Judgment on Louisiana?

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be the worst man-caused environmental disaster in human history. Coming just a few years after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage in the same area, it makes us think. Is God punishing Louisiana, or New Orleans? (or Haiti?)

Maybe. But maybe not.

Here's what Jesus said in Luke 13:

13:1 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  2 Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?  3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.  4 Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?  5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” (From the World English Bible, which is Public Domain, so I can quote from it freely. It is also more easily understandable than the King James. Other versions, including the KJV, say essentially the same thing in this passage.)

Jesus explicitly said, for both a man-caused disaster, and a gravity-caused one, that the people who died were no worse than the rest of us.

I have no doubt that there was evil in Haiti, or New Orleans. But there is evil in my own state, too. God doesn't like any of it. I have been to Las Vegas once (that was enough). I found flyers, advertising the services of "entertainers" (prostitutes) openly everywhere, including being shoved under our motel room's door. The portion of the Yellow Pages taken up by "entertainers" was as large as any other section of the phone book. Apparently, they were classified, by age, race, and, perhaps, by other attributes. And, I understand, this sort of thing has been going on in Las Vegas for years. God didn't strike them with any disasters that made the news back 5 to 25 years ago. And prostitution wasn't the only wide-spread sin problem in Las Vegas.

Besides, the blame for the Gulf Oil Spill should be spread around pretty thickly. BP is from the United Kingdom. Their previous planning for problems was, well, a disaster. The branch of the US government that was supposed to regulate their activity didn't do what they should have done. And we, most of us, anyway, are using energy like there was no tomorrow and were no consequences. I am partly responsible for the Gulf Oil Spill. You probably are, too.

Thank God, God is merciful, when we deserve justice. My own town, my own family, I, myself, deserve to be eternally punished for my sin. God provided a sacrifice for that sin. Whether we live in New Orleans, Moscow, or Walla Walla, God could justly send a disaster. He could also allow a disaster. But He usually doesn't.

God help the people of the Gulf area, and all of us, in all the ways He wants to.