Pat Robertson, evangelical Christian and host of the 700 Club blamed Tuesday’s tragic 7.0 earthquake on something that “happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it.” He says that a ‘pact with the devil’ brought on the devastation.
The Haitians “were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever,” Robertson said on his broadcast Wednesday. “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.’ “
“You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other,” Robertson says.
RELATED: VIDEO: Pat Robertson Blames Quake On Haitian Slaves’ “Pact With Devil”
Here’s the bottom line on Pat Robertson’s comments:
This is ignorance 101: The idea that someone would summarize the pain and suffering of the Haitian people as a “deal with the devil” sounds just as ridiculous as those who long believed that black people were the cursed sons of Ham. Pat Robertson reminds us of those who long justified slavery with verses from the bible, or tortured other human beings because they thought they were witches. Robertson should be ashamed and can hardly call himself a man of God.
This is the wrong time to express your insulting opinions: Pat, if you have something silly to say, please keep it to yourself right now. Even if you are willing to believe that the Haitian people somehow earned the death and suffering that they are experiencing, this is not the time to express that sentiment. People are dying, and babies have lost their mothers. By making such comments at this very sensitive time, Robertson shows very little connection to the compassion that should be present in the spirit of God.
Pat Robertson, you are sounding like both a racist and an elitist. If you’d lost dozens of loved ones in such a devastating event, I am not sure how you’d feel about someone insensitively stating that your family brought it’s own demise by choosing to subscribe to a particularly religious ideology (even though this Haitian story is not true, since the people who are dying can’t be proven to have made any kind of pact with anyone). The fact that your response to the death and destruction of Haiti varies dramatically from your measured and sensitive response to 911 clearly implies that you place higher value on lives that are white and American. Shame on you Pat – you are a embarrassment to Christians everywhere.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
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