By. Rev. Barbara ReynoldsNNPA Columnist
Could a massive tsunami ever hit America, a nation under God, with the most sophisticated early warning and defense systems on the planet?The inauguration was an overriding reminder of the power and glory of an America who speaks the language of the godly. Amid prayers and the thunder of fireworks, President Bush implied that America had been anointed high priest of the universe with the duty to bless people with democracy even if we have to blow up their citizens and country to do so. With all our power and piety would a tsunami dare touch down on our turf, the greatest superpower on Earth? Maybe not, but when you look closer at what might have precipitated this Red Sea-like tidal wave a good question is why not America? We may be more powerful, but are we godlier than the victims in Asia, who are predominately Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist? And does godliness or even goodness have anything to do with one of the world’s most recent devastating disasters? Along India’s coastline, villagers worship and offer sacrifices to many gods and goddesses; some of them who they believe have power over the seas. Opposition to Christians evangelizing is so high that a controversial anti-conversion bill was passed in 2002. Although some Hindu leaders have looked at the calamity as a reaction to “evil gaining ground,” most reject the idea of a wrathful God who would cause the death of innocent children.In Sri Lanka and Thailand along coastline Buddhists, where the most devastation occurred, there is also a hodgepodge of weather gods being worshipped. In Indonesia, which houses the largest population of Muslims in the world, many survivors are undergoing self-examination regarding the internecine war among Muslim tribesmen. A Roman Catholic priest in Colombo, Indonesia cast the blame wider, “This is a punishment from God because everybody is leading a wretched life, said the Rev. Lucian Dep. “All of us are to be blamed for the tsunami. There is no sense of modesty of religiosity anymore. People have gone far away from God,” In the USA, many Christian pastors echo a similar refrain as Dep. When people practice evil, they break their covenant relationship with God who controls everything that was ever created, including the waters.The Bible is full of references showing God creating and controlling the elements and ordering famines and other natural disasters to punish evildoers. In the 38th chapter of Job, God speaks about how He laid the foundation of the Earth and tells the waters when they can go no further. Also in the book of Luke, Jesus successfully orders a stormy sea, “Peace Be Still.” It is undeniable that God speaks through the elements. “God has given believers dominion over the elements, but if we are not in covenant relationship with Him, it doesn’t apply, says Pastor Carmen Lattimore of Victory Church International in Fort Washington, Md. Pastor Lattimore is an international evangelist and president of the Five-Fold Development Institute, which trains ministers for evangelism and missions.”In some of the Southeast Asian countries, they worship water spirits and bow down and offer sacrifices to the gods of the sea. Some of these deities require human sacrifices. It is possible that those elemental deities came ashore to take their sacrifices.” To dramatize the distinction between the difference between how water is viewed as a sacred symbol of the Holy Spirit in Christianity and some Eastern religions, Lattimore, says, “we use water symbolically to baptize, but we do not worship the creation more than the creator.” So should we add tsunamis to our growing list of things to worry about in such a nation where many of the nation’s leaders use godly language and symbols to demonstrate their piety?Lattimore believes we have cause to worry. “In this country, we are heading in the wrong direction. As we move more deeply into paganism, we could lose the covenant relationship we have with God. As we move away from God, we lose his protection. And as we move toward the End times, we will see more natural disasters, such as earthquakes in diverse places, such as at the bottom of the sea, which set off the tsunami,” Lattimore predicts.Lattimore thinks this “One Nation under God” is moving toward paganism, a term describing the worship of many gods, sensuality, and material and obsessive wealth. “There is a creeping paganism and fascination with the occult, as reflected in Hollywood’s popularizing wizardry in Harry Potter movies, the television series Charmed, and our pop-cultural obsession with body piercing and drinking blood (vampires and werewolves). Likewise, I can’t see God being pleased with our performing Eastern mystical meditation and/or African ancestor worship rituals, because they address and invoke pagan deities and spirits of the dead. The Holy Scriptures call these things ‘abominations’ and warn of curses befalling peoples and nations practicing such religions.”Furthermore, I believe there is something wrong with the nation’s leaders calling on God to Bless America, while bombing innocent people in Iraq and giving tax breaks to the rich, while denying health care for the working poor. With that kind of behavior at the top, I would never bet on a tsunami or worse not happening in America.
