Televangelist Pat Robertson has said a lot of terrible, even reprehensible things over the years. I’ve already covered a couple of them. At times I wonder if he could ever top some of the stuff he’s spewed. Well, he may have just outdone himself with his latest insulting, condescending, not to mention just plain erroneous remarks … about, of all things, the recent catastrophic earthquake in Haiti (as reported by Time magazine; WebCite cached article):
Why Is Pat Robertson Blaming Haiti?
The Rev. Pat Robertson turned heads with his appearance on The 700 Club on Wednesday when he blamed Haitian history for Tuesday’s devastating earthquake. In short, Robertson claimed that the quake was divine retribution for a pact with the devil that was sworn long ago, a statement he was audacious enough to make while the 800 number for disaster relief scrolled at the bottom of the broadcast.
Here is the video, courtesy of Youtube:
Time transcribed his bilge as follows:
“And you know, Kristi, 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 the Third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘O.K., it’s a deal.’ “
I had never heard reference to Haiti having made a pact with the devil, but Time looked into it and discovered the following:
So what was Robertson referring to? The theory that Haiti is a nation built on a pact with the devil has circulated on a number of websites, each tracing back to an apocryphal tale of Haitian voodoo priests sacrificing a pig and drinking its blood in 1791 in order to secure Satan’s aid in expelling the French occupation. In return, the priests are said to have promised Haiti to Satan for the next 200 years. The French were soon beat back, and in 1804, Haiti became an independent nation. But even if you believe the story (something many historians doubt), Satan’s lease on the tiny island nation should have expired in 1991.
Update: More media outlets are reporting on Robertson’s disgusting spew, and pointing out it’s even worse than Time reported. In an interview reported by the Washington Post, he said — by cleverly posing it as a question — that the earthquake in Haiti was “a blessing in disguise” (WebCite cached article). In addition to most major media outlets, blogs of all kinds — including Religion Dispatches, Hot Air, Unreasonable Faith, and more — have picked up on Patty Robertson and his screaming ignorance. As of now (c. 1 am EST on 1/14/10), Patty hasn’t apologized or defended his remarks, and no one else has apologized for or defended them on his behalf, either. Pathetic.
My question for any Christians who read this, is: At what point are you going to decide you’ve had enough of this putative spokesman for your religion? When are you going to finally decide to put a muzzle on him — figuratively if not actually — and get him to stop running off his insulting mouth? I mean this question seriously and sincerely; when, exactly, are you going to do something about this train-wreck of a preacher?