Saturday, September 03, 2005
 
I Need to Move Away From Tulsa
I can't believe what I saw on the local news yesterday. There were rumors all day long that anywhere from 2,000-10,000 victims of Katrina might be coming to Tulsa. One of the rumors was that they would be housed in the Civic Center here. Well...not to worry. The leaders of our fair town are trying hard to make sure that we are not going to have to deal with the mess. According to the Mayor, he got on the phone to talk about the situation with State officials. The bottom line (no kidding--these are from the mouths of our city officials): 1. We don't want to happen to the Civic Center what we've seen happen to the Superdome and the Astrodome, 2. We have events scheduled at the Civic Center for Pete's sake, and (the best one) number 3. "We have to keep a business mind" about all this. How it will impact business and monetary situation for us.

The latest report is that our leaders know that victims will be coming...there's just too many for it not to happen. The city officials are trying to figure out where to house them when the government tells us that they are coming.

The issue for me is that our city can't be proactive and caring about this thing. Why are we not actively offering our city as a place of refuge? For the same reason that "F*** the Homeless" shirts were popular with some in our city, the bright shining buckle of the Bible Belt. If it's going to affect our bottom line, we simply would rather they not be here.

"'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.'" -- Ezekiel 16:49

I've got to get out of here before the fire and brimstone start falling.

(Note: I do want to say that I am fully aware that many private individuals, congregations, and organizations of Tulsa are acting out of kindness and love by making themselves available. This post is out of frustration with our leadership and a general mentality about people in need that is often expressed in our community.)

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