RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Em hotep friends
<bow>
So much devastation. So much grief and death.
Why Louisiana? Why now?
Is it something we did? Who is "we" anyway? Where is Netjer? Why?
No sermon here... Just opening discussion ..
What has the storm brought up for you? What thoughts, questions insights?
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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SaAmun1
Unregistered
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Em Hotep *bow*
Personally, I see this as a prime example of Sutekh and his energies. Yes, lots of destruction and death, but it opens the way for much in the way of jobs in construction/re-construction and things such as the levees in New Orleans will be built bigger and stronger.
Just my thoughts on things...
Senebty
SaAmun
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Em hotep Dennis!
<bow>
Good to see you. That is interesting. Let's think about that.
It is certainly true that Set can destroy in order to make new growth possible. And storms are a part of the way the natural world does this at times.
And humans despite our attempts to see ourselves as autonomous and in control of the natural world are not exept from these processes. So the mere fact of suffering and death does not contradict the possibility that this is the work of Netjer.
However, Set is about NECESSARY destruction. We are very much limited in attempting to ask whether this is Set at work NOW while we are in the middle of this situation. It is always possible that what seems arbitrary and unnecessary may in retrospect look very different.
There is though a basis upon which we can ask whether this is necessary. That is simply did "we" do all we could to mimimize any unnecessary violence and destruction.
For instance, we know that the city of New Orleans attempted to get the President to take action to avoid exactly this situation for the last 3 years.
We know that 35% of the state's national guard are fighting in Iraq.
This makes me look at human responsibility for the level of destruction, death and suffering. When we as a people are out of Ma'at things happen.
I am deeply concerned about choices being made right now to allow deaths and instead focus on protecting property from vandals.
There is something striking to me about pictures of New Orleans and those of riots in Iraq. I can't articulate just what is stiking about this yet..but it seems significant to me.
I am glad we are talking about this. Sharing perspectives may or may not give definitive answers ..but it has us reflect on the situation and can guide us in actions in the present.
Best
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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SaAmun1
Unregistered
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Em Hotep Rev Renee
*bow*
I agree completely that we should be asking, as a country if nothing else, did we do everything possible to minimize unnecessary violence and destruction. I guess it's been my experience that Set tends to hit harder with the cosmic 2x4 the more oblivious we are to things around us. And especially when it's a community or nation that's being oblivious (or in this case a nation's leader?).
It is unfortunate that much could have been done to minimize this. Hopefully this will motivate us all to take a more active part in the world around us, to ask questions that need to be asked.
I hadn't thought about it before, but I believe you are right, there is something striking in the comparison of New Orleans and Iraq. Only time will tell, I think, where this will all end.
Senebty~
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RevSedgwick
Heri Tep Hem Netjer
Reged: 04/12/02
Posts: 361
Loc: Racine, WI
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Em hotep! <bow>
Dennis notes above that it's important that we as citizens and as a nation ask the questions that need to be asked. One of them is whether the people who have been dispossessed, forced out of their homes by the flood waters, will be able to go back to the rebuilt city. That is, will provision be made for affordable housing for them, or will new construction be priced out of range. And if the latter--where will they go?
Actually, that's the big question now, isn't it? Where will they go for the next weeks, the next months? How will they live?
I'm sure all of you, like us here, are getting emails and suggestions at work, etc. of places to donate for Hurricane Katrina relief. That's all good. But all the office pool money and church donations and so on--as important as they are--cannot compensate for what should have been spent before the disaster to reinforce the levees and repair the pumping stations. And it cannot compensate for the monies that should be immediately available to care for people whose previous poverty has been deeply worsened by the loss of everything they had.
Rev Sedgwick
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Rev Sedgwick Heskett, Hemet NebetHet-Nit and Amun
Heri Tep Hem Netjer Per Ankh
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Here are some resources from the world press that give additional information. US opinion is torn on whether it is simply a natural disaster or if Bush is to blame. Here are some interesting links from world press and those reports stations choose NOT to air:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561356,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,1558667,00.html
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/02/1419206
You can also watch videos from Democracy now here
http://www.independent-media.tv/index.cfm
And lest I be accused of only sharing left leaning perspecives here is what David Horowitz and his fellow supporters of the administraton have to say. It is a ..erm..interesting read.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/blog/index.asp
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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Kamose
KOL
Reged: 08/19/05
Posts: 19
Loc: Summerville, SC
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If you want to blame a government official for the extent of the destruction wrought by Katrina, that blame properly lays with the governor and other local officials, as they are primarily responsible for preparing such plans.
