Posted on 01/14/2010 1:17:00 PM PST by ZGuy
It is excruciating to see the images of human suffering emanating from Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Prayers and practical compassionate care is truly needed.
But sometimes things are said in the midst of crises that exacerbate the already raw feelings of grieving people. So then what's all the fuss about Pat Robertson's remarks?
I first knew something was up while driving yesterday. I heard two national conservative talk radio personalities make some disparaging remarks about Pat Robertson, who, by the way, is one of the reasons they even have jobs. Pat was one of the most important leaders of a resurgent conservative movement.
When I got home I immediately looked up what Pat said and I was overwhelmed. But not by what Robertson had said, rather by the hype and hysteria of those who took an expression of genuine concern and hope for Haiti's future and used it to bash Pat.
Last week it was Fox News analyst Brett Hume's turn to be attacked because he dared to compassionately urge Tiger Woods to turn to Christianity and find forgiveness and redemption. Now it's Pat Robertson's turn.
Perhaps what we have here is a simple failure to communicate, but then again, what Pat said was not complicated. Or is it that there is so much contempt against Pat Robertson and /or what he represents, that no benefit of the doubt is to be afforded him? Or is there something else in play.
What exactly did Pat say that was so terribly egregious?
First he retold a very familiar story about the history of Haiti about a pact that was made by its revolutionary leaders. In exchange for help in throwing out the French Haiti would serve satan. Some have disputed this ever happened. But what is indisputable is Haiti's history ever since then has been one of incredible suffering.
To use Pat's words, Haiti's history was, "cursed, desperately poor." Then Pat went on to describe the incredible economic disparity between Haiti, which sits on one side of the Island of Hispaniola, and the Dominican Republic on the other side. So was Pat using "cursed" literally or metaphorically?
The modern cynic chaffs at any suggestion that there may be a connection between historical realities and unseen spiritual influences, or as the Bible calls it God's "blessing or cursing." Although most people are very comfortable with the notion that God blesses people, we are not at all comforted with the terrifying prospect that Almighty God might also curse.
The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God and /or moral causality. Eastern religions call it Karma, but Christians call it God's Providence. I wonder if the reason that so many hate Pat is because he expressed what many Americans don't want to face- the moral and spiritual dimension of our lives.
As long as everything is going well we live as if we are never going to die. Then crisis hits and death slaps us in the face. Rather than humbling ourselves and searching our hearts like the Pilgrims did, we lash out at God and anyone who dares insinuate Him into our lives.
What the Robertson bashers left out is that finally, and with great compassion and concern in his voice, Pat said, "They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I am optimistic that some good thing may come, but right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."
Agree or disagree with what Pat said, it was well within the bounds of historic Christian theology. Maybe that's the real problem after all.
Man is offended by the fact that he is not God. They resent God's Providence. A simple reading of the Bible shows how God uses natural disasters to further his purposes. Earthquakes, floods, famine, locusts, etc. they're all there, but man hates it. Rather than humbly acknowledging that God's ways are not our ways, man rails against and accuses God. The last thing they will do is cry out for his mercy in Jesus Christ.
So Pat is an easy target. But before you judge him perhaps you ought to know that the whole time he was making these comments they had the number on their screen for their viewers to give to their humanitarian relief organization Operation Blessing. OB has already been at work in Haiti long before the earthquake.
Operation Blessing has touched the lives of more than 209.3 million people in 105 countries and all 50 states, providing goods and services valued at more than $1.7 billion. So, once you have surpassed that, then you will be in a better place to judge Pat Robertson. In the meantime, let's do what Pat is doing and bless the poor people of Haiti.
Robertson is another Cato, warning the rest of the Romans...futile, after so many of them have moved in from Europe over the past 150 years.
Thanks, Theo, for posting this link.
Most of the broadcast is about the help that is rolling into Haiti, about the help that was already there before the quake, and the people organizing to get more help on the ground and now.
