NEW ORLEANS, LA – As most of the nation mourns the tremendous loss of life, extreme property destruction and the rest of the as-yet-uncalculated damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina, some far right-wing conservative Christian groups are citing social decay as the cause for the massive storm, essentially claiming that a vengeful God had lost patience with America’s sinful ways.“Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city,” said Repent America director Michael Marcavage in a statement on the group’s website (www.repentamerica.com). “From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence,’ New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge.”

Such sentiments were echoed on the website of the Westboro Baptist Church (www.godhatesfags.com), which sported such boldface headlines as, “Pray for more dead bodies floating on the fag-semen-rancid waters of New Orleans,” “It is a sin NOT to rejoice when God executes His wrath and vengeance upon America,” and, “America is irreversibly doomed. It is a sin to pray for the good of this evil fag nation.”

The Reverend Fred Phelps, founder of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist, is infamous for his group’s picketing of funerals for gay men, and more recently, picketing funerals of American soldiers killed in action in Iraq. Phelps asserts that the killing of American soldiers in Iraq is vengeance from God, for protecting a country that “harbors gays.” This past Saturday, Phelps and his group picketed the funeral of Staff Sgt. Asbury Fred Hawn II and Spc. Gary Reese Jr. in Smyrna, Tenn.

Repent America finds great significance in Katrina’s timing, coming just days before an annual New Orleans festival called “Southern Decadence,” an annual gay community event that has been held in New Orleans since 1972.

“’Southern Decadence’ has a history of filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars,” the group states in a press release on their website. “Last year, a local pastor sent video footage of sex acts being performed in front of police to the mayor, city council, and the media. City officials simply ignored the footage and continued to welcome and praise the weeklong celebration as being an ‘exciting event’. However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin.”

Thankfully, more mainstream Christian churches and charity organizations envision a somewhat more compassionate God, and are focusing their efforts on providing relief and aid to the people of the Gulf Coast, rather than condemnation and vitriolic insults.

“I feel sad that anyone is taking advantage of the suffering of people when they are so vulnerable,” said Reverend Dr. Cindi Love, executive director of the Metropolitan Community Churches in an interview with PlanetOut Network. I am praying for our brothers and sisters who are blaming gays and lesbians for this disastrous hurricane. I ask them to use their energy to pray for those afflicted and to take the resources being used to attack gays and lesbians and use them to provide relief.”