As more than a million people are trying to cope with being homeless, separated from loved ones, and in many, many cases, the loss of loved ones, the nation must begin to cope with issues that can either tear us apart or enable us to emerge more unified, stronger, and better than ever. To do this we must understand what happened and what did not happen. Every Christian needs to also understand why this happened.
To understand a situation you have to stand under it or try to view it from being in it. I have tried to do this from a spiritual perspective and a natural perspective, which I will call a “manager’s perspective.” I Corinthians 15:46 says, “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual,” so I will address this from the natural, “manager’s perspective” first.
From the Head
I do not consider myself to be either a great leader or manager, but I have spent many years of my life studying both leadership and management because the world is presently ruled by them. I have also been blessed to get to know some of the best leaders and managers in just about every field. I have sought to understand the common characteristics of these great leaders, as well as the major hindrances to successful leadership and management. I do believe that these are crucial issues for the church and the world in the times to which we have come, but I am addressing them as a student of great leadership and management, not as one.
Having said that, if I point to a flaw or mistake made by someone, I am not doing it from a perspective of thinking that I could have done any better than he or she in this terrible situation, especially with all of the emotional trauma coming at them on top of the logistical hurricane of troubles. As much as this may be an unpopular position at this time, I will begin by saying that I think that even with all of the mistakes and problems in this situation, a remarkable, even amazingly good job has been done in virtually every facet of this tragedy so far.
Even so, the response to the disaster seemed far too slow on every level. The management of the available rescue and aid assets seemed to be somewhere between bungled and non-existent for a time. The key word here is “seemed.” No such operation will ever be carried out perfectly, but we do not know whether this could have really been done any better or faster than it was this time. Please consider the following facts.
The federal government was moving resources toward the area even before the storm hit, but it is no small feat to mobilize and get the needed resources into the pipeline for such a huge operation. Just to move an army division of 12,000 usually takes weeks of planning, even with the best of communication and coordination between the branches of service. If you throw into this task the loss of communications because of the loss of power, as well as the roads and airports that needed to be cut off and closed, the level 5 hurricane logistical problems seemed too enormous to overcome.
Then there was a jurisdiction problem. The federal government cannot just move in and take over such situations. The state and city was directly responsible for managing this crisis until they gave it to the federal authorities. This has to be done in a timely manner in order to get this whole process moving.
Then, just as the aid pipeline started moving, most of the resources had to be diverted from bringing food, water, and medical aid to rescuing tens of thousands of people from their rooftops or bridges. When this operation was finally getting some momentum, the rescuers were driven away by gunfire coming from some of the very ones they were trying to help.
Certainly there must be an investigation into what caused problems or bottlenecks in the Katrina relief. I think anyone who really understands such large leadership and management problems is likely very amazed at the incredible job which has been done in this situation so far.
Saying that, there is always room for improvement. Wise leaders will analyze even their greatest successes to see how they can do them better. One of the most glaring needs in this situation was for a strong and decisive “crisis leader,” at least for the first few days of this disaster. There just was not a Mayor Rudy Giuliani present in New Orleans as there was in New York after 911.
This, too, is not to blame anyone. A good crisis leader is very rare, much less a great one. Someone who may be a great leader in peacetime may be a very poor one in crisis. Likewise, great crisis leaders may not be very good in normal leadership and management situations. The characteristics which make one an effective leader in the politics of a democracy will rarely be found in a great crisis leader. They will be much more common in the military where there is a devotion to developing these skills.
When the generals came on the scene in New Orleans they did take charge, order was restored quickly, and the necessary aid did get to the people fast. This kind of authority is exactly what is needed in a crisis situation, but it is not necessarily the kind you want running the government day-to-day, unless the nation is in a war or other crisis, which of course we are now. However, even the war on terrorism is a different kind of war than has been fought before, and so military type leadership is not necessarily the kind you want at the top, unless it becomes much more threatening than it is now.
Being a democracy, what do we do? Crises seem to be hitting us almost continually now. This needs to be addressed, and it can be without compromising our freedoms, if it is done before the crisis gets out of hand. We need to understand that it is against the nature of a democracy to address problems, much less spend money on them, before they are a crisis. Somehow we must be able to more clearly anticipate the future if we are going to be prepared for it. We are in need of leadership that is pro-actively engaged in preparing for the future, the dangers as well as the opportunities.
Many blame the administration for not adequately planning for the post war occupation of Iraq, but no one wants to mention that the administration asked for the money to do this planning, which was many millions since it was a complicated issue, but congress would not grant it in the budget for the war. The millions that could have been spent then would have probably saved us billions later, but that is hindsight. I just don’t think it was entirely the administration’s fault, though maybe they could have pushed for this harder.
