Let's not forget those who have all the answers!

As we approach the first anniversary of "the storm", let's not forget those whom seem to have it all figured out. First, my higher power doesn't seem to be a punishing god. Second, if New Orleans was being punished...why did the French Quarter make out okay? Is the devil winning? Seems like those evil casinos on the Gulf Coast were also helped by the devil...they can now live on land! Even better, sure were lots o' god-fearin' people livin' on Point Cadet in Biloxi...where are they now? Oh, yeah, selling their slabs to even more casinos!

Shoot! The first thing most of my friends grabbed for after riding that bigass wave was a can o' beer or a bottle of wine! Guess we're like roaches...no matter how hard you try to get rid of us...YOU CAN'T!!

Hang on tight to dat bible, Hank Erwin...my god don't like UGLY...you got some 'splainin' to do!

ALABAMA LEGISLATOR SAYS KATRINA WAS GOD'S WRATH ON SINFUL COAST
'Wickedness' brought punishment, he says
By The Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM , ALA. - A state senator in Alabama says Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment on a sinful part of America .

State Sen. Hank Erwin (Republican, Montevallo), wrote in a weekly column for news outlets: "New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness. It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God."

Erwin, a former conservative talk-radio host and now a media consultant, wrote the column after a tour of hurricane-wrecked Gulfport and Biloxi, Miss., and Bayou La Batre on the Alabama coast.

''Warnings year after year by godly evangelists and preachers went unheeded. So why were we surprised when finally the hand of judgment fell?" Erwin wrote. "Sadly, innocents suffered along with the guilty. Sin always brings suffering to good people as well as the bad."

The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was flooded by Katrina. Erwin said the Baptists knew they had put themselves on the front lines ministering in a sinful place that could be targeted.

He said he didn't think the hard-hit residents of the low-income Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans were singled out for especially harsh punishment but were merely in the way, as were the shrimpers in Bayou La Batre.

William Willimon, bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church , said Erwin is "sure no theologian."

"I'm certainly against gambling and its hold on state government in Mississippi but I expect there is as much sin, of possibly a different order, in Montevallo as on the Gulf Coast. If God punished all of us for our sin, who could stand?" Willimon said.

The bishop said 300 United Methodist clergy from Alabama will be on the Gulf Coast next week to help, hurricane victims.

"That seems to me a much more appropriate Christian response than that of the senator," he said.

A member of Shades Mountain Independent Church , Erwin said, "As harsh as it may sound, those hurricanes do say that God is real, and we have to realize sin has consequences."


SENATOR HENRY E. "HANK" ERWIN, JR. (R)
14th District
(Bibb, Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby)

State House:
Room 738
11 S. Union Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
(334) 242-7873

Business:
106-B South First Street
Alabaster, AL 35007
(205) 663-1831
Fax: (205) 663-1831

Home:
32 Oakdale Drive
Montevallo , AL 35051
(205) 620-0116
senatorerwin@aol.com
senatorerwin.com

Senator Erwin is serving his first term in the Alabama Senate. He was born April 2, 1949, in Birmingham . He received a B.S. degree from Troy State University, a B.A. degree from Southwestern Bible College and an M.A. degree from Dallas Seminary. He and his wife, Shelia Joyce Erwin, are the parents of two children: Andrew and Jonathan. He is a member of the Shades Mountain Independent Church. Senator Erwin serves on the ALCAP Board, Freedoms Foundation Advisory Board and Chilton Chamber of Commerce. He is President and CEO of Save America Foundation. His hobbies include scuba diving, tennis and chess. Senator Erwin is the son of the late Henry E. "Red" Erwin, 20th Air Force, United States Army Air Corps, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, April 12, 1945 , for heroism above and beyond the call of duty. As a radio operator aboard a B-29 in the Pacific, Red Erwin sustained severe and permanent injury to himself in personally disposing of a phosphorus bomb, while in flight, thus saving the lives of the entire crew from certain catastrophe.

Committees:
Vice Chairperson, Children, Youth Affairs and Human Resources; Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Business and Labor ; Energy and Natural Resources; Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability; Local Legislation No. 2; Tourism and Marketing ; Veterans and Military Affairs; Small Business and Economic Development.