Haiti and the Pat Robertson Paradox

Here's the Pat Robertson paradox: Maybe the overwhelming condemnation of his comments about Haiti following the earthquake is evidence of how much religion continues to matter to many Americans.

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.' True story. And so, the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.'

"And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have -- and we need to pray for them -- a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now, we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable."

Let's leave aside questions about the veracity of the story -- and there are many. (For instance: Did anything like what Robertson describes actually happen? If it did, was the ceremony dedicated to the deities of the traditional Haitian religion, not Christianity's devil?)

I was intrigued by the broad wave of American voices raised in opposition to Robertson. When the secular, Jewish Jon Stewart tosses out a series of Bible verses to express his dismay, something interesting is going on.

Yes, Robertson is an easy punching bag. But after several years of surveys that indicate that the tenets and dogmas of Christianity are less central to American culture than they once were, maybe the reaction to Robertson shows that "less" is a long way from "gone."

Here's a sample of some of the reaction just from Baptist voices, to pull from one piece of the spectrum: "God is ultimately responsible for the earthquake in Haiti and has a reason that is beyond our ability, trapped in time, to understand or comprehend. But it would be theological ignorance coupled with absolute arrogance to try and interpret God's actions as a judgment against a particular person or nation." -- Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, for Newsweek.

"Nevertheless, one thing I do know: The Christianity of Robertson and those who are quick to blame tragedy on some angry, vengeful God is a Christianity which I, following Hatuey's lead, reject and want no part of whatsoever." -- Miguel A. De La Torre, director of the Justice & Peace Institute and associate professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, for the website EthicsDaily.com. "The alleged 1791 Haitian pact with the devil would put our Father on the side of slavery and Satan on the side of those seeking freedom. The reverse is actually the case. Satan is a "murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44), a thief who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10) and seeks to make us "slaves to sin" (Rom. 6:17). Satan enslaves. God liberates." -- Jim Denison, president of the Center for Informed Faith and theologian-in-residence for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, from the first of three special opinion pieces about this topic he's writing for the Associated Baptist Press. And now to the pop cultural side of the response, and Stewart on The Daily Show:

"Out of all the things you could draw on from your religion to bring comfort to a devastated people and region? Look how big your book is! 'The Lord is close to the broken hearted. He rescues those who are crushed in spirit. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. From the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.'

For those of you keeping score at home, Stewart used verses from Isaiah 51 and 54 and Psalms 34 and 71.

And finally, a nugget from one of the wittiest letters to the editor I've ever seen, signed by Lily Coyle in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In the tradition of the Screwtape Letters, this is from Satan to Robertson:

"I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"?

People only get outraged about something they care about. What's this outrage about? Part of it seems to be from folks who are upset that Robertson is profoundly mischaracterizing their concept of Christianity. Whether or not, as in the case of Stewart, they even believe in that religion.

I asked for analysis from John Green, director of the University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics -- not to mention one of the nation's premiere analysts of surveys concerning faith and politics: "Many people value religion and feel compelled to 'set the record straight' when Robertson speaks this way. This does strongly suggest that religion is a very important thing to many Americans. The Pew data certainly support this view: the importance of religion remains high even as American religion changes as regard to the specifics. In the case of Haiti, much of the relief effort is religiously inspired and conducted by religious people -- precisely because their faith instructs them to do. Defending faith in general as a legitimate enterprise is crucial to many people." Within what we media types generally call the conservative side of Christianity, Robertson's comments prompted a lot of pushback. Ryan Messmore, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was willing to speculate about that phenomenon:

"One dynamic that I've been tracking over the past year or two is the reaction by young evangelicals against a certain perception of their parents' Religious Right which they see summed up in and embodied by Robertson. Last year I sat down with different groups of college students and recent grads and listened to their thoughts about culture, politics, etc. Many of them seem to have intuitions that would align with some of Robertson's stances (for instance, they are very pro-life, perhaps even more so than their parents' generation). "

"However, they do not want to self-identify with Robertson or the larger 'Religious Right' movement that he represents. They are turned off by partisan political bickering, and they reject what they perceive as a narrow interest in only a couple moral issues -- namely abortion and gay marriage -- to the exclusion of issues like poverty, homelessness, human trafficking, etc. Comments by Robertson that seem morally judgmental and appear to lack compassion (although he did call for people to send aid to Haiti) only play into this perception."

When you go to the doctor for a checkup, she'll probably poke at you and ask "Does that hurt?" If it does, the doc knows there may be something important going on there.

Same thing with Pat Robertson. As long as so many people jump in pain when he talks, there's probably something important going on there, too.

Pat has a tendency to talk first and think about it later. His manner of presentation can sometimes leave a bit to be desired. But there’s no denying that the Bible relates a number of examples of how God allows punishments and catastrophes in response to people’s disobedience. Beyond Haiti, it’s also something for Americans to ponder.

For Christians, if you want to know how to respond to the Pat Roberson comments, look at the words of our Lord and Savior:

"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." John 9:1-3

Sometimes God punishes people for their sin, sometimes He spares people, but all He is for His own glory. So how do we glorify God? By loving Him and doing what He commands. For Haiti, it is not kicking them while down, it is helping them in their time of need and spreading the Gospel.

Blah Blah Blah thank god for “respectable conservatives” to spout the obvious and acceptable. How about our immigration policies which take every Haitian with any ability whatsoever and lets him/her leave the island in the hands of the Big Compassion and Big Welfare rackets.

