Hurricane Jesus

He's not saying that God sent the hurricane, you understand. He's just saying that Jesus will use it to purge New Orleans: Franklin Graham sees 'revival' for New Orleans CNN.com/AP 10/04/05.

But he said the city's Mardi Gras revelry and ties to voodoo were adverse to Christian beliefs.

Southern evangelists have always seen New Orleans as a field for revival. It wasn't just Bourbon Street and all the drinking and cigarette smoking and dirty movies and stripper dancing. The place seemed awfully Catholic for the South. And in general, it was Sin City for people in the area. "Mardi Gras revelry" kind of sums it up: decadence, hedonism and Catholicism, all at once!
On the other hand, it was a popular tourist destination, too. It was so popular for honeymooners that William Faulkner once wrote that in Mississipppi, marriages are not considered legal until the couple has spent a night together in New Orleans. Not that a couple has to be married to spend a night together there.

Franklin G. seems to have a pretty steamy idea about what goes on in New Orleans:

"New Orleans has been known for years as a party town," Graham said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his office in Boone, North Carolina. "It is a city that has strong ties to the gay and lesbian movement, and these types of things."

On Monday, Graham delivered a similar message in an appearance in Lynchburg: "There's been satanic worship. There's been sexual perversion. God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose."

Do you suppose "satanic worship" is also a reference to Catholicism?

His brand of hurricane relief is also coming in for some criticism:

His Samaritan's Purse organization is working in five communities in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana, including New Orleans. He said volunteers were distributing 200 trailer homes in Louisiana. The organization has been criticized for delivering gift bags to displaced children that include Christian tracts and a stuffed lamb that plays "Jesus Loves You."

Trailer homes? Uh, those have a nasty tendency to just blow up when a tornado gets near them. They probably shouldn't even be allowed in areas that have hurricanes and tornadoes regularly.

I'm not sure that the lamb playing "Jesus Loves You" is such a bad idea, though. That tune has a major place in American and Southern cultural history. It was one of the songs Britney Spears sang for her audition at Jive Records when she first signed with them.