New Orleans: Saturated in Catholicism?
Here is a great article about the Catholic roots of New Orleans and the "sacramentality" of the city. To this writer, who grew up in a northern suburb, the city taught her how to be Catholic, the hyped-up pagan rituals giving only a superficial glimpse of city life. I have to admit, when I found out that "Katrina" is the Greek word for "purification," I originally thought it a creepy, but appropriate, name. This piece gives a different perspective - a way of seeing how God powerfully speaks to us through normal events and "cultural" Catholicism, especially in places like New Orleans.
posted by Becky @ 10:34 AM
5 Comments:
Stop the hate. So much hate. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.
"I originally thought it a creepy, but appropriate, name."
Becky, I hope that by "appropriate" you mean... um... well? I will give you the benefit of explaining how you meant that, because I really wouldn't classify Katrina as having a purifying effect on the region.
So that you don't have to speculate about what I really think, here's what I thought:
Like many other people, I (wrongly) speculated about Katrina "purifying" what is sometimes considered to be a city of debauchery. The purification would refer only to the fact that the city now has to "start over," it doesn't refer to anything else but the rebuilding process. I'm not saying that it's a good thing, I'm just saying that the first thing in my mind (besides the suffereing of countless people) was a picture of Noah's ark and God renewing his covenant to people through the flood after they fell into grave sin.
My admission is one of guilt: I thought it, and it wasn't appropriate. The article helped point this out to me.
Ah, very well. I won't hold that against you, for we all have inappropriate thoughts in certain situations (me included). Even if these thoughts are purely internal, the fact that you feel guilt about them afterwards shows your true feelings about the matter, if you ask me.
I hope no one holds that against you (because I know some would). Holding back that initial emotion helps build character, I think...
I don't even understand the speculation. Katrina wiped out so many states- including the bible bangers in Mississippi. And how about Rita hitting texas the home of our lovely president that all the relgious folk count on to deliver this country up to heaven. We'll just ignore those and when a hurricane happens to hit a city of "debauchery" then it's a sign from God. I understand that you reconsidered your position, but I don't even understand why you would think to focus on New Orleans when hurricanes wipe out cities every year.
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