--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Mike Dixon <mdixon.6...@...> wrote: > > No, I just rote the sines :-) >
Yes, I see... :-) > > > > ________________________________ > From: do.rflex <do.rf...@...> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sun, May 9, 2010 3:42:24 PM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Why Is God Smiting the Deep South? > >  > > > --- In FairfieldLife@ yahoogroups. com, Mike Dixon <mdixon.6569@ ...> wrote: > > > > Actually the reason is, so many damned yankees moving to the South to find > > jobs! > > > > Are you a teabagger, Mike? > > > ____________ _________ _________ __ > > From: do.rflex <do.rflex@ .> > > To: FairfieldLife@ yahoogroups. com > > Sent: Sun, May 9, 2010 10:06:57 AM > > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Why Is God Smiting the Deep South? > > > > à> > > > > > Why Is God Smiting the Deep South? > > > > Jon Ponder | May 3, 2010 > > > > > > ààààààWhen cataclysmic disasters strike, it usually > > doesn't take long for TV prophets like Pat Robertson, John Hagee and the > > late, unlamented Jerry Falwell to pronounce them portentous signs of God's > > wrath. Equally predictable: God's punishments are always closely aligned > > with the prophets' right-wing political views. > > It's notable then that with the biggest-ever oil slick bearing down on Gulf > > Coast beaches and a spate of deadly tornadoes and floods across the South > > over the past few weeks, interpreters of divine vengeance have been eerily > > quiet. > > Their silence is atypical. For example, within about 48 hours after 9/11, > > Robertson and Falwell were on the air expressing what appeared to be inside > > knowledge about who was really to blame for the terror attacks: > > JERRY FALWELL: [What] we saw on Tuesday [Sept. 11, 2001], as terrible as it > > is, could be minuscule if, in fact ââ¬" if, in fact ââ¬" God continues > > to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably > > what we deserve. > > >PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the > > >antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to > > >the major population. > > >FALWELL: The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this. > > >ROBERTSON: Well, yes. > > >FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God > > >out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God > > >out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to > > >bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we > > >destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really > > >believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the > > >gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative > > >lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way ââ¬" all of them who > > >have tried to secularize Americaââ¬"I point the finger in their face and > > >say "you helped this happen." > > After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Hagee declared that God killed > > 1,800 people and destroyed the region in order to prevent an annual gay > > event in New Orleans: > > HAGEE: In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that homosexual rally > > was sin. But it never happened. The rally never happened. > > >[Right-wing talk show host DENNIS PRAGER]: No, I understand. > > >HAGEE: It was scheduled that Monday. > > >PRAGER: No, I'm only trying to understand that in the case of New Orleans, > > >you do feel that God's hand was in it because of a sinful city? > > >HAGEE: That it was a city that was planning a sinful conduct, yes. > > God's plan worked perfectly, of course. The event was postponed. > > About a month after Katrina struck, Franklin Graham, the son of Billy > > Graham, blamed the victim: > > "This is one wicked city, okay? It's known for Mardi Gras, for Satan > > worship. It's known for sex perversion. It's known for every type of drugs > > and alcohol and the orgies and all of these things that go on down there in > > New Orleans ââ¬Â¦ There's been a black spiritual cloud over New Orleans > > for years. They believe God is going to use that storm to bring revival." > > If you doubt that the divine hand of providence is at work today in the > > oil-spill disaster, you need look no further than the fact that mighty > > winds are blowing the oil, not southward toward communist Cuba and Hugo > > Chavez' Venezuela, but north toward the shores of the most hidebound > > conservative Christian enclaves on the planet this side of Vatican City. > > Meanwhile, on April 24, as the oil spill disaster was building offshore, a > > series of tornadoes carved a swath of death and destruction right through > > the heart of the Bible Belt: > > A supercell thunderstorm produced F-4 and F-3 rated tornadoes that killed > > at least 12 people and sent many more to area hospitals. Yazoo City [Miss.] > > and Holmes County [Miss.] were among the hardest-hit areas, with a F-4 > > tornado bringing maximum winds of about 170 miles per hour. > > >[Gov. Haley Barbour, R- Miss.] has already activated the National Guard > > >and declared a state of emergency in 17 counties. He says the devastation > > >in his state is reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. The killer tornado > > >ââ¬Â¦ pulled up trees by the roots and destroyed businesses and homes. > > In Yazoo City, the twister even destroyed a Baptist Church: > > Dale Thrasher, 60, had been alone in Hillcrest Baptist Church when the > > tornado hit Saturday, ripping away wood and metal until all that was left > > was rubble, Thrasher and the table he had climbed under as he prayed for > > protection. > > >"The whole building caved in," he said. "But me and that table were still > > >there." > > And just today we learned that storms struck in northern Mississippi and > > Tennessee, killing 15 people and stranding visitors to no less a secular > > shrine to American Christian values than Opryland, where 1,500 guests had > > to be evacuated to a high school. > > And yet, despite all of this, those to whom God speaks are silent. What > > gives? Could it be that God has told His prophets an awful truth ââ¬" > > that He is directing His vengeance on the Deep South because His people > > have lost their way? > > It's worth considering. For one thing, leaders in the region have been > > struggling with the heinous sin of adultery lately. At least two, Gov. Mark > > Sanford (R-S.C.), former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), are associated with > > the Family, a powerful Christian pressure group in