One must wonder where the tax dollars. Ever since 9/11, we have pumped billions of dollars into government organizations in order that we be able to recover more quickly, and yet it took almost 4 days for federal aid to arrive.
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Kamose (“the soul is born”)
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Isian
KOL
Reged: 03/15/04
Posts: 480
Loc: NSW, Australia
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Em hotep ~bow~
You know, I've tried three times to work out how to respond to this thread. Being geographically challenged I find myself at a loss as to the why's and wherefor's.
I do know this much, that humankind when challenged has the opportunity for two things. To rise, or sink. It does not suprise me to see both of those things happening. Nor that nature would lash out, as it has in the past.. and will in the future.
As for myself.. 'helpless' would fit here. So.. I pray.
Jen G
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Nebra
KOL
Reged: 08/01/02
Posts: 2383
Loc: Left kansas withToto
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Perhaps new orleans was in need of a redirection. a renewal.... and the storms devastation was the means to that change.....I've heard from people who should know that the city was to complacent in dealing with it's poverty, and infurastructure....and that most of the police department was corrupt..and the city government was far more interested in fostering the "big Easy tourist atmosphere" than anything else. they spent more on the yearly pre lent carnival than they anything else ... Maybe Set energy is a good way to shake up the mixture.... I know that sounds cold... but sometimes force is needed to cause change  .... I do wish that wasn't true but it is
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Nebra
KOL
Reged: 08/01/02
Posts: 2383
Loc: Left kansas withToto
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Quote:
Here are some resources from the world press that give additional information. US opinion is torn on whether it is simply a natural disaster or if Bush is to blame. Here are some interesting links from world press and those reports stations choose NOT to air:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561356,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,8542,1558667,00.html
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/02/1419206
You can also watch videos from Democracy now here
http://www.independent-media.tv/index.cfm
And lest I be accused of only sharing left leaning perspecives here is what David Horowitz and his fellow supporters of the administraton have to say. It is a ..erm..interesting read.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/blog/index.asp
getting things to people requires a couple things.... dry land and clear streets.... and you can't plan for a double disaster. it is humanly impossible..... after typical hurricanes the flood water leaves within hours..... this one was different. New Orleans is below sea level ( the new parts anyway) Old new Orleans is dry..... that leave 80% of the city with 2-3 feet of standing water... right now all they can safelyget in place is one crane to do levee repairs ( I got this from a civil engineer who majored in hydrodynamics)....and unlike other locations who yearly deal with Hurricanes... New Orleans evacuees didn't bother to take anything with them ... here in NC we know to take water a couple days food and our own baby care products.... the people in the dome didn't . and the mayor never considered the logistics when at the last moment he opened the dome..10,000 people who didn't come prepared in a place where the genertors won't do AC just emergency lighting .... Pleeze ..... that mans stupidity added to the problem.. the rest falls to the people who live there. they thought it was going to be business as usual after the storm went through and waited until the last minute to run......that's something you don't hear in the British news.....
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Kamose
KOL
Reged: 08/19/05
Posts: 19
Loc: Summerville, SC
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New Orleans had long known that it would be vulnerable to just this sort of disaster. It is well below sea level, surrounded by water on three sides, and located in a hurricane-prone area. Interestingly, people have been writing about what would happen if a major hurricane hit New Orleans for years. They predicted everything from the breach of the levees to the spread of disease that would follow. The National Hurricane Center issued warnings several days in advance that Katrina could make landfall as a category 4 in the New Orleans Area.
Instead of making obviously false excuses that “no one would have predicted this,” FEMA ought to have said: “We knew this would be a catastrophe. What we didn’t anticipate is that so many people would not heed the evacuation warnings.”
Here’s a tidbit sure to outrage. The New Orleans Levee Board has been given millions of dollars to improve the levees. But not one dollar went to the levees -- the board chose to spread the money amongst their friends by buying a casino (for $20 million) and other private investments.
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Kamose (“the soul is born”)
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bmb144
KOL
Reged: 08/06/05
Posts: 12
Loc: South of Brisbane, Queensland,...
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Hotep all,
(Please note this post may offend)
As I listen to the coverage of what has happened,(I don't have a TV), I am really wondering whether or not some people in government have, to coin an aussie phrase "dropped the ball". Considering how long that the hurricane was in the gulf and the level of warning etc....
