A number of so-called religious conservatives like to explain away national tragedies — be they natural or man-made — through the lens of God’s wrath, or at least indirect punishment for “sins.” Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich blamed same-sex marriage for the 2008 economic crash. Former Sen. Rick Santorum blamed abortions for Social Security’s troubles.
One of the all-time classic remarks came from John Hagee, pastor of a megachurch in San Antonio, who famously said, “God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before.” So God didn’t “wipe out New Orleans” because of the “Girls Gone Wild: Mardi Gras Invasion” DVD that came out the same year Katrina hit. God didn’t punish the city for having a corrupt police department so well known for terrorizing citizens that the first sentence of a 2011 Department of Justice report read, “The NOPD has long been a troubled agency.” And God didn’t punish New Orleans for having hosted the largest slave market in the country. No, according to Hagee, God punished New Orleans with Katrina because drag queens were dancing on floats the week before.
It’s an interesting theology that conservative Christians like Hagee, Santorum and Gingrich espouse. They clearly have a period in mind in which they believe God was happier with the direction of the country, but our history makes it impossible to pinpoint a date without looking racist. So they tend to talk in nostalgic Judeo-Christian generalities. Like Sen. Ron Johnson, who recently said, “I think the solution is renewed faith,” as if there’s an agreed-upon faith or showing of that faith that we all should agree to return to.
