God strikes mayor of New Orleans with dementia

That can be the only explanation for C. Ray Nagin's suggestion that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were a sign that God was mad at America for the Iraq war and problems in the African American community.

"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin said. "Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."

You know, I understand the man is under stress, but it's time for religious people (much less politicians) to stop using this explanation for natural disasters. I can hear every atheist saying, "See, I told you religion is insane. Those people worship a homicidal maniac." And, along with Pat Robertson's God-gave-Ariel-Sharon-a-stroke remark (for which he apologized after Israel threatened to put the brakes on an evangelical tourist center in Israel), I pity anyone struggling with faith. This would certainly put them over the edge.

There's no doubt it's hard to reconcile this big bad world with a great good God supposedly in control of things, but someone has to come to God's defense. God is not some cosmic bully or an absentee landlord. For my part, I believe God to be profoundly present with those who suffer these catastrophes--hell, I think God suffers right along with us, dies in every drowned child, feels abandoned in every elderly person left to fend for themselves. We are, after all, made in God's image and likeness.

But I would rather go to hell than live in eternity with a God who drowns black children because of the sins of their parents (or their elected officials), or destroys people's homes because of all the sinning going on in the French Quarter (or in Washington, D.C. for that matter). Or drowns 250,000 South Asians with a gigantic tidal wave for God knows what reason. Or abandons countless women and children in Darfur to rape and murder by marauding bands. Or strikes millions of African babies with HIV and AIDS to make a point about sexual morality. That God is insane.

And I ask you: Where are the ministers, the preachers, the theologians who all know there is another way to deal theologically with disasters like these. Isn't there one Catholic bishop who will say, "God, who loves you more than anything, who has inscribed you on the palms of God's hands, would never, ever, ever, bring you harm." Or even, "God is grieving with you, suffers in you, weeps with you." Why can't we just admit that sometimes we have no f-ing idea "why" things like this happen; maybe God can't do a single thing about it. (And, of course, it's always easier to blame God than to acknowledge the part we play through our mad consumption of the planet and destruction of its resources.)

What the hell is the Incarnation all about if not to assure us that Emmanuel, God-with-us, whom we just celebrated at Christmas, is with us always, even in this sometimes terrible, beyond terrible, mess.

Mayor Nagin, I'm terribly sorry for your loss. But please don't say another word to a reporter about the part you think God had in all this. Though I'm sure you get a pass in the circumstances, it's best not to take God's name in vain.