But what makes me wonder more is how a country which has the resources, people power and money can make such a botch job of it, yet it can pour troops and money into other countries at the drop of a hat 
I do not mean to be anti-USA, but about 30 years ago Oz had a similar hurricane, (what we call cyclones). Her name was Tracy and she flattened Darwin, on Christmas eve. She was no bigger than what Louisiana had but her winds were stronger, she just about blew Darwin away. Yet the response was quicker, more effective with less warning time! Tracy had started to break up and was out to sea she suddenly strengthened and came in to Darwin with winds well over 300kilometres an hour it only took her 2 hours to re-form and come back in.
I have come to an understanding that Netjer will do what is necessary, even if it means flattening a city or flooding a city to bring about change. For us Darwin brought changes and still does and no storm goes untracked. I live in Queensland and we are prone to cyclones and as we are in Spring we are in storm season so all weather reports track storms and issue constant warnings no matter how small or large.
It is my prayer that this experience will enable people to think about themselves, government and the direction in which the USA is heading, and I hope that it will lead to both change and renewal. I am sorry if I have insulted anyone.
In light,
Belinda
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Nebra
KOL
Reged: 08/01/02
Posts: 2383
Loc: Left kansas withToto
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I heard this one too .. I also have heard the local government is so corrupt at every level .... the levee money isn't the only thing that dissapeares... all the tourist money gets used for other things as well...and the huge bugets spent on martiGras ads and parades is sickening.........
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Melinda
KOL
Reged: 08/16/05
Posts: 26
Loc: Albion PA
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Don't worry, you're not likely to offend. I might though. We can botch the job so badly and still pour our money out of country because our Pres doesn't really care about his own country. As long as the big businesses keep giving him money, he's happy. The economy is bad, public schooling is bad, heck, everything that needs government funding is bad... except the war effort
He said before he was ever elected that he's a war president waiting for the next war. And now everyone regrets it because the money is needed elsewhere and he won't take away from his precious war.
I'm for sure not anti-USA. I love my country. That's why I'm against Bush. I love my country and he's destroying it. But that's just my oppinion.
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Shepen
KOL
Reged: 03/19/03
Posts: 364
Loc: Davenport, IA
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Yes, New Orleans has a history of corruption, and the states hit are some of the poorest in our nation, which makes this even more tragic. I did not know about the money dumped into casinos and mardi gras ads, but I suppose it's not suprising. Still my heart goes out, and perhaps this will be a wake-up call that we really need to prioritize things in our country. I think if there is any lesson to be learned is to look at problems in our own back yard first. I balk at $3 gas, but then thank netjer that I have a house and I know where all my friends, relatives, and pets are. And I will definately be pouring cool water for the people affected, as well as the dead who have no one to do proper rites for them.
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See my blogs:
The Poppy Garden
Shepen's Yahoo 360 Profile
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WabJenSoko
Wab Priest / KOL Newsletter Editor / Central Regio
Reged: 08/22/01
Posts: 850
Loc: Lost in Middle America
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Hotep! *bow*
This may sound weird, and it may just be that I'm on a "notice Aset" kick right now, but I see more Aset and Het-hert in Katrina than I do Set. To explain why, let me first put up the disclaimer: I cannot stand this administration. I think they're a bunch of overprivileged, party-before-country, nepotistic pinheads out to collectively swindle the American people. I do not place nearly as much blame on state and local governments as I do the shaved primates at the top, because, if you read the papers/watch the news, you can see that the Plumbers' First Rule is clearly in action here (for those of you who aren't plumbers, sh-- rolls downhill) and the blame is shifting, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
But that's become par for the course, and not entirely unexpected in politics in general...this administration is just more obvious about it, and has the benefit of focus and resources to get what they want and to hell with the rest of us. People, even those in favor of the ideals the current buncha criminals claims to run with, have come to expect corruption, bloat, inefficiency, payola, and bureaucracy in government (although most people do expect the government to be able to at least find its own arse with both hands and a flashlight).
Where I think Aset and Het-hert have come into this is the Regular Joe. I have heard a lot of local talk from folks I know and chat with both in my town and around the 'net, that a huge lot of people really never knew, or never could truly comprehend, the poverty that exists in this country. The wings of Katrina swept over this land and Het-Hert held up a mirror to our own face...and in examining our supposed beauty, we saw, maybe for the first time, the makeup caked thick around the blemishes and scars of poverty and racism that still exist far more strongly than they ought to in an "enlightened" land such as this. We spent so much energy looking out--agression, expectations of attacks from "over there," arrogance in thinking that we could outsmart nature--that Het-hert's mirror showed that when we looked out, we forgot ourselves. So busy with bluster that we never noticed the atrophy of our strength.