Washington. And then > > there's Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who, despite being an admitted > > frequenter of prostitutes, is apparently coasting to reelection this year, > > presumably with the votes of Republican Christians in his state. > > Or maybe God is punishing the Deep South, particularly the so-called "Black > > Belt" where slavery once predominated, for clinging to racism. While > > liberal churches have declared racism to be a sin, conservative Christians > > have been steadfastly silent on the issue, even though, as one liberal > > denomination has said, racism "destroys God's likeness in every person and > > thus repudiates creation and its goodness." > > Or could it be the tea party phenomenon that has angered the Almighty? The > > Bible warns against following false prophets ââ¬" which would describe > > the movement's leaders to, well, a "T." The movement was built on a > > foundation of lies about health care reform, including that it would > > institute death panels, that undocumented residents would be cared for, > > that abortions would be covered and that it would lead to a government > > takeover, for example. > > Perhaps God is angry because tea party leaders duped their Christian > > followers into going against Christ's call to care for the sick and feed > > the hungry ââ¬" to ignore teaching like this from Ezekiel 34:3-4: > > You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat > > ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, > > the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the > > strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with > > force and harshness you have ruled them. > > And then there is the tea baggers' sin of hypocrisy, which was summed up > > succinctly in a sign that read, "Don't Steal From Medicare to Support > > Socialized Medicine." Plus, there's the hypocrisy of elected officials like > > senators Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and > > Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and representatives Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), > > Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and the rest, who enjoy the benefits of socialized, > > government-run health plans but lied about reforms in order to deny access > > to healing to 45 million Americans. > > According to the Bible, these hypocrites are bound for hell, as detailed in > > Matthew 23:27-28: > > "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto > > whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full > > of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly > > appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and > > iniquity". > > It also has to be said that Southerners, especially those in the Deep > > South, are more guilty of the cardinal sin of gluttony than their fellow > > Americans. > > The modern-day Jeremiahs' silence is also odd since they have have not > > hesitated to declare manifestations of God's wrath in other recent > > disasters. > > Just last month, Hagee ascribed the volcano eruption in Iceland as a > > manifestation of God's anger over a minor change in British policies about > > advertising tourism in Israel: > > The day after Britain's Advertising Standards Authority said the Western > > Wall in Jerusalem could not be used in Israeli tourism ads in Britain > > because it is considered occupied territory, Hagee said, the volcano > > erupted, shutting down Britain's economy in one day. > > >"That's coincidence, like the flood was a coincidence. That's coincidence, > > >like the Red Sea was coincidence. That's coincidence, like the earthquake > > >and the Resurrection was coincidence, " Hagee told about 3,200 people at > > >Lancaster County [Penn.] Convention Center on Thursday night as part of > > >John Hagee Ministries' Rally and Prophecy Seminar. > > No less a sinner than Rush Limbaugh (gluttony, sloth, vainglory, pride, > > etc., etc.) declared that the volcano eruption was God's vengeance for the > > passage of health-care reform in the United States: > > You know, a couple of days after the health care bill had been signed into > > law Obama ran around all over the country saying, "Hey, you know, I'm > > looking around. The earth hadn't opened up. There's no Armageddon out > > there. The birds are still chirping." I think the earth has opened up. God > > may have replied. This volcano in Iceland has grounded more airplanes > > ââ¬" airspace has more affected ââ¬" than even after 9/11 because of > > this plume, because of this ash cloud over Northern and Western Europe. At > > the Paris airport they're telling people to head to the train station to > > catch trains out of France, and when people get to the train station > > they're telling people, "There aren't any seats until at least April 22nd," > > basically a week from now. It's got everybody in a shutdown. Earth has > > opened up. I don't know whether it's a rebirth or Armageddon. Hopefully > > it's a rebirth, God speaking. > > In January, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Pat Robertson > > relayed a message from above, declaring that the quake was caused by a deal > > struck with Satan over 200 years ago by Haitian slaves seeking to overthrow > > the island's French colonial government ââ¬" a deal they assumedly made > > after Jesus turned down a chance to free the slaves. > > Speaking of Robertson, no recounting of attributions of God's wrath can go > > without mentioning his prophetic blunder 12 years ago ââ¬" an act of > > hubris that ought to serve as an object lesson for those like Hagee, > > Franklin Graham, Limbaugh, Falwell and Robertson himself, who commit the > > sin Jesus decried when he said, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." > > In 1998, Robertson warned the residents of Orlando that God was sending a > > hurricane to wipe out their city, not because of anything they had done, > > per se, but because private groups not associated with the city were > > hosting annual "gay day" celebrations at nearby Disneyworld. > > But while Orlando went unsmited by storms that year, just a few months > > after Robertson warned of God's vengeance on Orange County, Hurricane > > Bonnie traveled up the East Coast, took aim at Robertson's own 700 Club > > compound at Virginia Beach and swept right through causing minor damage to > > the area. > > Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. > > http://www.pensitor eview.com/ 2010/05/03/ why-is-god- smiting-the- > > deep-south/ > > >