Picking up where Falwell left off

With the death of Jerry Falwell a few months ago, I was hoping that I'd get a brief reprieve from having to read and listen to these religious fanatics. Those hopes weren't answered, however, since a reverend by the name of John Hagee has made headlines. Hagee is the founder of a group called Christians United for Israel. This group doesn't benignly support Israel, but rather focuses that support in a theological way, rather than the geopolitical kind we've come to expect. It's the belief of Hagee and the CUI that the Rapture will occur someday. That's when Jesus Christ reemerges and sends the souls of Christians up to heaven, and the rest of us are "left behind" to face a potentially ruinous fate. The "rest of us" include the Jews who live in Israel. One of the conditions for the Rapture to happen is to ensure the state of Israel. It's a little more complicated than that, possibly a lot more, but I freely admit I'm not too informed on religion.

Anyway, I'm kind of getting away from why I blogged. Hagee had this to say on NPR last year (TG is Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air):

TG: I just want to ask you one question, based on one of your sermons, and this is not about Israel -- you said after Hurricane Katrina, that it was an act of God, and you said when you violate God's will long enough, the judgment of God comes to you. Katrina is an act of God for a society that is becoming Sodom and Gomorrah re-born.

Do you still believe that Katrina is punishment from God for a society that is becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah?

JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.

The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.

So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

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For those of you who follow the news closely, and in particular around 9/11, you might know that Jerry Falwell blamed America for 9/11 and said that we deserved it because we allow abortion rights and homosexuals to co-exist with us. Hagee is picking up where he left off by blaming New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina. What astounds me, really beyond belief, is when the right-wingers out there say that Hillary Clinton hates America, or Michael Moore hates America, or this guy hates America, etc. Yet these people on the religious right end of the spectrum BLAME us, this country, for events like 9/11 and Katrina. Directly blame us, and say that we deserved it. Why aren't they ever accused of hating America?