Aset is a Mother. And She is a mother who is not afraid to allow her children to learn the lessons the hard way. Even the most loving mother can only stand by while a stubborn child learns a lesson through experience that she's tried to teach many times before with less success.
What is Katrina's lesson in Ma'at? For me, I think that first there will be calls for action, calls for responsibility. I hope that people will see this as the dereliction of duty by the government to the people that it is. Maybe the powers that be will do the right thing and either step down or make things truly right, or at least accept some responsibility. Maybe they won't. Maybe their luck or their spin machine or apathy will give them another pass, because optimistic people don't like to think that other people (the ones we picked to be in charge) could be as intentionally malicious as to abandon those who trusted them.
But the real lesson isn't about politics or natural disasters. They will both continue to plague and amaze us as long as we are people who witness nature (both human and Mother, so to speak). The lesson here is that our Mardi Gras mask was pulled off and we saw the ugly underneath. Netjer threw the beads, we lifted up our shirts and found out our perkies...were really falsies.
I hope people will, as a result of witnessing the devastation, start asking why--why are there so many people living in abject poverty when we are such a wealthy nation? Why are our basic needs not being met? How can we expect to be a great nation--a great community--when our weakest links exist because we can't be bothered, or can't prioritize, to strengthen them?
senebty,
WabetJen
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senebty,
Jen Sokoloski, Wab Priest of Ptah
Per AnkhThe Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
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SaAmun
KOL
Reged: 08/27/02
Posts: 125
Loc: Phoenix
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Hotep *bow*
Good point Jen 
I strongly suspect that more than one of the netjeru, and quite possibly all in a way, had a hand in Katrina.
And if the news shows I've been seeing over the last week are any indication, at least some in this country are starting to ask questions that have so desparately needed asking.
Senebty~
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SaAmun
(Dennis Hemken)
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Nebra
KOL
Reged: 08/01/02
Posts: 2383
Loc: Left kansas withToto
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even though the blame game has started.... the fact is.... even before the storm.... the local Governments had not done their duties and were derelict in their adminstration on every level .... and I think the accounting is beginning... starting with the Mayor who blew off getting his city and levees in order. who wanted nothing to get in the way of tourist dollars .... they discovered that 3 of the 4 pumps had been inoperable even before the storm hit.and the city only pays it's police 23000 per year... and the agencies who deal with the poverty is ao ineffectual as to be none existant .. and the state Governor who told the Federal Government to back off for 24 hours and didn't want the people removed fearing for her tax base .... and who ignored the evacuation study that showed exactly what happened and how to avoid it......
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WabJenSoko
Wab Priest / KOL Newsletter Editor / Central Regio
Reged: 08/22/01
Posts: 850
Loc: Lost in Middle America
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Hotep *bow*
I have to disagree with you, Nebra (and I'm not picking on you I love ya, hon), with where the blame goes. The Department of Homeland Security's December 2004 National Response Plan makes the federal government pre-empt state and local efforts in order to get immediate assistance to wherever the disaster is. The past five years has seen steady and marked decreases in funding for Gulf Coast/NOLA hurricane preventions (including shoring up the levees). The governor declared the state of emergency back on August 26, 3 days before Katrina hit.
There's a lot of crap coming out of the media, and a lot of it is well...crap. People are confused. They're stunned that this could happen here. There's a spin machine at work as well, as there always will be when the ball is dropped and the people in power don't want to give up that power. Bottom line is that somebody was supposed to be in charge. Somebody was supposed to know what to do. Nobody did. Nobody was in charge. And time passes, and people are starting to ask questions, look at websites, dig through archives of articles, and they're coming up with answers of who should have been in charge.
