I would guess that most people have been watching the news reports out of Haiti with broken hearts. I read an article about a plane that flew over taking pictures and saw the bodies of dead children piled up outside a collapsed school building. I don't know how anyone can be human and not ache for the people caught in this horrible disaster. Then along comes Pat Robertson saying on the 700 Club that the people of Haiti made a deal with the devil 200 years ago to help them in a war with the French and now they are paying the price. If you watch the clip he talks so casually that he makes it sound like he was right there watching them shake on it. It made me so angry I had to see if there was any basis for what he was saying.With a little searching, I found out that 200 years ago the Haitians were slaves in their own country to the French colonists. Their native religion was Voodoo. They succeeded in a slave uprising and won against the French. Well it must be Pat Robertson's reasoning that a bunch of idiot Voodoo practicing slaves could never have taken back their own country and won their freedom unless they had the devil on their side! To be clear, I am not fan of Voodoo I think it's creepy and scary. But I don't like Pat Robertson either and I think he is creepy and scary. He makes this horrible statement then patronizingly shakes his head and then asks for money to his 700 Club disaster fund. ( You can see the clip on line in lots of places) What a money grubbing jackass. I went to the 700 Club Disaster Fund website and there was not a single mention of the Earthquake in Haiti or what they were doing to help. I imagine they will help at some level, some time, but maybe good old Pat needs to get his cut first. I don't know.
Compare that to other organizations, religious and non-religious that are mobilizing as fast as they can to do whatever they can. I am very happy with the response of my own Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have a reputation of being prepared for disasters and it is well deserved. By Wednesday they had relief supplies going from Dominican Republic into Haiti. Thursday a plane of supplies will be sent and then more after that. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-sends-additional-aid-to-haiti-earthquake-victims. There aren't many LDS people in Haiti. It is largely a Catholic country but that doesn't matter. Christ taught to feed the poor, clothe the naked, heal the sick, comfort those who mourn. It seems that most of the country of Haiti falls into those categories right now. I think there is some hope on the distant horizon but in the mean time the suffering is heart wrenching.
Does Pat Robertson really think a deal with the Devil is the only way to explain a military victory over French? Come on, it's the French.
ReplyDeleteGood article, Sylvia.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
The Haitian Revolution is an amazing piece of history and served as the catalyst for slave rebellions in the US. Let's be clear that this revolution was a slave rebellion, then return to Pat Robertson. It seems to me that Pat feels God was clearly on the side of the slaveholders and slaves fighting foe their freedom is the work of the devil.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Guy Endore wrote a fictionalized account of the revolution titled "Babouk" about one of the slaves largely credited for leading the rebellion. I've not read it, I know it's written from a leftist (as in Communist/Socialist left) perspective- but I hear good things about it from professors and students.
Okay, just spoke with a friend who studies the Haitian Revolution. She recommends the book "Black Jacobins" as a starting place, in case you're interested.
ReplyDelete