New Orleans Mayor Says God Mad at U.S.
I cannot put in words how offended I am regarding the comments of mayor Nagin.
Can you imagine the public outrage if Jesse “The Body” Ventura said that Minnesota should be a vanilla state, and that we only need to bring to an end the white on white violence. Never mind the white on black violence. Violence that crosses racial boundaries does not seem to be important enough for Nagin to mention.
Shouldn’t a leader of a community speak out against violence in any form and welcome all New Orleans residents back?
And don’t even get me started on the biblical retribution reference…
January 18th, 2006
I’d really like to read the full text of Mayor Nagin’s speech. The quotes pique my interest but not enough to seek out the text. My first response to the article is that Pat Robertson finally has a suitable partner for a sitcom. I would not be quite as concerned about the mayor’s comments were he not mayor of the entire city, rather than mayor of one ethnic group. Since each group does not have its own mayor, he really would do better to avoid such isolating and telling opinions when he speaks as mayor of the entire city.
I’ll grant you he has had quite a lot on his plate the past several months, as if governing a city like New Orleans isn’t a lot of work, which one assumes it was if the mayor was doing his job. Despite this full plate, he should not say things that divide and play on fears. I really wonder who he was trying to please with his comments. Generally, politicians say things that they think will please particular audiences, even if they never follow through on those things. They know how short the memories of voters are.
Using the Christian bible for justifying and condemning has a long and colorful history. If you’re interested, I strongly recommend reading, “The Bible Tells Me So : Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture” by Jim Hill, Rand Cheadle.
You might also enjoy http://www.godhatesshrimp.com, which parodies http://www.godhatesfags.com . These are excellent sites to cite as examples of using that book to justify behavior.
January 18th, 2006
This link to the video of the press conference is currently active. It is here in real player format. I just searched google for “nagin speech video”…
I personally recommend GodHatesShrimp.com to most of my friends who present quotes from the ten commandments. ;-)
January 18th, 2006
I sat around with some folks a few weeks ago and brought out a King James Bible to reference Leviticus and some related texts. We laughed till we cried. We never did figure out what a rock badger is, but they are not something Jehovah wants people to eat, if Leviticus is any guide.
Thanks for the info. I’ll see if I can get it to play with the crappy RealPlayer I’ve got for this Linux.
January 19th, 2006
I’m still trying to figure out the God retribution statement. Wouldn’t it make more sense that God hates New Orleans instead of God doesn’t approve of the US involvement in Iraq? Wouldn’t he do something to DC to show his disapproval for Federal Government policy?
If Nagin has faith that this is biblical retribution then he should accept the fact that God hated new orleans and as such it should never be returned to it’s original form or God will smite them again… I’m not sure if my taxes can bear that again…
January 19th, 2006
Rational, logical thought and faith are mutually exclusive. The former requires critical thinking about ideas, evidence, and it, an open society, is always open to re-examination when new evidence or ideas come to light. The latter requires only acceptance. Any time I see an adherent of faith mention the object of that faith as a point of substance in discussion, I lose interest because the faithful tend to have no argument aside from the fact of their faith.
When I was involved in Birmingham, AL politics, espeically those having to do with schools, there was a persistent circle of folks who insisted all ills within the schools were the result of prayer being removed from the schools. They offered no explanation to support their position, continuing only to parrot the same words over and over again. This example exists elsewhere in various forms around the US. In my view, it represents a bankrupt, simple mind, incapable or unwilling to consider that real problems are often complex and require complex solutions. In my first years of elementary school, guided prayer and bible study had been ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. However, the school I attended in Mobile, AL had some teachers who persisted with these practices each day during school. I refused to participate because, being raised as a Jew, I’d been told that Jesus was a false messiah, and as such, it would be wrong for me to pray to him or in his name. I also had been taught that the New Testament was false. The teacher’s response to my refusal, and request to sit quietly while the students who wished to participate did so, was to be chastised, removed from the classroom, and paddled each day. As you might guess, this made a very strong impression on my views about faith and religion. The principal refused to intervene. My parents refused to intervene. After their refusals, I decided to quietly accept my lot until the end of that school year. I was promoted to the next grade and my new teacher allowed me to sit quietly while she promoted her particular religious faith to my classmates. Fortunately, in subsequent years, the practice disappeared in my classrooms.
The point of this long anecdotal post is to reinforce, at least anecdotally, that faith can and is used to justify all manner of speech and behavior. It is not rational or logical, per se. Faith has been and is often used as a cover or excuse for all manner of premeditated speech & behavior. One example is The Spanish Inquisition. Another is The Crusades. Lest anyone think I’m picking on Christians, heaven forbid, history is loaded with examples of adherents of other faiths behaving in the same manner. Mayor Nagin, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and the many others who’ve used faith to push an agenda or excuse hateful, violent speech and behavior are merely following a long standing tradition. There is no sense to be made of it. Don’t hurt your brain trying to make sense of it.
February 3rd, 2006
The new link for video is here…
February 3rd, 2006
Or try this link