But the fact that the administration spent SO LONG in just sitting there, staring off into space (or shopping for shoes) really tells something. The people we picked to lead (or the people that are picked by the people we picked) didn't do their jobs. And people died because of it. They should be fired and held accountable. Because if we don't play this "blame game" now, then it'll fall off the radar, and it will *happen again.*
From a Kemetic perspective--in our faith, the King is at the top of the pyramid. The power flows up to the king from the people...and so does the responsibility. The guy at the top has the biggest broom and shovel. We all do our part to add our voices to call on Netjer and Ma'at, and the Heri Tep is our representative. The King is responsible for bringing forth the sun, the inundation, and letting Ma'at ascend. You've seen firsthand within the temple what happens when our old Heri Tep was unable to fulfill her duties. And so it goes in this government. The Heri Tep holds the kingly ka, and with it comes the ability to manifest Ma'at at the temple level, not just the personal level. The President of the US holds the Office of the President, which grants him the ability to make things happen on a federal level, not just a personal level. This goes beyond Red state/Blue state, Liberal or Conservative, and Republican or Democrat. Plain and simple, the wheel of America is turning, but our hamster is dead. There is no one leading us. I am a dyed-in-the-wool damn dirty librul (said with pride), and even when the folks on the other side of the ticket were in power, I still could support them, because they led, even if I didn't like where they were leading us. I can't say the same for the guy supposedly running the show now. One thing is evident and indisputable from any spin.
For three days after the initial chaos, he stayed on vacation.
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senebty,
Jen Sokoloski, Wab Priest of Ptah
Per AnkhThe Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Em hotep friends.
<bow>
I would be rather surprised if Nebra's claim turn out to be completely wrong. I am sure the local government did not do all it should have.
And I think the issue of the "blame game" is a good one.
Systems are complex and assigning exact responsibility for any specific short fall can be REALLY hard.
Having said that I think there is nothing complex here.
This is NOT about a specific shortfall. It is all about how we respond to a MAJOR NATIONAL DISASTER..
It does not matter if the locals did a bad job of preparing before hand or not. We have tens of thousands dead...
and even TODAY huge numbers stranded.
What is the appropriate RESPONSE?
Well--
1. Calling in the troups in appropriate numbers
2. Getting all Greyhound and trailways buses to help residents leave
3. Each day more died and though lesser in number IT IS STILL HAPPENING--- There should be a mobilization that is uch bigger
4. Stop refusing press access and international help because you don't want people to see how bad this is..treat it like the humanitarian emergency it is
These Four Points are exactly where Federal Responsibility is primary.
Now RESPONSE-ABILITY is key. This is a NATIONAL disadster not a local problem....And there it falls without a doubt on the President.
It is eaasy to get distracted by this or that minor issue and political tug of war stuff.
That is when it is time to stand back and ask WHAT is REALLY IMPORTANT here.
What is REALLY IMPORTANT is human lives...lives being lost each day.
The death toll was expected to reach 10,000..now it is said by many that 25,000 are expected.
Each day we fail to mobilize fully , to utilize all assistance we need for those still stranded, for the sick etc..the till is STILL increasing
Mr Bush IS 100% responsible for his failure to this day to do those 4 things. The key is his refusal to treat this as seriously as the World Trade Center..The number hurt or injured or sick from that pales in comparison.
Bush hopes people like us who live far from it all will not feel or experience the reality.
He DOES have the power to mobilize the sort of forces who can end this to a large degree
He had this power a day after the storm. But his priorities were not there.
This is Isfet in perhaps its most malicious form.
Forget the tug of war and political stuff around it.
We have some great examples out there of nations that do this extremely well. We can look at what Cuba has done to avoid this sort of catastrophe..andwe can take note that countries far less powerful than the US have done much better and responded far more humanely.
WHAT SHOULD a Nation do When something like this happens?
What should be happening RIGHT NOW? IS IT?
If Not .. Bush is responsible. He has the power to address this by virtue of his role as president
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Nebra
KOL
Reged: 08/01/02
Posts: 2383
Loc: Left kansas withToto
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I got most of my info from someone who knows and she will remain namless because of who she works for.... not the news.... I don't trust the News .... they spin things badly.... the bottom line... there's to much blame, too much red tape and now things are too heavy handed..... forcing people to leave completely safe dry areas while folks in flooded inner city areas still wait....... this mess is so miss managed on all levels it's sickening.....and it was messed up before the Fed got involved.......
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RevSedgwick
Heri Tep Hem Netjer
Reged: 04/12/02
Posts: 361
Loc: Racine, WI
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Em hotep, everyone! <bow>
I spent a little time on the Web today, looking for what people whose words I would ordinarily not read are saying "caused" Hurricane Katrina. I mean, I've heard about global warming, and the weakness of the levees and pumping stations, and the lack of federal funding for repair, and so on. And we've talked here about Set energy--Wab Jen suggests that it may be Aset's energy--and whether the hurricane might have been "necessary" destruction. Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth, as the King of Siam said.
