In hateful remarks which will doubtless be echoed elsewhere, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has stated that Hurricane Katrina is "God's punishment" for the war in Iraq:

Speaking to a large crowd in South Philadelphia tonight, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan suggested that the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina was divine punishment for the violence America had inflicted on Iraq.

"New Orleans is the first of the cities going to tumble down... unless America changes its course," Farrakhan said.

"It is the wickedness of the people of America and the government of America that is bringing the wrath of God down," he told several hundred people at Tinsley Temple United Methodist Church.

His remarks were enthusiastically received.

He was in town as part of a multicity tour designed to drum up support for an Oct. 15 event in Washington designed to build on and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March he organized in 1995. The new effort is called the Millions More Movement.

Farrakhan made similar remarks at a luncheon hosted by District 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents blue-collar city workers.

"The justice of God is coming home now," he said in an hour-long speech. Among those attending were City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, Mayor Street's son Sharif Street, and Imam Shamsud-din Ali, the Muslim cleric convicted in the City Hall corruption probe.

And it would be wasted on Farrakhan, whose remarks are, after all, wholly in character. What's more disturbing is to see the remarks were "enthusiastically received" by Philadelphia city officials. (It's also disturbing that he's reportedly engaged in a "gay outreach" campaign.)

The wickedness of the people of America?

That doesn't sound like brotherly love to me.

AND MORE: In other local news, "evangelist" Michael Marcavage (a longtime topic of satire here) stated that hurricane Katrina 'destroyed a wicked city':

Repent America, the Christian ministry in Lansdowne known for its street demonstrations against homosexuality, said yesterday that Katrina was "an act of God" that "destroyed a wicked city" because it hit on the eve of a large gay festival in New Orleans.

Michael Marcavage, Repent America's leader, cited Southern Decadence, an often-raucous celebration that was to open today in the French Quarter for the 34th year. "Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster," he said. "However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long."

An antigay activist group based in Philadelphia says that the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina reflects God's judgment on New Orleans for hosting the gay Southern Decadence party. In a statement issued Wednesday, Repent America described "homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets" at the annual event, which draws some 125,000 revelers to the Big Easy each Labor Day weekend. "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," said Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "May it never be the same."

Not to be outdone by the likes of Marcavage, Godhatesfags.com has of course gotten in on the act:

Thank God for Katrina
New Orleans, symbol of America, seen for what it is: a putrid, toxic, stinking cesspool of fag fecal matter.

No surprise there.

These guys all deserve each other, and I suspect they'll eventually join each other.

MORE: Among other odd ideas, Marcavage thinks the government should execute homosexuals:

Marcavage never uses slurs to describe homosexuals; rather, he turns the word homosexual itself into a slur, using it as a sort of branding. He is a deliberate speaker, careful as any politician. But if he is diplomatic with his words, he uses them to advance a militant agenda.

"According to the Scriptures, it's the government's job to enforce God's law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don't want to really get into this — it'll make me sound like I'm crazy — but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I'm not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals. … I'm saying that the government's duty is to uphold God's law. … I know that's harsh, but we have all broken the law, God's law, and we need to be held accountable."

(Via Ex-Gay Watch.)

Sigh.