Introduction

To date due to the wildfires in California, over 180,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, close to 24,000 acres of land have been scorched, approximately 7,000 structures have been destroyed, and there at least 16 dead with numerous persons still missing. Regardless of the title of this article, I hope to present something here that is much more than a blame game. There is some blame, but it is blame in which we all share. More importantly, from a Christian perspective, we need to continually keep the people in California in our prayers, and we need to call for compassionate aid so that those who have experienced these devastating fires can begin the restoration of their lives in as much as that is possible. Presently, legacy news continues its politicizing of everything under the sun. Although there are some political lessons to be learned here, our learning opportunities must go beyond political affiliation. Above all, this is a time for compassion and grace in which the church can lead for meeting the needs for those on whom these catastrophic fires have fallen.

Reflecting on What Is Lost

Take some time for a while to reflect on the catastrophe that swept across California. What is lost? Our first response would most likely accent the homes that people had built, lived in for many years of their lives, all representing the carving out of families’ lives. But what did those homes contain? Think of your own home. Clothes and appliances come to mind. But there is more than that. Reflect on what you hold as valuable in your home: personal gifts, family pictures, cherished mementos, and all that is held dear that represents ones ties to others and the meaning that these memorabilia hold. Then there are the memories themselves: family reunions, rooms built for children and others, celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries. For those who are in Christ, the rooms and solitary places where family members prayed, read Scripture, and engaged in personal meditation. Memories of children growing up are now left to memory alone. Recollections of neighborhood friends and get togethers are swept away with a Santa Ana wind and scorching flames. Personal collections – coins, stamps, art, etc. – are now lost to the flames. And then there are those families who lost love ones to the devastating fires, ones with whom they cannot reunite. As a hobby my mom created pottery. She owned a kiln, would make dishes, and then would paint them. After her death, I inherited all of her work. I am sure that many of the families in California owned knickknacks along similar lines, those things on which a price cannot be fixed. All gone now with the winds of fire. Those of us who have not experienced such devastation cannot fathom what people in California are going through at the moment. This is a time to pull alongside people and support them in all the ways we can. We need to cease politicizing the moment along shallow lines of political party and affiliation.

Ideas Have Consequences

How do we account for the political side of what is now transpiring in California without overly politicizing the situation? First, the blame game must come to a halt. There is no one person or political party that is to blame for California’s plight. As a culture and society, we are all to blame to some extent for what is occurring in that state at the moment. We have become a people, regardless of affiliation, who looks too much to the State to give us life. Individuals for decades sounded an alarm, warning people of the catastrophe that is now taking place on the West Coast. Several of the areas in which people lived lacked the water that was necessary for firefighters to do their job. The kindling and brush that were too close to homes needed clearing decades ago. To pontificate that people shouldn’t have been living in theses areas is nothing but full-blown bloviating. People built their homes and lives in Malibu, the Palisades, and Altadena. These were homes, not just structures. They have lost more than what can be summed up in materialistic terms.

We live in a time where the State ha become the supposedly provider and savior of humankind. In the state of California people relinquished their property rights to those in power. The trade off is that people lost their property. When one reflects on all that was lost, as discussed above, property is more than what we commonly construe that term to entail. What lies ahead is not just a few days or months to normalize. For people to reclaim what they have lost and regain some sense of normality will take years if not decades. We are on the cusp of a new administration coming into power. What I would ask of this administration is what I would ask of any human being. Set aside the political bickering and blame game and present yourself to be a servant of the people who have experienced the harrowing wreckage of their lives. California is a loud and clear ringing bell sounding the warning that the State is not a god. The unconstitutional power that the State has arrogated to itself needs defeating. It is not only the people in California who have exalted the State to a position of ultimate power. We live in a time of Statist power. We are all guilty. Statist power is antithetical to Constitutional natural rights. The time is now to rid State power from our lives, taking back the rights on which this nation was built.

For those of us in Christ, we can pray, serve, and support the rebuilding efforts that must take place – that must begin now – in California.

[Note: At the publishing of this article, the death toll in California has risen to 24.]

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D./January 14th, 2025

ANALYSIS/Current Events