Well, I found a few interesting sites, in about five minutes' looking:
No doubt there are many more explanations, and I'm listing them here not just to poke fun at them.
I actually do have a point, and it is that we may do better to look at the reality of what happened in New Orleans specifically than to look at why it might have happened. We know a lot of what happened: the hurricane flooded the city by breaking through the levees and dams, emergency response was inadequate and late, many people died, thousands are homeless, most may never be able to return to the city. All of that is commonplace news.
Here's something else I think is worth thinking about. New Orleans was home to a significant population of people who practiced African traditional religions of various kinds: Vodou, Santeria, and so on. In some ways these are our brothers and sisters. We are Kemetics, they practice other forms of traditional African religions, but we have common grounding in the religions and worldviews of Africa.
Many of these people are black, many are poor, many have died or been dispossessed. That is really significant, I think. A whole community of people with whom we share our roots has been broken up. This is a great loss, and I pray that they will be able to find one another again and that their roots will grow deep elsewhere and bear beautiful fruit once more.
Please join me in this prayer. I'm afraid there are folks who are all too happy that these African-based practitioners have been lost.
Rev Sedgwick
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Rev Sedgwick Heskett, Hemet NebetHet-Nit and Amun
Heri Tep Hem Netjer Per Ankh
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
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TaraFox
New member
Reged: 04/10/04
Posts: 2
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em hotep,
I've never posted here before, but having started a Set/Katrina discussion on HoN, I thought I'd ask y'all a few questions.
From the responces at HoN, it appears that the majority of KO'ers don't believe Netjer had anything to do with Katrina, they feel it was more along the lines of Apep's work. (I'm summarizing, there were differing opinions, but that was the most common)
How do you guys feel? Apep? Set? Both?
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RevRenee
Founder-Wehemu
Reged: 06/12/01
Posts: 2727
Loc: Racine Wisconsin
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Em hotep Tara
<bow>
Well I don't see that it matters much.
Shocked that I said that? Good!
I think it matters a great deal THAT it does not matter.
I'm not one for riddles either so let me explain.
First, Apep can only gain an upper hand when things are seriously out of whack.
And, well, things with the United States are indeed seriously out of whack. Yet that is also a time when Set and Netjer act in the service of Ma'at to make things right.
In this sense either option can make sense in our worldview. But here is where it gets tough:
Second, the destruction wrought by Katrina is not by any stretch positive. The victims are not those who are responsible for things being out of whack but rather the poor and disproportionately black poor population of Louisiana. The changes likely to come are not those that will benefit those communities but, as they have already, will benefit the rich companies and contractors who will build housing which those displaced will not be able to afford. Some may get some work building these homes over their old ones that they cannot live in themselves; but given Bush's recent decision to free companies from normal wage requirements during the reconstruction of the city, those who get the work will receive unusually low wages. Great eh?
While that would not seem to be the sort of choice Netjer would make, we are not Netjer. It is certainly possible that bringing to light the terrible suffering that results from our nation's injustices at home and abroad and how they are linked could well be a part of a larger plan which would seem a choice that Netjer would make.
It could also be reasonably inferred that the injustice released Apep and the target of the most vulnerable portion of the population would be a typical choice of Apep.
And of course being Kemetic we could suggest it to be both and more!
And guess what? It DOES NOT MATTER WHICH IS CORRECT.
In either case what we have is a situation of humanly caused injustice and isfet which will continue to grow and turn on us through all sorts of human, natural, and supernatural events if we do not correct the situation.
In either case the only appropriate response is a recognition of our human role in the disaster.
* We need to take seriously the environmental concerns such as global warming that increase the likelihood of natural catastrophes.
At present the Bush Administration has called all such concerns nonsense.
* We need to stop the killing of Iraqi people in numbers that far outstrip the hurricane in proportion.
* We need to preserve and fight for the democratic traditions of this country being removed in the name of a "war against terrorism." The number of Arabs imprisoned with no charges and no rights grows each week.
* We need to take a hard look at racism and poverty and how they work together to deny people basic survival and human rights.
* We need to ask whether it is Ma'at to continue to benefit the rich while the poor suffer
Look at the realities here:
Many poor did not have access to transportation to get out of Louisiana.
The rich drove out in their recreational vehicles before the storm.
