Heaven Help Us All

Every holiday or so in New Orleans, these Christians come out of the woodwork with these soul-saving banners and it confuses the heck out of me.

What is it about Mardi Gras that brings these people out? There are the wide-known aspects of lusting and worldly pleasures that people should be saved from. Are we to assume that all the Mardi Gras-goers are immersing themselves in the iniquitous nature of Mardi Gras?


Something about these banners weirds me out. Maybe because to me, they're preaching to the converted, but it just had a tendency to come off as excessive to me.



It's especially daytime that I have a problem with this. There are families with children there, enjoying the parades. Nobody's getting drunk, flipping the bird, and exposing their breasts. Yet, the children see this:


What message does this send to the children? That going to a parade is a sin? That the botherless exercise of going outside with the barbecue grill and cooking food while dancing to jazz music and catching beads is wrong?

I personally think that this should be a year-long crusade. Obviously, Mardi Gras brings in too much money to the poor city of New Orleans for them to outlaw this timeless tradition. The money that's pumped into the city through the taxing of hotels, alcohol vendors, clubs, bars, all that goes into funding the city. I would like to wager that some of these people don't even live in New Orleans, leaving them to be lossless if the city were to go even FARTHER into the red, financially.

I would like to know what happy medium they would suggest. Since you know that Mardi Gras will not go away, what do you want? The police are already issuing citations for exposed breasts. Are we supposed to go back to Prohibition? Should we close down Bourbon St., prompting sinners to sin somewhere else? What happens then? They go to their cities of origin and have a sinfest there.

I believe their aim is well-natured, but their timing is horrible. Don't wait until AFTER they're there to protest. Go on TV, get on the news, run ads in the paper. You have a YEAR to save souls and convince them not to waste their money on the sin-filled trip. The money that funds their plane ticket and hotel stay could be offering in church. Your job is THAT much harder after they're already there. You come sticking signs in their face as if they are to be magically reimbursed if they turn around and go back home.

In college, I was a member of a group called Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. They have an annual retreat called "Mardi Gras Outreach", where they went to other colleges and reached out to them. I asked one of the ladies that went why they didn't go to New Orleans, where the sin is rampant and we are all little horny devils (damn, New Orleanians get a BAD rap!). She responded that Chi Alpha in itself is reaching out to colleges and is college-based. It made no sense to me. There are colleges in New Orleans that are worthy of talking to as well. Don't go AWAY from the Mardi Gras to places like Texas A&M, talking about saving souls when there is a city MUCH closer that is in need of prayer. It's like knowing that Katrina obliterated New Orleans and sending relief money to Seattle, Washington. It makes no sense.

Why do anti-Mardi Gras efforts go silenced all the way until the weekend before the big day, then it's a save-fest. Go out to the people. Either attack the source (the holiday) or get to those that keep it alive (the patrons) BEFORE they leave. I guess it's the fact that it's never too late to save souls, to which I agree. I guess repeat visitors would count as people who could still be shown the light.

My point: all of Mardi Gras is not bad. It makes money for an already economically-crippled city. It gives people the chance to unwind and have good, clean fun. People grab trinkets and jewelry and can keep the most authentic of New Orleans souvenirs. There is a fine line to tread when going against the Mardi Gras grain. I don't have any definite, foolproof solutions either, but I see something wrong with always parading around with those banners only during that time of year. Bourbon St. is a cess pool of sin ALL YEAR. Keep your banners up.

Shut the whole city down while you're at it. Shut down the holes in the wall, bounce music, Bourbon, jazz music, the poor educational system, the decrepit housing, the war-torn areas from Katrina, Mardi Gras, Essence, Sugar Bowl, the losing Saints, Bayou Classic, Xavier, EVERYTHING. Some N.O. dissenters say there's nothing good with any of it anyway, so why is the WHOLE CITY not worthy of being preached against? People get drunk and get naked through ALL those mediums, so why is Mardi Gras the only target? Then, what about all the mock Mardi Gras celebrations they have throughout the state? Do those get protested too? Somebody break it down for me, cuz I just don't understand.

-B