Wednesday, August 31, 2005

 

hurricane vs tsunami

I'm having problems with some of what's being said about the hurricane (Katrina) that's just hit New Orleans, Biloxi, and other parts of Louisana and Mississippi. It's a terrible tragedy, and the cultural damage that may accrue from the loss of an important heritage site is considerable, but the mayor of one of the affected towns/cities has been quoted as saying "it's our tsunami". He's clearly referring to the devastating tsunami that hit southeast Asia on Boxing Day last year (the "Asian Tsunami"), and, in many ways, you can see the comparisons. There's been huge damage, many deaths, it was a natural disaster, and it came from the sea. But there the comparisons end, really. The Asian Tsunami was unexpected (and although the damaged areas of the US were larger than forecast, the hurricane was closely tracked for days beforehand), people couldn't avoid it (at least a number of the casualties in the US, I expect, were from people who refused to heed the warnings to leave), the US is a rich country, with vast resources to rebuild, and, most of all, although hundreds died in the hurricane, this is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands who died in Asia.

This doesn't mean that I feel any less bad for those who have suffered, been bereaved, been injured, been wounded or had their lives turned upside down by the hurricane, and I pray, and will continue to pray, for them. There's a danger that given how close the US is to the UK in many ways, that it's easier to empathise with those in the US than in Asia, but any empathy is better than none, and I'm not sure that you should (or even could) quantify empathy.

On the other hand, to turn it in a different direction, there really can't be any quantification of loss. The loss of a single life is a tragedy, whether that's in the US, in Europe, in Asia or wherever. From a Christian point of view, I (we) should mourn every death, the more so when there is human agency. The pain of each person in Asia is as strong as each person in the US, and I'm sure that God feels there pain, each and every one, and that numbers don't matter to God. I don't want to go into the classic questions around "why does God allow things like this to happen in the world?" Partly because it demeans God, but partly because it demeans the tragedies at the same time. And partly because I don't have the inclination or theology to go there right at the moment, if I'm honest.

Rather sleepy today: too much waking up, Jo very awake at 6am.

Listened to some of my favourite music today: Lassus' Missa Bel' Amfitrit Altera (I think I've got it right here, and it's wrong below...

Music Today


# posted by MikeCamel @ 6:36 pm
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