Politics, Religion & Haiti, Part 1: Pat Robertson

Dear readers, as you know, I make it a point to never talk about politics and religion (lol).  However, I must publicly comment and dare I say rebuke, Televangelist Pat Robertson for commenting on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s, The 700 Club, that the terrible destruction in Haiti is due to the fact “they” (whomever they are) literally made a pact with the devil centuries ago, that is, if Satan would thrust off the yoke of French colonial imperialism, they (whomever they are) would worship the devil forevermore.

I am using the video clip posted on YouTube, since it has no other commentary from other news sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ4dA6kZsEs.  Please review.

Pacts with the Devil:

So let’s take a closer look at his comments.  While I am no expert on making pacts with the devil as Pat Robertson seems to be, how long does a pact like that stay in effect?  As with any earthly contract it is between the two parties and no other person.  So let’s say that a group of people did in fact make a pact with the devil, how is it that the children, grandchildren, and multiple generations of every person living in Haiti forever are cursed?  Where is the proof that there was a pact?  How do we determine that the pact is still in force?  And, how is it that Pat Robertson is so knowledgeable on devil pacts?

In essence, what Pat Robertson said was that God cursed and continues to curse the land and people of Haiti, because of what a few people supposedly did centuries ago, i.e., making a pact with the devil.  Hmmm, does that even begin to make sense?

I am no biblical scholar, but I do remember some passages from the Old Testament where God and a prophet were discussing saving or destroying a city based on the number of righteous people that could be found.  That is exactly the opposite of what Pat Robertson is suggesting, that due to this supposed pact, everyone else is forevermore cursed.  Where does the concept of God’s children are blessed for their own righteousness or are punished for their own sins and NOT others transgressions come in?  Pat, how can you say, with any authority, righteousness, caring, and humbleness, that God is cursing millions and generations of people for what a handful of people may have done years ago?

Is Haiti Cursed?

In this short interview, Pat Robertson repeatedly speaks of poverty as the means by which this so called curse is carried out.  Why poverty?  Why not boils?  Why not frogs, locust or rivers of blood?

So, is Haiti really cursed and if it is, is it because of this ancient pact made decades ago, or for another reason? Could it be cursed because Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere?  Is it cursed because most Haitians live on less than $2 a day? Is it cursed because 80% of the population in Haiti lives under the poverty line?

Could it be because some of them practice voodoo?  Is it because 95 percent of the population is black?  Is it because the median income is $1,300 a year, USD?  Is it because Haiti just happens to sit on a MAJOR earthquake fault? Is it because more than two-thirds of the labor force does not have formal jobs? Is it because the literacy rate stands at only 53 percent?  Could it be because of decades of dictatorship, from the former Roman Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide?

Natural Disasters and God’s Punishment:

The question I ask of Pat Robertson; Why is it, for you, that natural disasters always seem to be God’s retribution upon people you deem wicked?  As stated earlier, I do not purport to be a biblical scholar, but I do recall something said in the New Testament about “Judgment is mine sayeth the Lord.” Only God can judge a person as to their level of righteousness, certainly no human can, since we are all sinners and fall short.

Arrogance and Suffering:

For reasons yet to be clarified, Pat Robertson’s God is a vengeful one.  We’ll explore that topic at another time.  I am in agreement with Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas who said, “It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God’s actions as a judgment against this person or that person. … Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people.”

At the end of the clip, Pat does get it right when he says he is helping, and the suffering is “unimaginable.”  May I suggest to Pat, my readers, and others, let us all focus on relieving the horrendous suffering, instead of creating fantastical tales involving revolution, devil pacts, God’s judgments through natural disasters…that all sounds like a bad movie that goes straight to rental.

Dr. Glen Earl’s blog on political psychology is a forum to express the psychology, the why if you will, behind the actions, comments and behaviors of politicians and people in the political media arena.

This blog is designed to be a voice of reason and sensibility, a voice and forum for the political Moderate Middle Majority™.  In addition to sharing what is right and good about moderate politics, whether they be of  a Republican, Democratic and/or Independent nature, Dr. Earl often responds to and comments upon the folly and felonious shrill, and thunderous voices and over-the-top, behaviors of both the far left and far right with equal vim and vigor.

The reason being, both the far right and the far left, although appearing to having very different ideals and agendas, do not, and in fact,  have the very same behavior patterns and psychological profile.  The Moderate Middle Majority™, while numerically, vastly out number the far left and the far right combined, are greatly under represented in any type of media.   Due to their Über frame of mind, their fanatical behavior, and their constant deafening voice, the far left and the far right hold sway over all types of media and we of the levelheaded middle are unheard and underrepresented in the political discussion.   Dr. Earl’s blog, in some small way is designed to alter that a bit.