comments regarding Hurricane Katrina by saying, "But ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise." In rebuttal, About.com
's "Urban Legends and Folklore" section entitled "Hurricane Katrina: God's Punishment for a 'Wicked' City?" points out that the hurricane occurred before the parade and that the French Quarter was one of the least devastated parts of the city.
was falsely credited with having asserted that God sent Hurricane Katrina as punishment for the selection of Ellen DeGeneres
to host the Emmy Awards. A Dateline Hollywood article satirically purported that Robertson had stated: "By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath.... Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?" Because Robertson had made similar pronouncements in the past, this was believed by many to be a factual report. Richard Dawkins
referred to this Dateline Hollywood article in his book, The God Delusion
, stating that Robertson "was reported as blaming the hurricane on a lesbian comedian who happened to live in New Orleans", and that although it was "unclear" whether the story was true, it was "widely believed, no doubt because it is entirely typical of utterances by evangelical clergy, including Robertson, on disasters such as Katrina".
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, which killed 1,836 people, was sent as a divine retribution
Divine retribution
Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action.Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom.An example of divine retribution is the...
for the sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
s of New Orleans, or of the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, or for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a whole. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is a former mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Nagin gained international note in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the New Orleans area....
is said to have asserted in a speech on January 16, 2006, addressing the effects of Hurricane Katrina, "Surely God is mad at America". Various different reasons have been given for God's wrath. Some victims of the disaster also made attributions to supernatural causes, that they were being punished for their sins, or that God was testing them, or even that the event was "the work of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
."
Failure to support Israel
Ovadia YosefOvadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
, a prominent ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi, declared that Hurricane Katrina to be "God's punishment for President Bush's support of the August 2005 withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip". He added that black people died because they did not study the Torah:
There was a tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
and there are terrible natural disasters, because there isn’t enough Torah study... Black people reside there [New Orleans]. Blacks will study the Torah? [God said], Let’s bring a tsunami and drown them... Hundreds of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thousands have been killed. All of this because they have no God... Bush was behind the [expulsion of] Gush Katif, he encouraged Sharon to expel Gush Katif... We had 15,000 people expelled here [in Israel], and there [in America] 150,000 [were expelled]. It was God's retribution. God does not short-change anyone.
The Jerusalem Newswire, a Christian Zionist online news service, ran an editorial headlined "Katrina— The Fist of God?"
stating:
For six days thousands of weeping people were pulled and carried from their homes. While this was taking place, a small tropical depression was forming near the Bahamas.... That small depression had turned into a frightening fiend.... Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who believe in the God of the Bible.... The Bible talks about Him shaking his fist over bodies of water and striking them. While the "disengagement" plan was purportedly the brainchild of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the United States of America has for more than a decade been the chief sponsor and propeller of a diplomatic process that has dangerously weakened Israel... the Sharon disengagement plan was something that was forced on Israel, primarily by the United States.
This was echoed shortly thereafter by the Jerusalem based Christian Friends of Israel, which wrote, "we know that God only disciplines his own. Perhaps there are enough good men left in the United States that God thinks it worthwhile to send an occasional reminder not to tamper with the Land that He calls His own".
Evangelical Jack Chick
Jack Chick
Jack Thomas Chick is an American publisher, writer, and comic book artist of fundamentalist Christian tracts and comic books...
produced a chick tract
Chick tract
Chick tracts are short evangelical-themed tracts created by American publisher Jack Chick. Chick tracts use a comic book format. They are often controversial for their enthusiastic endorsement of fundamentalist Christianity and condemnation of ecumenical, liberal, and prosperity Christians, the...
entitled Somebody Angry? which also explained the hurricane as a sign of God's wrath over US pressure on Israel.
Attacks on Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda in IraqAl-Qaeda in Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a popular name for the Iraqi division of the international Salafi jihadi militant organization al-Qaeda. It is recognized as a part of the greater Iraqi insurgency....
declared of the hurricane that "God attacked America, and the prayers of the oppressed were answered".
Racism
Minister Louis FarrakhanLouis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
asserted that Hurricane Katrina was "God's way of punishing America for its warmongering and racism". Said Farrakhan, "Maybe God ain't pleased. Maybe this caste system that pits us against each other has to be destroyed and something new and better put in its place."
