Nathanael D Snow

Here's another attempt at my Blame God stance, as submitted to world magazine in response to a colunmn by John Piper, a worthwhile read, at http://www.worldmag.com/johnpiper/ In response to John Piper's September 17th column, I propose a slightly different angle. Whereas Piper is careful to show how inappropriate it is for humans to attempt to hold God accountable, there is yet a more dangerous form of blame occurring in relation to Hurricane Katrina, blaming of government. Attribution for the scope of the disaster is repeatedly and emphatically cast upon a federal system that did not cause it and was never intended to be a response team to any kind of disaster save international invasion. What has happened in the minds of Americans is that we so much do not believe in God, and we so much have pledged our allegiance to our government, that we no longer blame God for what He alone could have done - or prevented. Popular concepts of...

Whom is to blame for the disaster after Katrina? I think it is ironic, and wrong, that so many are blaming the government rather than blaming God. It is as if people don't believe in God SO MUCH that they don't even cry out to Him when something goes wrong! Who do they cry out to? Their new god, government. Few would recognize government as their god, but that's how they treat it. Who is responsible to feed, clothe, water, house, educate, protect, and clean up after us? The government. Anathema! God is responsible or He is not soverign! We try so hard to make God a loving God that we rob Him of His divinity. What good does it do Him to be God if He can't act like it every now and then!?! I have also noticed many, and many Christians among them, asking what the government is going to do about... you fill in the blank. Wrong! The question is: what is the church going to do about it? When we ask the government to do our job we cease to be salt and light.