| Thursday, September 01, 2005 |
| Where is the religious right? |
This would be a good time for the religious right to show God's people in action, reaching out to Katrina's victims. So what are the big wigs on the right doing?
Focus on the Family has posted a handy guide to squaring disaster-related anxiety with the Bible...
The Christian Coalition is taking online prayer requests, which is always helpful...
There's better news from Agape Press, which reports on the efforts of Baptist and other groups to attempt to help, although the help might come with a twist:
The chairman of the Christian Emergency Network says Christians are uniquely prepared to help hurricane victims. Since Katrina made landfall, Mary Marr says her organization has sent numerous alerts through its website, encouraging believers to shine the light of Christ during the aftermath of the disaster.
Marr says believers can help out -- without being on site. "I would not recommend going to that area at all because you can actually do more harm by getting in the way of those people who are trying to do their jobs," Marr says.
"And I would also not recommend sending items to organizations unless they specifically address that need, because sometimes they can spend more time trying to distribute the things that they do not need, or remove them or get rid of them, and it actually takes away from their time."
So how can Christians help out? Marr encourages them to donate to ministries involved in recovery and rebuilding efforts, to pray for victims and emergency personnel, and to share the love of Christ during this time of tragedy. Tony Perkins, who is from Louisiana, and who frankly is a lot more savvy than the others, has a more robust offering on the Family Research Council's website, including links to relief agencies and a full description of relief efforts the Council supports.
I was almost scared to see what Pat Robertson's outfit over at the CBN had to say, but must admit they have a decent offering of news and links. For some reason, I'd be a bit wary, however, of giving money to CBN's "Operation Blessing," I have to admit...
On a more local level, churches around the country are in fact pitching in. SFGate reports on Black churches in the Bay area who are reaching out, in some cases to Katrina victims with whom they have strong ties.
I'm a Christian, by the way, and I think it's great that churches are pitching in to help. Prayer is a wonderful thing, but the people in Louisiana and Mississippi could use something more substantial... those who are giving it are to be commended. |
posted by JReid @ 12:39 PM   |
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