Tornadoes, Theodicy & Some Leading Baptists

When I first became a Christian, I was part of the Southern Baptist denomination. The Sr. Minister took me to his Southern Baptist alma mater when I was visiting colleges and he strongly advised me to go there. I declined. When I went outside of the denomination's selected schools, my home (Baptist) Church would not help me like they helped Baptist college students; oh well. I love the Baptist Church. It is where I laid down my roots and got excited about Christianity. But, I must say, I'm not too excited about some of the leading Southern Baptists these days.

My disinterest in these leaders has mainly to do with what they say about natural disasters. Take Franklin Graham, for instance, a leading voice among Baptists. He was one of the first to suggest that when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, that God sent it. Moreover, God sent it because those places were sinful and needed wiped out and cleansed. This is patently absurd!

I might clarify myself here. I said that my disinterest in these leaders had to do with what they say on natural disasters. Well, it also has to do with what they do not say. Take, for example, the recent tornado strike on Union, a Baptist affiliated school. Why did Mr. Graham not rush to the televisions and say, "God sent it because you're all heathen"? I'll tell you why. Graham didn't do that because these are Baptists. To condemn them and incite them is to condemn and incite himself and his party. This, my friends, is sheer Hypocrisy with a captial "H".

I was going to mention some other folks who could be paired with Mr. Graham but I'm going to abstain. When it comes to things like tornadoes, theodicy and some leading Baptists, I think consistency is needed. Mr. Graham, be consistent. You other leaders, be consistent. And here's how you can do that: Quit making the inept and hypocritical statements that you are! Otherwise, incite yourselves too! Oh yeah, and don't run from the eye of "hypocritcal" hurricane that is headed your way whenever an ugly storm surrounds you and your kindred.