Evangelist Franklin Graham, son and successor of Rev. Billy Graham, has taken the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans and turned it into a soapbox to deliver his religious beliefs to the ravaged city.
Graham said that Katrina's ravage, while not a means of God punishing the "city of sin," is a chance for citizens of New Orleans to rebuild their city with purity instead of what he said was its ties to satanic worship and sexual perversion.
The Big Easy certainly does have a history of excessive partying and there have always been plenty of vices for visitors to take advantage of, but chastising a torn city's residents in their darkest hour is just wrong.
The most important thing for the people of New Orleans is to rebuild their home, not to be told that they're sinful and need to reconstruct their city with a new moral fiber.
Millions of people are homeless and are missing family members, and it's no one's place but the residents and the city and state leaders to determine priorities.
Every major city in the United States has its share of strip clubs, casinos and other businesses of questionable moral integrity. Graham's assertion that New Orleans is a place of sin is no more appropriate than the adult enterprises he is maintaining should be eliminated.
Graham also points a pious finger at Mardi Gras, one of the longest-running celebrations in history. If Mardi Gras is such a horrible and offensive act of hedonism, then Graham could at least take issue with Fantasy Fest in Key West or any given weekend in Las Vegas before he decides to make the lives of New Orleans residents any more difficult.
Events like Mardi Gras garner millions of dollars in revenue for New Orleans each year and make it one of the largest tourism hot spots in the United States.
While there is nothing for the people of New Orleans to celebrate right now, tearing down the community's weeklong celebration of the original French inhabitants of the region is untimely and unnecessary.
Needless to say, getting Mardi Gras up and running is one of the least important concerns of anyone in the region, but taking away the possibility of the party all together is nonsense.
Eventually the residents will have their houses rebuilt, and it will be time to rebuild their culture as well.
The most controversial of Graham's assertions is the city's ties to the gay and lesbian community. At an appearance in Lynchburg this week, Graham said, "God is going to use that storm to bring revival. God has a plan. God has a purpose."
Those are strong words from the religious leader, considering he made earlier claims that he doesn't believe God used this storm as a means to punish the city's sinners.
He has argued openly that he never meant that God used the storm as punishment, but there's a fine line between his contradictory statements which never should have been made in the first place.
Local religious leaders have openly stated they do not believe Katrina was God's way of punishing sinners and that they hope this storm will allow the community to rebuild the city with a greater moral fiber, but have cited most of all an urgency to do away with the city's racial intolerance.
The people of New Orleans don't need someone telling them how to rebuild their city. They need people to help them.
If Graham is so concerned with reconstructing the moral fiber, then maybe he should roll up his sleeves and do more than just open his mouth.
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