Planning and making the necessary preparations for problems will save us a lot during the coming crises though—and they are coming. We have recognized and made adjustments to the kind of war we are fighting against terror to a large degree, and we need also to understand the different kind of crises that we will be facing in the future. There needs to be planning for there to be decisive action, with the flexibility which will be needed. Even so, with the best planning, the best system, and the best resources, there still will be poor results if you have poor leaders or management.
Whether you like his politics or not, President Bush is a great crisis leader. As soon as he personally engaged in this situation, things changed quickly and for the good. Maybe he did wait too long to engage, but it is likely he did this out of respect for the mayors and governors involved. Again, the federal government does not have the authority to send the military or other assets into these situations until they are asked by the states, unless martial law is declared, a very last resort in anyone’s thinking I would hope.
Then there needs to be a clear change of command to the federal officials; this is likely where at least part of the breakdown occurred in this situation. Even the generals will be hesitant to use their authority until they are released to do it by the civil authorities.
By this I am not pointing the finger at any of the civil authorities either. Again, from my limited perspective, under the circumstances almost everyone seemed to be doing a very good job. If there is a breakdown it may be in the establishment of clear guidelines for mayors, governors, the federal authorities, and the military if they are to be involved. We also need to understand that even with clear guidelines established, the passing off of jurisdiction, responsibility, and authority in such a situation can be difficult. When the Mayor of New Orleans told the Governor of Louisiana and the President that they needed to get together and determine who was in charge to get the job done, that’s what he was addressing.
Even though it may have made things clumsy, and therefore slower, we should be glad that our federal government cannot just come in and take over any situation which is under the jurisdiction of a local government without clear, established, guidelines. These guidelines exist in law enforcement situations, and requiring such guidelines are a fundamental bulwark for the protection of our basic freedoms; however, it is obvious from this situation that the guidelines need to be made more clear for such major crises as well.
The Natural and the Spiritual
Now I want to discuss an issue which falls in both the natural and spiritual realm—racism. This needs to be addressed because it raised its ugly head, with devastating timing, and made a very difficult and complicated problem much more difficult and complicated.
Granted, we still do have more very serious racial problems in America and in the church. As I have said often and written about for years, racism is one of the ultimate evils of the human heart because it is founded upon two of the most powerful evil strongholds—fear and/or pride. The Lord Jesus Himself prophesied that it would be one of the ultimate problems at the end of the age, and that we would be judged as “sheep or goats” by how we treated “the foreigners”—those who are different from us (see Mathew 25:32). We cannot overlook this problem.
We must also keep in mind, as stated, that to understand someone else we must try to “stand under” their situation. I have tried to do this for most of my Christian life when it comes to understanding different races. Even so, I don’t necessarily feel that I understand it as well as I would like or should, being a Christian leader, but I do make the effort. So I ask you to take what I am about to say as coming from one who still feels very clumsy at it. Even if I am wrong in my perspective, which I might be, what I am about to say can still have merit in helping those who are from minority races understand how white people may be feeling, who want to be your friends and allies.
If you need to categorize me politically I am a conservative, but one who is appalled by how conservative administrations have mishandled the environment and some social issues. I personally believe in Affirmative Action, at least until something better can be adopted. I believe in racial reconciliation, with restoration, and in some cases, restitution. I grieve that the party of Abraham Lincoln so lost touch with the noble purpose of freeing the oppressed. And I grieve that the party of the first true conservationist, Theodore Roosevelt, so lost touch with the importance of protecting the environment.
However, I am mostly a conservative because I feel that the true result of good leadership and management is to get the job done, and I feel that many of the good hearted attempts of liberals to get some jobs done have actually been counter-productive to getting them done. I agree with what Winston Churchill said, “If you are not a liberal when you are twenty you have no heart, but if you are not a conservative by the time you are forty you have no mind” with the addendum we really need a marriage of those who have the heart with those who have the mind or ability.
I have felt that racism is one of the ultimate evils for most of my life, but do not necessarily think I have done very well in my own small attempts to do what I could to address it. In fact, I have been pretty much a failure at it. When I started a business in Mississippi, I determined to hire as many black, inner-city kids as I could. I wanted to give them an opportunity to learn the aviation business, maintenance professions, or become pilots. I was shocked at how some of my white employees were dismayed at this, saying it would be a big mistake, and some even threatened to quit. I decided to let them complain or quit, but I was going to do it. I tried and failed. Even so, I think I failed from my own naivety, not because it cannot or should not be done.
