Whose fault?

Have you ever noticed that whenever a natural disaster hits some right wing loon comes out of their parishioner-paid-for mansion to assign biblical blame? Usually it’s the gay community who’s at fault. Sometimes it’s the feminists. And a good part of the time they just blame secular society in general.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the right wingers said the gay community, with its sinful Mardi Gras and even naughtier Southern Decadence traditions were responsible for nearly wiping New Orleans off of the map.

What’s more—whenever Southern California quakes or catches fire it’s always Hollywood’s fault (i.e.: the gays, the Jews and those pesky liberals).

Sometimes there doesn’t have to be a natural disaster at all—just the threat of one. Back in 1998, Pat Robertson—the 700 Club holy man turned weather bird forecasted the end of days for the state of Florida since it and Disney World had allowed “Gay Days” to be held there just prior to his speech.

Although the recent earthquake felt throughout the St. Louis area on April 18 was far from a disaster—we were quite lucky—I’m a bit surprised no one has stepped up to say whose fault it is.

Now I know we have a small gay community here in the Lou in comparison to the coasts, but even if we weren’t responsible for the 5.2 quake; couldn’t we at least have been the catalyst for one of the smaller after shocks? I’m just not feeling the love.

Still, there is the possibility that this fire and brimstone God that Robertson and his ilk preach of is quite practical and has a sense of fair play. Maybe their deity finally got fed up with all of the right wing hot air and Southern Illinois seemed as good a place as any to start. It is awfully conservative around the Indiana boarder.

Then there’s the fact that the Pope was visiting our country that week—he’s an awfully intolerant fellow. Maybe that set it off. Perhaps it was the Bush administration—that alone merits an awesome showing of nature’s fury. I guess we’ll never really know for sure…

OK—OK—all silliness aside, Earthquakes, no matter how small, aren’t a laughing matter. That’s what’s so tragic about the previous paragraphs—they weren’t joking.

Earthquakes are serious business in St. Louis, especially given our proximity to the New Madrid fault, and that’s why everyone’s talking about it.

As far back as I can remember it’s always been said that we’re due for the “big one” at any moment. It happened before in 1812 and will again. It’s a scientific certainty. Of course, most of you were probably like me and gave it very little thought until the ground literally started shaking last Friday.

Admittedly, I slept through the 5.2 but I felt the aftershock later that morning. I don’t think I’ve darted for the front door that fast since—well—never. We’re all understandably excited and a bit on edge after the experience.

I Googled “earthquake preparedness” in anticipation of this column and the first thing I realized is you can’t let any of this affect your life. There are some things you can do like keeping a disaster kit in your home with flashlights, fresh batteries, food, water, first aid, etc. That’s always a good idea no matter where you live.

You should know where your gas and power shut-off’s are and make good use of them in the event of a quake. But the “standing in the doorway” seems to be an urban legend unless you live in an old adobe house. Modern door frames don’t offer much cover. Instead, employing the “duck and cover” maneuver under a substantial piece of furniture seems to be a good rule of thumb.

We’re pretty fortunate here in the Midwest when you think about it. Aside from the stray tornado or 50-year flood we don’t have too much to worry about in way of natural disasters. But somewhere in the back of our minds lies the possibility of the “big one.” Hence, Friday’s rumblings served as a timely reminder that we should educate ourselves about what to do and be vigilant.

You can email Colin Murphy at colin_murphy@sbcglobal.net.