Unfortunate as it was what happened in Haiti, I recall that the God of the Bible is not always about blessings.

If only good things happen then there would be no need for God to have said (and I am paraphrasing)
Choose this and receive blessings.
Choose this and receive cursing.

Anything a Christians says that the media jumps on (attacks) most likely has a lot of true in it.

Funny, no one has applied the same scrutiny to what Danny Glover has said about Haiti.

That's because Glover's remark is simply stupid beyond stupid and totally unanchored in reality.

Robertson's remark is stupid in a more interesting way: he is taking the easy way out on the problem of theodicy. Remember that the Lisbon earthquake figured prominently in Voltaire's attacks on Christianity and Leibniz. In, perhaps trying to fight his own unbelief, Robertson ends up not even like the uncomprehending disciples in John's Gospel asking about whose sin was the cause of the man being born blind, but like the Pharisees who denounce him after the blind man's healing, "you were born in utter sin and would you teach us?.

Remember also Job's misguided "friends" who told him that his own sin must have brought about his misfortune, when actually he was an innocent victims of spiritual warfare in high places. Then there's Ecclesiastes 9:11: " The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." [my emphasis] Some things really are accidents, which have nothing to do with the character of the victims! For example, it is no credit to me that I was born in the greatest country in history, rather than Haiti.

Oh crimeny! I cannot abide such ‘proclamations’. You’re telling me those Haitians are praying to the devil to fix this present situation?

I can’t buy any of this and it is simple minded to blame this earthquake on a pact with the devil!

It appeared to me that there were plenty of churches and missionaries prior to the quake. Their social and economic problems is a result of years of corruption in government.

Thank you for your insight and wisdom.
One fact remains clear about Haiti. It never ended slavery. That evil was simply transposed from the French to indiginous tyrants. Haiti has never thrown off the shackles of slavery.
There was a brief time, following Baby Doc, when democracy seemed to be emerging. Then Aristide was elected and the tyranny of fascism gained control again. Even after he was deposed by popular will of the people it was our own government that returned the evil Marxist to power and destroyed a burgeoning light industry sector supporting 90% of the population.
The US has been complicit in the perpetuation of slavery in Haiti. Under our current leadership the enslavement of the people of Haiti will continue.

>> “And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’”

What a stupid remark! What a jackass! <<

Also you cannot hold someone culpable for the sins of their father or grand gather or however many great grandfathers it was ago....

That is like saying, “You great great great grandfather killed three people so now you go to jail” It is reparations “like” talk in blaming the ancestors.

If you want to say the Bible is false, then say it. But the Bible says this:

” You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Take it or leave it, but the Bible is not a cafeteria plan. Sorry.

People continue to INTENTIONALLY misrepresent this comment from Robertson. He did not say that this was in any way a punishment from God. Period.

Jesus came that we would have life and that life more abundantly.

Spoke with our Haitian co-workers (from when we lived and worked there) and they confirmed that the 1791 Bois Caiman ceremony is well know in Haitian history to Haitians.

Think about this for a minute...up until sometine after 5PM last Tuesday, January 12, the Leftist elites, intelligensia and artist communities of the Western World were full supporters and promoters of Haitian VooDoo (substitute any spelling you want to use here) celebrating the "wonderful" ways that a people group could throw-off the "shackles of the white man's religion" and develop a "beautiful folk religion of their own".

Flash Forward to minutes after Robertson's comments and suddenly this same group of Leftists who virilently despise anything Biblical and the very mention of The Name of Jesus in public discourse become the defenders of Christianity!?

Really...?!

If you want to say the Bible is false, then say it. But the Bible says this:
>> ” You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Take it or leave it, but the Bible is not a cafeteria plan. Sorry. <<

So you blame people for the sins of their ancestors, how big of you. I thought children were innocent well of every sin except the “original sin”. So punishing the children because their parents were sinners makes you sound like a big jerk. Of course that is EXODUS, a book of the old testament, I though Christ died FOR EVERYONE’S SINS in the NEW TESTAMENT and that includes washing away the sins of the parental units and generational sins as well.

So I guess children bore to sinners go directly to Hell and do not pass purgatory on their way down?????

You might as well advocate the abortion of children being bore by sinners in your sick twisted logic.

"That almost sounds like it's about a f**** earthquake!"

Stewart is either patronizing or ignorant. At the risk of stating the obvious, I suspect a little of both.

God's presence is often accompanied by an earthquake. There was one on the mountain when He gave the 10 commandments to Moses. Isaiah says His judgment will be accompanied by an earthquake. The Hallel Psalms sing about the earth jumping around like rams and lambs. There was an earthquake when Jesus died on the Cross and when the angel showed up to roll back the tomb. There was one when Paul and Silas were singing God's praises in the prison in Phillipi. There will be earthquakes in the end times as predicted by Jesus and by the Revelation to John.

The earthquake at the Crucifixion liberated dead saints from their tombs and convinced the Roman centurion that He was the Christ.

The earthquake at Jesus' tomb liberated His physical body and convinced the doubting disciples (all but one) that He was the Christ.

The earthquake in Phillipi liberated those captives and convinced the Roman jailer that Jesus was the Christ.

Anyone who does not believe that the same God who sent ten plagues to liberate the Israelites from Egypt would use an earthquake to liberate Haitians held captive by a curse invoked by their fathers simply does not read or does not believe their Bible.

There was a brief time, following Baby Doc, when democracy seemed to be emerging. Then Aristide was elected and the tyranny of fascism gained control again.

"When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

Mt 12:42-46.

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