The remark about Haiti’s founding fathers was one line of a long report on disaster relief. If you know Haiti’s history you’ll know that their history is horrifying. Its easy to imagine what happens to a country when the ruling class is addicted to a murderous form of Marxism; imagine a country in which until recent years the ruling class was addicted to a murderous religion. Read the history. Read about Duvalier Senior, and his predecessors. It is no surprise that Haiti is a non-stop horrorshow.
Obviously the press is going to focus on Robertson’s remark about Haiti’s founding, but they aren’t going to repeat anything he said about the aid that is on the way. And they aren’t going to talk about how Haiti came to be the way it is. Not just its founding, but two hundred years of a circular nightmare.
If you understand the relationship between prosperity and rule of law, none of this should be surprising. And the way out for Haiti should be clear.
As I’ve said on other threads...people seem not to change...in the days of old Israelites stoned the prophets ‘cuz they didn’t like what they heard or agreed with...this is no different...so let’s stone him...
Pat’s an idiot and the person that wrote this is coming off as the Christian version of CAIR.
We have enough crap flying from leftists toward Christians, we don’t need either of these people shoveling more crap to be thrown back.
If you had read my previous posts, you'd know I wasn't defending Robertson's comments, neither was I condemning them. Youre asking me to explain the unexplainable - I don't know and neither do you - and I won't even try.
I was saying that by allowing the other side to shame & embarrass you with the words of another you are playing into their hands.
Why allow them that power? Robertson didn't bind your hands, you did.
Not only was the “historical” information WRONG but what Robertson missed was an opportunity to compare a free nation ( relatively speaking anyway) to one run by dictators ( Dominican Republic vs the Duvalier ridden Haiti)
> Why allow them that power? Robertson didn’t bind your
> hands, you did.
The only defense I had was to un-bind myself from Robertson.
I reminded them that the Mennonites and the Roman Catholics were the FIRST rescue efforts on the ground, before even the Haitian National Guard, and that they never seek publicity and NEVER buy air time on TV or radio to ask for money.
These organizations are almost always the first on the ground anywhere in the world with medicine, food, temporary shelter and sanitation, and clothing.
I am NOT a Mennonite, neither am I a Roman Catholic, by the way.
I'm tired of being on the defensive.
It’s more like they brought things on themselves as opposed to God’s Wrath. With their voo-doo they have and were actively calling in evil. You reap what you sow - more than you sow, later than you sow.
You mean he is like the Pope and the Catholic church?
Right on!
However, he does deliver millions and millions of dollars raised to poverty stricken people and has for years. Yes, people donate to these causes? So what? Good for them. Operation Blessing does tremendous good.
The Catholic Church sucks up way more money than Pat Robinson.
There are many, including a lot of freepers, who would bash Pat Robertson no matter what he says.
Hmmmm.
A couple of questions.
1) What was it about the faith of the centurion that OLJC found so amazing?
2) If being a believer in Jesus makes you Satan-proof, what happened to Judas?
3) Same premise as #2, why did Jesus pray for Peter when He handed him over?
I guess you would say that Judas and Peter weren’t born again. Same for Annanias and Saphirra. Same for Stephen. Same for the Galileans crushed in that earthquake.
My take - sucks to be Job. Or Pharoah. Or anyone since Eve. Man is to trouble born as the sparks fly upward, and the mountains fall on the just and the unjust alike.
Praise be to God in the hope we have in Jesus, and in His kingdom at hand. Praise for all those broken people, including Robertson, who are helping Haitians (and other thirsty people) in His name.
And praise to the One who is good, and whose love endures forever.
Good for you, Gary. You said what needed to be said. Too many Christians just haven’t been taught about the goodness AND the severity of God.
Yes, because Pat has his OWN missionaries down there. Obviously, he wasn't condemning them. He was condemning the beliefs of the large numbers of the people practicing voodoo and accepting socialist Gov't which have kept them in poverty as well as in the dark on religious matters.
Could other words have been used? Yes, but what other TV persona DOESN'T make mistakes. Obermann makes them unfailingly 24/7. Did you ever see vitriol directed at him like is directed at Robertson. Of course not. EXTREME prejudice.
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