Reported by Michal Ortner
Civil rights activist and MSNBC host Al Sharpton commented on the Texas flood which has reached a historic level of devastation. Sharpton’s May 27 “Question of the Day” for his 459,000 followers on Twitter led to lots of debate over the source of the floods.
“#KeepingItReal QOTD: Do you think the #TexasFlooding is related to climate control or God’s rebuke? Call 8775325797 or tweet me your thoughts,” the Tweet read.
Following the tweet, Sharpton discussed the topic on his radio show, “Keepin’ It Real with Al Sharpton.” Several other Twitter users joined in on the conversation.
One Tweet said, “I think the @ChurchOfSatan did caused (sic) the flood. @TheRevAl.”
Another tweeted, “@TheRevAl TOTES MAN’S DOING.”
“@TheRevAl Rain. I think it’s because of rain,” one person commented, and several similar comments followed.
“Some people said that they felt that the world had lost its morals, that homos*xuality and same-s*x marriage, which I support, caused it,” Sharpton said in an interview. “Many called and said they thought that was absurd, that it was science. My position is that science is right.”
Religious figures like Pat Robertson have also suggested that natural disasters such as hurricanes are due to the wrath of God because of sinful man. In 2010, he shared his belief that a blizzard in the northeast corner of America was sent by God “to punish Americans who were planning to drive to do something gay.”
The record-breaking amount of rain in Texas has caused flooding to extend to over 800 miles of the state up into Missouri. As of Friday morning, people in Dallas were “still trapped in high water,” according to a Dallas-Fort Worth news station.
“It’s extremely dangerous out there. I drive a Mustang and in some areas the water has been coming up to the hood. The people who have tried to drive through have become stuck, so there are tow trucks and fire trucks rescuing people,” said Tarik Hawkins, a resident of the Dallas area.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I have seen some severe weather, but this is extremely dangerous,” Hawkins continued.
“There has been enough rain across #Texas during May to cover the entire state nearly 8 inches deep. That’s over 35 trillion gallons! #txwx,” tweeted NWS Fort Worth.
“I think that God created nature and nature cannot be offset by human behavior,” Sharpton deliberated on his show. “I do believe that we live with the results of some bad decisions we make in terms of how we treat the earth, but I don’t believe that’s God’s rebuke.”
Source 1, 2, 3, 4