The first black kid I hired was only with us a short time before we caught him breaking into an airplane to steal some valuable equipment. I did not want to turn him over to the police because, at that time, I was alarmed at the racial remarks the local sheriff had made when I met him, and did not want to subject this kid to what I thought he might suffer in jail. So I just fired him. Then he sued me, accusing me of being a racist, among other things.
That was painful, but what really got to me was how he boasted to me that his father made a living suing white men like me and he was going to do the same. I refused to settle out of court, and the suit eventually went away, but my white employees had plenty of room to tell me they had told me so. I also had to consider whether I was prepared to keep risking my small, still fragile business trying to do this. I decided that I would not give up on doing it, but I could not do it until we were much bigger and stronger and able to deal with the potentially serious problems and distractions. I found out as I related this experience to other business people it was not an uncommon experience for them. It seems that many were then at least trying to make a living off of naive white people like me.
I also think that if I were a young black kid and was subjected to the kind of racism I saw in Mississippi at the time (twenty-five years ago), I would probably have had the same attitude and may well have done the same thing. I also consider this situation at least partially my fault for not screening the person I hired better. I think my heart was right, but I did poorly at administrating my vision.
As a church leader I don’t think I have done very well at this either. I resolved never to hire or promote “token” minorities or women. I want them on our team and in our leadership, and we have some, but our MorningStar congregations are far too white, and so is our leadership. We have not given up on our hope to be “a house of prayer for all nations (literal “races”), but to date we just have not done very well. So, if someone said I have no right to address racial problems, I would probably agree with them. However, I am going to do it anyway, addressing some potentially even more sensitive issues, because even if I am wrong in my perspectives, I might at least help those of other races understand white people like me.
Being much more of a student of leadership and management than of races and cultures, I do often judge situations from how they address and solve problems or take advantage of opportunities, rather than from a racial or political perspective. I don’t think this is just a white male thing, because I have seen female black leaders and managers do the same thing. I am not just saying this again to remind you of my perspective so that you can understand me better, but I think we need to start looking at what will get results also. A lot of what is done to heal the wounds between races is obviously not working.
When the race card is used in a situation to accuse or deflect blame from themselves, I immediately lose respect for them and their position or cause, if there is not overwhelming evidence that they are correct. There are some who have a knee-jerk tendency to use the racist accusation, and many are starting to now have a knee-jerk reaction to immediately reject or disregard those who use it. Both are wrong.
However, in general, the racist accusation now seems to be a cheap and worn-out form of manipulation that needs to stop if those of another race, culture, or any group really want a position at the table of power. To use it now is usually viewed as a lack of real merit in the position, as well as a lack of real leadership. Though it may still get applause within their own group, those who use this card now will lose immeasurable respect and influence with those outside of their group.
For a conservative, it is a major confession for me to admit that over the years I have grown in my respect for liberal congressmen and politicians, especially some of the black ones. When I hear they are going to speak or be interviewed on television, I often make it a point to watch and listen to them carefully to learn. Even if I have profound disagreements with them in some areas, there are some I have come to deeply respect. But when some of these fired their racists shots during this Katrina catastrophe, all of the respect I had gained for them was instantly lost. I was as shocked as I think the helicopter pilots must have been when they started taking gunfire from the people they were trying to rescue in New Orleans. This could not have been worse timing, more harmful and even worse politics, if any of them had truly serious national, political aspirations.
Even though I was so disappointed in them and wanted to avoid hearing what they had to say now, an apology on their part at this time for being so out of order would probably raise my respect for them even higher than it was before. However, I am now alarmed by them and feel that they are in fact the biggest racists in this situation. From the comments I have heard from others, I am certainly not alone in this feeling.
I do believe that often those who use the racist card to manipulate or gain political advantage are in fact the worst racists themselves, but the timing of these black congressmen was quite unbelievable. It further complicated a very difficult and complicated situation, possibly even further endangering those who at the time desperately needed rescuing. Many of the people who were risking their lives to save black people were white people, and the people who were shooting at them were not white people. These politicians did not need to be thinking from a color perspective at that time, and though it is very difficult for minorities to believe this, the color of people’s skin was probably not a consideration with anyone until these kinds of shots were fired by these congressmen. Then it was.
Those who chose to throw fuel on the racial fires in the middle of such a crisis have certainly disqualified themselves from ever receiving the trust from those with whom they needed to achieve any serious leadership position on a national level. I personally do not believe in giving up on anyone, and would be open for my own respect for these congressmen to be rebuilt, but it will sure be harder now. I also think it has made resolving the real management and leadership problems for the sake of better managing future crises more difficult.