Sexual immorality and abortion
Less than two weeks after the Hurricane, Pat RobertsonPat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
implied on the September 12th broadcast of The 700 Club
The 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
that the Hurricane was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that 9/11 and the disaster in New Orleans "could... be connected in some way".
Steve Lefemine expressed a similar view, stating that "In my belief, God judged New Orleans for the sin of shedding innocent blood through abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.... Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.... Greater divine judgment is coming upon America unless we repent of the national sin of abortion." (article originally from the Washington Post, as carried on the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
site, also reposted on the ExChristian.net site)
Gerhard Maria Wagner
Gerhard Maria Wagner
Gerhard Maria Wagner — born 1954 July 17, Wartberg ob der Aist, Austria—was appointed auxiliary bishop of Linz, Austria, by Pope Benedict XVI on 2009 January 31...
, briefly an auxiliary bishop of Linz
Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz
The Diocese of Linz is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria.-Early history:In the early Middle Ages the greater part of the territory of the present Diocese of Linz was subject to the bishops of Lauriacum ; at a later date it formed part of the great Diocese of Passau, which extended...
, attributed Hurricane Katrina to God's ire caused by the town's reputation for lax sexual behavior, claiming that the hurricane destroyed brothels, nightclubs and abortion clinics: "It's no coincidence that in New Orleans all five abortion clinics as well as night clubs were destroyed.". James Gill
James Gill (columnist)
-Background:James Gill is a graduate of the University of Liverpool who emigrated to the United States in 1977. Since 1986 he has been a columnist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Times-Picayune columns:...
, columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, satirically called for the Pope next to elevate Wagner as Archbishop of New Orleans after protests from Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in three New Orleans congregations over the merging of their churches by aging Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes
Alfred Clifton Hughes
Alfred Clifton Hughes is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the 13th Archbishop of New Orleans, having previously served as Bishop of Baton Rouge from 1993 to 2002. On June 12, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Gregory M...
. The churches had been depopulated in part by out-migration resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Elevated by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
on January 31, 2009, Wagner resigned on February 15, 2009 amidst criticism, in part over his views of Hurricane Katrina.
American evangelist John Hagee
John Hagee
John Charles Hagee is an American founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational charismatic megachurch with more than 19,000 active members...
linked the hurricane to a gay pride event known as "Southern Decadence Day
Southern Decadence
Southern Decadence is a week-long, predominantly gay-male event held in New Orleans, Louisiana and its environs by the gay and lesbian community during Labor Day Weekend, climaxing with a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day...
", which was to have been held in the town's French Quarter a few days after the hurricane hit. He said in 2006, "I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were — recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
came." However, on April 25, 2008, Hagee backed away from his comments regarding Hurricane Katrina by saying, "But ultimately neither I nor any other person can know the mind of God concerning Hurricane Katrina. I should not have suggested otherwise." In rebuttal, About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
's "Urban Legends and Folklore" section entitled "Hurricane Katrina: God's Punishment for a 'Wicked' City?" points out that the hurricane occurred before the parade and that the French Quarter was one of the least devastated parts of the city.
False claim of assertion by Pat Robertson
Evangelist Pat RobertsonPat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
was falsely credited with having asserted that God sent Hurricane Katrina as punishment for the selection of Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
to host the Emmy Awards. A Dateline Hollywood article satirically purported that Robertson had stated: "By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath.... Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?" Because Robertson had made similar pronouncements in the past, this was believed by many to be a factual report. Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
referred to this Dateline Hollywood article in his book, The God Delusion
The God Delusion
The God Delusion is a 2006 bestselling non-fiction book by British biologist Richard Dawkins, professorial fellow of New College, Oxford, and inaugural holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford.In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that...
, stating that Robertson "was reported as blaming the hurricane on a lesbian comedian who happened to live in New Orleans", and that although it was "unclear" whether the story was true, it was "widely believed, no doubt because it is entirely typical of utterances by evangelical clergy, including Robertson, on disasters such as Katrina".