Alice Posted September 3, 2005 Share Posted September 3, 2005 Watching footage of the chaos at the superdome and convention centre yesterday I was struck by the lack of on the ground community leadership. We were shown the crumpled dead body of an elderly woman still in her wheelchair apparently abandoned - a second body on the ground near by and then a third body in a partially flooded room that was described as a makeshift morgue. Drifting off to sleep - I suddenly reawoke with 'where are their pastors?'. This became ... Where are the community leaders, Where are headteachers, where are the Doctors, where are the individuals who normally take on some kind of leadership role in a crisis? It was particularly the pastors though. I'm intrigued and disturbed. Am I just hopelessly old fashioned? Because despite my deconversion, in the absence of any govenmental assistance, I'd just be expecting the local minister/vicar/priest to at least be providing some leadership, to be identifying where the makeshift morgue should be, to be encouraging people to pool resources, to be counting the children, the elderly and the sick, to be motivating the able to create shelter for the vulnerable and so on. My Father was a vicar and had previously been in the armed forces and spent years as a policeman. In a crisis - whatever his religious beliefs, he could be relied upon to provide leadership, good sense, motivation, compassion. I thought this was part of the job - a requirement. Maybe they are all there - but they are traumatised too. Well, that's not an excuse for a leader is it? Maybe we are just not being shown pastors pastoring ... but it is happening. I hope so. I can cope with the fact that the stories behind christianity are myths. I can't cope with the fact that maybe pastors left their flocks behind. I think maybe this is a rant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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