This Is Too Much

I actually dreamt of blogging last night! All this blogging has slowly crept into my subconscious, so much so that it appeared in my dreams. I had wanted to make a funny post out of this, but I read something terrible and I feel angered.

I want to point out this excerpt from AgapePress's report, New Orleans Residents: God's Mercy Evident in Katrina's Wake:

"Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, ... says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.

...

"New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."

The New Orleans pastor is adamant. Christians, he says, need to confront sin. "It's time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won't have to deal with that wickedness," he says."

I have one question to ask and one thing to say.

I want to ask, "What kind of God encourages the destruction of people who do not follow his teachings? And then claim that it is being 'merciful'?" (OK, so that's actually 2 questions).

I want to say, "If this kind of God promises paradise if I follow his teachings, I'd rather go to Hell. There's probably better people there."