Posted on 01/17/2006 7:08:17 PM PST by Melissa 24
Reform Jewish Leader Responds to New Orleans Mayor Comments Linking God and Destruction from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
In response to the comments made by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin stating "Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement noting, “Mayor Nagin’s comments yesterday, suggesting that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck our land because, ‘God is mad at America’ are offensive, misguided, and perhaps even more to the point, a distraction at a time when our nation is trying to rebound and recover from these horrific natural disasters.” Contact: Alexis Rice or Jason Kleinman at202.387.2800
Washington - January 17, 2006 - In response to the comments made by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin stating "Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
The natural disasters that struck the Central Gulf Coast in 2005 were truly a tragedy. We mourn the loss of life, the separation of families, the destruction of homes and livelihoods and the continued dislocation of the hurricanes’ victims. We continue to pray for those who lost so much as they experience pain and suffering beyond what many of us could ever imagine.
Mayor Nagin’s comments yesterday, suggesting that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck our land because, “God is mad at America” are offensive, misguided, and perhaps even more to the point, a distraction at a time when our nation is trying to rebound and recover from these horrific natural disasters. Anyone – whether a rabbi in Israel, evangelical preachers in the United States, or the Mayor of New Orleans – who seeks to use the tragedy of the hurricanes to interpret the will of God does a disservice to the victims of the disaster, included among them so many people of faith. We must focus on rebuilding and improving the lives of those affected by the hurricanes and on learning how to mitigate the damage from future natural disasters, and not waste time or energy assigning blame in God’s name.
"We must focus on rebuilding and improving the lives of those affected by the hurricanes and on learning how to mitigate the damage from future natural disasters, and not waste time or energy assigning blame in God’s name."
No comment on Nagin's statement, but does God NOT send disasters???
He sure sent a lot of them in the Old Testament.
Nagin really is stuck on stupid. Between his interpreting God's will and Hillary talking about the plantation, it seems the dems are busily pushing common sense (not to mention any sense of good taste) right out the door.
And in other news, the sun rose in the east this morning, and water continues to flow downhill...
So Pat Robertson's not the only one going off the deep end with this vengeful god crap. Perhaps Nagin and Robertson can tell us what the tsunami victims did to earn his wrath. And the dinosaurs too... according to their logic it was he who flung that large asteroid at Chixulub, Mexico, 65 million years ago.
Yup...lunatics everywhere. spare me from these egomaniacs...hiding in a religious garb. Ugh!
If Pat Robertson said it would have been all over the MSM. In fact, whe Pat Robertson said things to that affect if was all over the MSM. Leftsist would never to make a fellow leftist look like an idiot. Especially since he is also a minority.
" Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement noting, “Mayor Nagin’s comments yesterday, suggesting that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck our land because, ‘God is mad at America’ are offensive, misguided..."
The Rabbi, an Orthodox Jew, is unfamiliar with the New Testament and the prophecies therein. Therefore, he cannot say for a fact that the mayor's comment was right or wrong. In my opinion the mayor was wrong...God is not mad at all of America, just those corrupted parts.
"So Pat Robertson's not the only one going off the deep end with this vengeful god crap."
The Bible tells us that our God is a vengeful God:
Isa. 34:8 "For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion."
Jer.. 50:15 referring to Babylon "Raise a shout against her round about, she has surrendered; her bulwarks have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her, do to her as she has done."
Rom. 12:19 "Beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
2Th. 1:7-8 "...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus."
maybe nagin has the same hotline to God that fred phelps & the WBC have. the people who say these things all seem to be wackos to me.
Mayor Ray Nagin
-----Racist idiot.
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