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September 01, 2005
"The War of the Worlds" and Katrina: How We React in a Crisis
Various Comments
On the Christian Walk,
Politics, and Culture
By Cindy Tucker
“The War of the Worlds” and Katrina: How We React in a Crisis- Fantasy vs. Reality
In addition to his many gifts, Steven Spielberg has the gift of prophecy. As my family viewed the tragic plight of New Orleans residents and tourists making the relentless trek down Hwy 10 in hopes of getting out of danger, it looked eerily familiar. It was scenes from “The War of the Worlds” reenacted, yet this was no act. This was really happening.
In the movie, based on the book by H.G. Wells, aliens attack the earth without warning, immediately killing and destroying everything in their path. Their pursuit is relentless. Every time the viewer thinks the main characters might be safe (at least momentarily), the aliens are back.
Although we had been warned of Katrina and where she might hit, she came quicker and more powerful than any one could imagine. And for New Orleans, after the initial hit, the worst scenario played out. Levees broke. People who had banked their lives on the worst not happening, or those who could not flee, were trapped. Just as in the movie, droves of people kept climbing higher, or walking to get away from a danger which keeps growing and growing. Just as in the movie, we have seen people loot in desperation and others steal to make a profit off the misery of others.
In a fantastic movie that Spielberg made very realistic by focusing on the human element and family relationships, he left out a very important component that plays a central role in the lives of those affected by and in the midst of disaster. That is the role of God.
The only time we hear the name of God invoked in the movie is to curse his name. The world is falling apart, people dying worldwide, yet there is no seeking the help of a higher power. What a fantasy! In real life, when it seems the world is falling apart, we do seek God. Most of us realize there is Someone beyond ourselves and that only He can fix things. We saw this in 9/11 and we see it in Katrina. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineoux Blanco declared Aug. 31 a day of prayer, and rightly so. We have heard dozens of testimonies of lives saved and people who have lost everything thankful to be alive. We have heard those missing loved ones asking for prayer. We are seeing people of faith trusting God to get them through this catastrophe and thousand of others doing what they can to help.
We don’t know why this happened or what caused this. We can fault global warning or poorly built levees or bad planning. We can judge those who didn’t get out and didn’t heed warnings to evacuate. We can refuse to help many because the actions of a few thugs sicken us. We can blame the president, Haley Barbour, or environmental wackos. All of this pointless and counterproductive.
Let us as a nation come together, pitch in and help, whether it be through your place of faith or civic organization. Let us trust that somehow an Almighty God can bring some good out of this. And, brothers and sisters, let us pray.
Posted by fraubleuler at September 1, 2005 10:19 AM
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