Talk to Me
I have asked many of my black friends to tell me about the things we do which offend them, and it has been very enlightening and helpful to hear these things, though I think some of them may have been too much of a friend for them to tell me everything. I suspect that I still do or say a lot of things that are offensive to other races, but since I don’t know what they are, all I can do is offer a general apology because I really don’t want to do it, and don’t think I would if I were ignorant of them.
One thing I have been told by a couple of black friends is that they never believe white people who say they do not see others in black or white terms. There may be some truth to this, but I do believe that with many, if not most, white people in America, there has been such a change in racial attitudes that whether one is white or black is more on the back burner than the front burner. This is not true with minorities, which is understandable for one who is of a minority, as I have become acutely aware of the times I have been in Africa or other nations where I was an obvious minority. However, as hard as this may be for someone of a minority to understand, a white person in America who says this is probably not lying.
Except among Christians, I feel much closer to black Americans than I do white Europeans. I also feel closer to, and would stand with a Muslim against an atheist. However, I am also very aware of the differences. I think anyone is both blind and ignorant who does not understand that there are differences between men and women, between races, and religions. I also think it is very wrong to ever disrespect another human being, another culture, or another religion. I may profoundly disagree with them, but I don’t want to do it in a disrespectful way. However, I don’t think we can ever properly relate to anyone else if we do not recognize the obvious differences. My goal is to see how a bridge of trust can be built between them, not just use them as a point of division.
In the Old Testament no one could be a priest if they had scabs. Scabs are unhealed wounds. The reason for this was that if one had unhealed wounds, others could not touch them, get close to them, and therefore they could not be good mediators. The worst tyrants in history have all had emotional wounds of which they never were healed, which became an open door to evil, or what the Bible calls “a gate of hell.” We must forgive. We must move on.
I think a woman could make a great President, and I look forward to the day when we have a black President. Our first woman President may also be our first black President. I think America has matured to this point in its racial and sexist attitudes, generally, and that is very encouraging. In general, I think that those from women’s liberation movements who are obviously very wounded and operating out of as much hatred and disrespect for men as promotion of liberty for women, will never be able to sit at the real table of power. If they did, it would result in tyranny. Likewise, I think the same is true of leaders of civil rights movements who are actually fomenting racism and further division because of their own unhealed wounds.
I don’t trust a wounded animal or a wounded person. However, I love animals and people and would love to see all healed so that they could be trusted. However, I am still very alarmed at how many of the black leaders of this country operate out of such obvious wounds and obvious racism. You may be wounded because you were in fact wounded, but the truly great, and the truly noble, rise above their wounds. Nelson Mandella did and became one of the greatest statesmen and leaders of the twentieth century.
If you are of a minority and are offended because you think that I am trying to preach to you, and I’m a white man, I’m sorry about that; and you’re right, I may not have a right to do this. But consider this too, if what I am saying is in fact what many, if not most, white people are thinking, you can learn from my perspective. Like it or not, the job won’t get done without the trust of the white people, too. Most are not going to continue being manipulated by racist accusations, just as you should not continue to be oppressed by them. We both need freedom. Who is going to prepare the highway for the truth by taking the higher-way?
I do think there is an abundance of great minority and women leaders in America today. America may be the most blessed nation on earth because of its diversity. We all need to be careful to look to leaders who are not wounded, or the racists, regardless of what color they are, if we are going to be truly great.
In a future Bulletin I will more deeply address the spiritual implications of Hurricane Katrina. For now, let us pray for all involved in trying to help the victims of this tragedy and determine what each of us can do personally which might help even one person. There are many agencies, charities, and churches that are engaged and doing a wonderful job. Give to them, volunteer for them.
You may want to join us in our efforts to help. You may also make donations for this to MorningStar. One hundred percent of the donations designated for Hurricane Katrina Relief will go to that effort. MorningStar does not keep a single cent for administration or our own costs. We can also use materials such as trucks, buses, tools chain saws, power saws, building materials, and other items which can be used to help in this effort.
To make a credit card donation, donate online -or- call 1-800-542-0278 and just say you want to make a donation for Disaster Relief. You may also mail your donation (please mark them for Disaster Relief Fund or DRF):
MorningStar Fellowship Church
P.O. Box 440
Wilkesboro, NC 28697
Attn: Accounting/DRF
MorningStar will be sending teams down for immediate relief of those in the most desperate need, but we are also formulating a strategy for the long term. We are going to be looking for victims who we can see through to a totally restored life that is even better than they had before. For these we will be doing serious screening, but if you have information about those we could help in a long term way like this, please also contact us through this website.