A number of folks in the blogosphere have been wondering where all the finger-wagging Europeans are in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
You know: The people who after the tsunami relentlessly badgered the U.S. for not doing "enough" to help the people of the Pacific Rim, when in fact we were doing vastly more than anybody else to help them.
One can always play the "You’re not enough ‘enough’" game.
Now that America has been hit with a natural disaster, these same folks are doing NOTHING.
Right?
WELL, NOT SO FAST!
Kudos to all Europeans of good will!
OH YEAH, AND HERE’S ONE.
ON THE OTHER HAND . . .
Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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This sickens me. I have relatives in Germany and the distortion of news there is appalling.
I have advice for German citizens should the U.S. should decide to pull back from world affairs; start learning Arabic.
This sickens me. I have relatives in Germany and the distortion of news there is appalling.
I have advice for German citizens should the U.S. should decide to pull back from world affairs; start learning Arabic.
Bush Mobilizes a Huge Recovery Effort
President Bush mobilized a broad federal government response to the region devastated by Hurricane
Thank you for these links, Mr. Akin. I’ve already been nauseated with the snot-nosed remarks from abroad. I’m glad there are more reasonable voices and it’s important to hear them as well.
I also heard that Australia is sending experienced search-and-rescue teams, and that their Red Cross organization is sending money as well.
It’s comforting that the last article from Der Spiegel regarding German callousness was written by a German, though. To get some perspective on this, some individuals will say things that are upsetting, and others will keep open hearts. Indeed, some Germans I know even have family members who live in Florida, and are quite concerned. I know it sounds trite, but “Not everybody is saying…..Not everybody thinks……” bla bla bla.
It’s odd that your one article slams the Germans and the other one is talking about how they’re they ones who approached the U.S. about giving (well, not giving, but at least helping us out) us oil. I’m slightly confused.
How ironic that after I read this I start to see “friends” of mine whom are more concerned with trying to turn this into some sort of partisan attack (using completely blatant falsehood, by the way) rather than actually helping anybody.
It’s very sad that when people are dying, the first thing that comes to people’s minds is who to blame it on, and the thought to help them sometimes doesn’t even come at all. It makes me sick.
Ah, Germany. What more would we expect from a post-Christian country? Giving because it’s the right thing to do has obviously not occurred to (the majority of) them.
On the opening of oil reserves to the US…Germany expects some sort of return, I’m sure. The article implies it.
I am European, my husband American. We are both immigrants in the European country where we live.
When I read about starving Katrina victims I suggested to my husband that we should donate some money.His response: “There is enough food in America. The government should take care of this. It’s the richest country in the world, people shouldn’t have to send money from Belgium”.
Since it doesn’t seem that the American government was taking care of it, I sent some money anyways (I doubled the amount that my husband had donated to Howard Dean, I hope my donation is of better use than his was).
Anna,
On behalf of all the hurricane victims, THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!
Anna-
We do thank you for your kindness.
It occurred to me, too, that as wealthy as America is, it might sound a little silly to seriously look for aid from say, Belgium.
But, we have a tradition in the U.S (at least in the South) that when a family in the neighborhood has had a loss (a bad sickness, or maybe the death of a loved one) you bring them some food, most likely a casserole.
There isn’t any income test involved. It is just something that neighbors do to show support. I think that is all that the US is looking for, really. Just a gesture.