The poor were put in the Astrodome without food or resources. They were treated as prisoners with a focus not on saving lives but preventing damage to property!
The rich had well organized shelters outside the endangered area.
This is the place where it is impossible to speak to Ma'at and avoid politics.
The privatization of governmental functions is not Ma'at.
That is the primary agenda of the Bush admninistration. And this is not leftist myth or secret. Bush is proud of ths idea.
If rebuilding is in corporate hands,it will be done to serve corporate interests--not Ma'at
Less government is a rather American and modern idea. Government abandoning responsibility to the poor and the just distribution of resources is not an idea compatible with our religion. Ma'at is first and foremost SOCIAL: it is about justice in the WHOLE.
That is our work as Kemetic Traditionalists. Attributing responsibility anywhere outside the human realm is a cop out. The hurricane happened. It was not the CAUSE of this disaster. Netjer is undoubtibly aware and present in the midst of all of this. But this was an act of neither Netjer nor Apep. They are not the primary cause.
We are.
When we have the ABILITY to act for Ma'at and do not, we fail in our RESPONSE-ABILITY.
We are the ones responsible.
We can call on Netjer to help us, but it is we, humans and especially citizens of the United States, who are responsible for the chaos in the world today.
May we act to counter those forces of isfet acting in our name.
May Netjer help us as a community and each of us to do this in the way most suited to who we are and our call in the world.
Kheperu!
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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org
Edited by RevSedgwick (09/14/05 04:12 PM)
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Melinda
KOL
Reged: 08/16/05
Posts: 26
Loc: Albion PA
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Wow, those are some inspiring words. Definitly something to take to heart.
Oh and Hi TaraFox. Nice to see a familiar face... er... name. *^_^*.
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WabJenSoko
Wab Priest / KOL Newsletter Editor / Central Regio
Reged: 08/22/01
Posts: 850
Loc: Lost in Middle America
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Hotep TaraFox *bow*
while it's tempting to think that Katrina is the work of Apep (and not hard to do, considering all the death and destruction, and the fact that some of it seems intentional), laying blame at Apep's feet is somewhat...limiting.
Apep is about unexistence...unbeing. While Katrina may have wiped New Orleans as we know it off the map and reshaped the Gulf Coast for years to come, none of it is un-Being. Consider for a moment...mentally lift up all the cities, towns, roads, homes, businesses, man-made structures, etc., out of the way of the storm's path, and what do you find? Hurricane Katrina flooded some areas, and brought much-needed rain to others. The flooding from the Mississippi plain, like the Nile flooding, shifts around the sediment and shakes up the nutrient composition of the dirt. That's not un-making at all.
But Katrina didn't un-make NOLA, or any of the other, smaller towns and cities where she hit. She didn't un-make the people who lost their lives to her wrath, either. People were and are just as much part and parcel to natural disasters as Nature is. One of Katrina's big lessons, I think, is that she showed us what happens when we don't take care of each other in community. Our national community has a government in place to maintain order, and we have come to expect that government to keep order in situations where we can't just let things slide on autopilot. What we saw with Katrina is that the plans that were made (or not made, as it were), didn't work.
What we also saw, too, or are seeing now as more and more news reports come in, is that people--individuals and small groups or centers of community--are helping each other...or trying to, where they're not being actively blocked.
Our worldview in KTR says that the world tends towards Ma'at. So how could Katrina be "in Ma'at" so to speak? And more importantly, *why* would so much destruction be "in Ma'at?" The answers aren't easy to come up with, and in my experience with Netjer and Their messages to us, they shouldn't be heard with only the short, direct, or causal view in mind. What we learn from this is going to be something as vast and far-reaching as Katrina herself.
In contrast to some of the wingnuttery found at the links a few posts back, I'm inclined to think that the Divine message from Katrina has got to be more sublime and multi-faceted than just, "God did it to punish [insert favorite group of People Different From Us here] for [insert favorite behavior/attitude/belief Different From Us here]." The Divine is a lot smarter than that.
senebty,
WabetJen
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senebty,
Jen Sokoloski, Wab Priest of Ptah
Per AnkhThe Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
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KheperaAkasha
shemsu
Reged: 08/21/02
Posts: 576
Loc: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
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Well spoken and I fully agree.
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"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
- Gandhi
"Pain and foolishness lead to great bliss and complete knowledge, for Eternal Wisdom created nothing under the sun in vain."
-Kahlil Gibran, "The Voice of the Poet"
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