Politicizing Tragedy

Within the past couple of years, whenever there was a hurricane or some other natural disaster that hit in the "Red States," some members of the faux left took it upon themselves to proclaim "God is punishing the Red States for electing Bush." On the one hand, it's nice to see the faux left acknowledge God's existence after trying to drive it from the public square, but on the other it's a cop-out. Natural disasters happen, and trying to inject politics into them shows very little respect for the victims.

Now that southern California is enduring wildfires, it's easy for conservatives to give into the temptation to rub the faux left's rhetoric in their faces. But I urge you not to, no matter how much you want to because it sets a bad precedent and continues the cycle of hate. There are plenty of people, Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative, who are enduring a nightmare right now, either having to evacuate and rebuild or worry about loved ones in the middle of the inferno.

At times like that, politics has no place.

What makes America such a wonder of the world is the fact that we have nearly limitless compassion in times of tragedy, at home and around the world. But that compassion gets undercut by politics, greed, and deceit from people of low morals. Fighting our baser instincts is key here, folks.

If you're a conservative who can't resist the urge to pull the "God is punishing California" card, know that you'll get some major pushback from me. Believe me, if God wanted to punish California, He could do it with something a lot worse than a wildfire.

And if you're a liberal or faux liberal who want to use the wildfires to bash Bush for global warming, remember these could be your family and friends having to rebuild their lives, and I don't think global warming will be that damn relevant to a family that sees their house and all their belongings go up in flames.

We may be a country divided along bitter ideological lines right now, but we shouldn't be. Close down the politicial bickering and open your hearts for a change. Then maybe, just maybe, we can take the first steps to being a UNITED States of America again.