Michael Craven Christian Blog and Commentary

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Katrina: Barbarism and Trust in the Things of this World

The images and news coming out of New Orleans are heartbreaking and there is no question that the mass destruction and human suffering are overwhelming. Clearly there is much one can say about such an event, whether addressing questions of theodicy or the endless political commentary regarding the relief efforts and the "responsibility" of the Bush administration.

However, I was struck by two things; the level of barbarism and the modernistic expectation that human reason should be able to prevent or completely remedy the effects of a category 5 Hurricane.

Regarding barbarism we have witnessed a city on the verge of complete moral anarchy. In the days following Hurricane Katrina's rampage there have been reports of uncontrolled looting and lawlessness, rapes, murders, including reports of New Orleans police officers looting consumer items and walking off the job to "fend for themselves." Relief efforts have been hindered by snipers shooting at rescue helicopters and reports of areas controlled by "roving bands of armed men."

People around the New Orleans Convention Center reported that "There are bodies in the kitchen, babies (teen-agers) who had their throats slashed..." Women were threatened with death if they did not give up their "space" in the Superdome by some arriving refugees.

Janice Singleton, a worker at the Superdome, said she got stuck in the stadium when the storm hit. She said she was robbed of everything she had with her, including her shoes.

"They tore that dome apart," she said sadly. "They tore it down. Their taking everything out of there they can take."

Even when the National Guard arrived on the scene to deliver life-saving supplies, the Miami Herald reported that National Guardsmen with "automatic rifles locked and loaded, pulled into a chorus of cheers and boos."

There is no question that those stranded in New Orleans are desperate. However many of those in the media, who hold to a naturalistic worldview in which mankind is nothing more than a higher "evolved" animal, have reported on this behavior as being only natural for people in such circumstances.

They point to this chaos as almost a biologically predetermined result of such conditions. In doing so they have abandoned any sense of humanity in which society has historically expected human civility even in the face of great tragedy. In fact, it was historically considered that such civility was expected precisely because we were not animals but human beings made in the image of God and regardless of our circumstances we were still expected to comport ourselves with virtue.

If this is not the case then we can mitigate almost any act of violence or crime as being the natural result of undue stress or "extreme" conditions. Even in warfare we have certain expectations of conduct. War could be considered a "high stress" situation that may bring out the "animal" in us and yet we vigorously prosecute war criminals. Why, if we are only animals? Aren't such actions to be expected in system where the "fittest" are rewarded with survival?

Consequently, the media has seized these anarchical conditions to blame the President because, in their minds, it is the "condition" that has produced the unlawful behavior and not the moral choices of the persons involved. This sentiment only polarizes and politicizes a national tragedy when we should be uniting in our efforts to care for those devastated by Katrina. Paradoxically, if we are only animals why should we even care about those affected? Wouldn't Katrina simply be another mechanism for "natural selection?"

Secondly, Katrina demonstrates the pervasive influence of post-enlightenment, modernistic thinking. I have repeatedly heard comments in the news indicating disbelief in the fact that we, through technological means, could not prevent the death and destruction caused by this storm. This then provides the grounds upon which we immediately go looking for someone to blame. "Surely this could have been prevented if only someone had done their job." One NPR commentator remarked, "If we can put a man on the moon..." The implication being that technology and human reason are what we trust in and we cannot (or do not want to) believe that human reason is inadequate to save us.

The tragedy of Katrina is horrific but even greater is our alienation from God. Human reason is a gift from God which He expects us to use and whenever possible to mitigate the effects of The Fall inasmuch as we can. However, Katrina demonstrates once again the limitations of human reason and technology. Human reason cannot save humanity ultimately only Jesus Christ.

Katrina also demonstrates God's righteous judgment mingled with His gracious mercy. We are condemned creatures deserving of God's punishment - it is only His great patience and mercy that allows any of us to live and His grace that breathes new life into dead people. We should do all that we can to help those who are suffering and dying and we certainly weep for the dead but we all die. Therefore, we should repent of our rejection of the Creator in whose image we are made and of our trust in the things of this world and cry out to God for His great mercy.

© 2005 S. Michael Craven. All rights reserved.


S. Michael Craven is the vice president for religion & culture at the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families and leads the work and ministry of Cultural Apologetics. The Cultural Apologetics ministry works to equip the Church to assert and defend biblical morality and ethics in a manner that is rational, relevant and persuasive in order to recapture the relevance of Christianity to all of life by demonstrating its complete correspondence to reality. For more information on Cultural Apologetics, additional resources and other works by S. Michael Craven visit: www.CulturalApologetics.org

Michael lives in the Dallas area with his wife Carol and their three children.

Send feedback to: mc@nationalcoalition.org