Complaints About Mandatory Evacuations

This should come as no surprise to you. There are many sarcastic and unreasonable people on the internet.  This was evidenced by the people who were sarcastically  complaining about the mandatory evacuations ordered in the United States by the governors of the Atlantic Coast states last week in the face of the arrival of Hurricane Matthew. The complaint was that “nothing happened!”

Actually Matthew caused massive damage in Haiti and the eastern coast of the United States. Over 800 persons were killed in Haiti, followed by five in the State of Florida and at least seventeen in the Carolinas. (Update: 12 October 2106. The United States death toll has risen to 27.) Matthew brought millions of dollars of damage in its path bringing major flooding and spinning off several tornados. People are reporting nails, screws, pieces of shredded metal, and large shards of glass all along Matthew’s path. The number of people left without electricity numbered close to two million in Florida and at lest four hundred and fifty thousand in the states North and South Carolina which suffered a direct hit instead of glancing blows along their coastlines. Only the fact that Matthew mainly stayed along the United States coastline kept the death toll as low as it was.

The mandatory evacuations ordered by the governors were proper and necessary. The governors were fulfilling one of the God- ordained functions of government: to protect the people. I say God-ordained because the Bible is quite clear that governments are in power only because God wills it and allows it. He is sovereign. Read Romans 13 and 14.

The Haiti Missionaries

In the wake of the recent catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, aid workers, including missionaries, flooded into the country. One group of Baptists from Idaho makes you wonder, "What were they thinking?" The ten missionaries were arrested for trying to take 33 children from the country into the Dominican Republic. They had no adoption papers. They had no government permission. What they got was arrested. They ended up looking stupid. The charges against them could result in years in prison.

The missionaries were obviously well meaning, but they ignored common sense. You can't just take children away, even from a disaster zone. This was a clear violation of Haitian national sovereignty and the United States will be able to do little to prevent whatever punishment Haiti requires.

It now looks as if the judge reviewing the case may expel the ten from Haiti. They'll be lucky if that is all that happens.

The names of the ten are Laura Silsby, Carla Thompson, Nicole Lankford, Steve McMullen, Jim Allen, Silas Thompson, Drew Culborth, Paul Thompson, Charisa Coulter, and one unnamed person. They should seriously consider the embarassment they have brought to the Christian name.