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doodle
05-08-2011, 12:55 PM
To avoid any religionization of this discussion, this is a political news thread and not about God's hand controlling these events or not ( there is discussion in Religion section already for that).

There has not been much talk of Obama's handling of relief effort following Tornadoe onslaught that killed over 350 Americans last week. Do you think Obama administration dealt with this natural disaster properly?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/07/us-weather-tornadoes-churches-idUSTRE74625R20110507




In tornado-ravaged Bible Belt, churches mobilize to help

By Verna Gates

BIRMINGHAM, Ala | Sat May 7, 2011 7:28pm EDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala (Reuters) - The call for help came the morning after a killer tornado pulverized a section of Birmingham 10 days ago. Gordon Smelley and his "chainsaw gang" of 11 from the First Baptist Church in Clanton, Alabama started their trailer and headed out.

"I don't have a lot of money to give, but I can give a few hours work to help people the best way I can," said Smelley, 72, a retired electrician for the Alabama Power Company.

Some trailers open out into "feeding units," such as one maintained by the Baptist denomination that is a 53-foot semi-truck and can issue 25,000 meals a day.

Other units include a shower and laundry truck, emergency child-care trucks, supply trucks, and tool trucks like the chainsaw trailers, according to Keith Hinson, spokesperson for Baptist Disaster Relief. Several warehouses store the trailers packed with supplies and equipment.

"Katrina was the catalyst for us to become more prepared for emergencies," Danette Clifton, spokeswoman for the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, said of the 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans and other parts of the South.

Religion is more deeply rooted in the American South than any other region of the country. The two states hardest hit by the recent tornadoes, Mississippi and Alabama, ranked No. 1 and 2 among the states in the importance of religion to residents, according to a 2009 survey by the Pew Research center.

Some 82 percent of people in Mississippi said religion was very important to their lives and 74 percent in Alabama.

While the South is known for white Evangelical Christians such as the Baptists, it also has a diverse range of churches from mainstream Protestants and black Protestant churches to a growing number of Catholics and even non-Christian religions.

Volunteers such as Smelley train extensively for their roles in emergencies. He spent several days in classes at the Alabama Baptist Board of Missions State Conference.

Sola_Fide
05-08-2011, 01:06 PM
This is the wonder and effectiviess of the christian churches and the brothers and sisters in Christ.

We don't need the force of government intrusion when we have the Spirit of God working in the churches through all kinds of acts of love and charity.

Just imagine how much closer the brothers and sisters are going to be after working together to calm this tragedy.

God sometimes brings hardships to remind us of how much we need Him and eachother.

doodle
05-08-2011, 01:41 PM
This is the wonder and effectiviess of the christian churches and the brothers and sisters in Christ.

We don't need the force of government intrusion when we have the Spirit of God working in the churches through all kinds of acts of love and charity.

Just imagine how much closer the brothers and sisters are going to be after working together to calm this tragedy.



Interesting point you make about local Christian community's readiness and support network's role in dealing with natural disaster like this. Hopefully you're not arguing that that woulfd suffice always as not all disasters are created equal. But your point is with merit to an extent.


God sometimes brings hardships to remind us of how much we need Him and eachother.

I'm going to pass comment on this for fear of sparking a God discussion. Luckily I'm not but hypothetically if I were God, I'd probably use some other communication methods for sending out reminders :) But then again, God's wisdom is infinite and dwarfs limited human understanding of things.

kah13176
05-08-2011, 01:55 PM
Obama administration shouldn't do a damn thing. Federal government fucks up everything it touches.

acptulsa
05-08-2011, 01:58 PM
Interesting point you make about local Christian community's readiness and support network's role in dealing with natural disaster like this. Hopefully you're not arguing that that woulfd suffice always as not all disasters are created equal. But your point is with merit to an extent.

To some degree you're right; tornadoes cut a swath up to a mile wide through a town while earthquakes or hurricanes are liable to destroy the whole community. Doesn't leave many people in a position to be generous.

That said, the prevailing attitude in the Buckle of the Bible Belt and the Original Tornado Alley was succinctly summed up by kah13176 above.