Damon Winter/The New York Times
In this article, I want to address “Haiti’s pact with the devil” and a response to the insensitive remarks by Pat Robertson.
A lot has been said about Haiti and this is only the beginning. My other blog posts can wait. Haiti has captured my heart. More than 100,000 are presumably dead. The earthquake has been declared the worst disaster the Western hemisphere has witnessed in 200 years.
An Urban Legend
Allegedly, Haiti made a deal with the devil 200 years ago and this is why they have suffered so many hardships and terrible consequences. This legend has been carried around for decades. Yet research indicates, there is no factual or historical evidence that Haiti made a pact with the devil. In fact, 95% of the country claim Christian beliefs (80% Roman Catholic and 15% Protestant). However, voodoo practices from the ancient African religion, are practiced by some Christians.”There are an estimated 45,000 Americans in Haiti, many of whom are Christian missionaries and relief workers (source).”
Many reports from Haiti state that after the earthquake tons of people fled into the streets, crying out to Jesus for help.
The legend goes like this: A group of rebelling slaves led by voodoo priest Dutty Boukman at Bois Caiman in 1791, allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over their French masters. This sparked a revolution that expelled the French and established the Republic of Haiti in 1804. Dr. James C. Denison notes that the oral tradition of the story is unclear: “One tradition claims that Boukman led his slave followers in a voodoo ritual in which they slaughtered a pig and drank its blood. Then they allegedly made their pact with the devil: if he would free their people from the French, they would serve his spirits on the island for the next 200 years. By dedicating their country to Satan, they caused the economic deprivation and natural disasters which have plagued Haiti over the last two centuries.”
Andrew Jones wrote on his blog:
“Bill Ross, a commenter on my blog post yesterday, pointed me to a well thought out and well researched article by a Christian Haitian man named Jean R. Gelin, Ph.D. His article is called God, Satan and Haiti. Jean Gelin’s conclusion: “I have yet to find a good evidence of even the idea of Satan’s assistance in the Independence War, let alone a satanic pact.“ God, Satan and Haiti, 2005.”
An unChristian Response?
The Internet is plagued with posts, tweets, and comments regarding fundamentalist preacher Pat Roberton. Dr. Robertson (and other misinformed folk) implied that Haitians brought this catastrophe on themselves for having made a “pact with the devil.” Like noted above, evidence suggests this pact is an urban legend, it ever occurred.
Could Pat Robertson have chosen better words? I believe he could have, but am not surprised coming from a man who called for President Hugo Chavez’s assassination and said Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment to the people of New Orleans. Additionally, “In 2001, Robertson blamed the September 11 attacks on “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America,” he said. “I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’” (via CT).
Where is the love and compassion? What is Christian about Robertson’s remarks? My faith teaches that God is love, not hate. “Robertson’s loudness and shock-jock verbiage seems strange and oddly uncompassionate. It felt like he was trying to tell us how tough he was, not how compassionate God is (Donald Miller, read his excellent blog post!).”
A Jesus-centered response is one of compassionate and unconditional love, grace, reconciliation, restoration, and compassion. That is the message Haitians are craving to hear; a message of hope, love, and peace in the midst of their pain, suffering, and brokenness.
It is important to distinguish between the way man represents God and Jesus, versus the way God and Jesus represent Themselves in Scripture.
Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University, wrote:
“Help them [Haitians] to hope! Help their prayers to be answered! I don’t believe God called this disaster down on Haiti, but I do believe God’s grace and love, flowing through those of us who are surrendered to God’s will, can bring healing and redemption to our Haitian brothers and sisters. Please, please, please … do what you can.”
Three things to learn here:
- Do not judge or speak on God’s behalf
- Do not blame, instead, seek to bless and impart hope
- Do your research, especially when speaking in public.
Lots of evil things happen, everyday and everywhere, so why hasn’t God destroyed everyone and everything?
Truth is, we can’t really know what is happening between God and Haiti and what are God’s intentions. “Earthquakes happen everywhere, even in places where people have made a pact with God and not the devil (Andrew Jones).” Once thing we can rest assured of is: God loves His people, He longs for them, and His peace surpasses our lack of understanding.
Jim Wallis, author, president of Sojourners, and advocate for the poor wrote: “My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering.”
Lets continue thoughts praying and supporting the people of Haiti.
What do you think about this scandal?
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As always, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for sharing!
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To give us another opportunity to reevaluate our lives and rethink our choices. To ask ourselves, what we doing with His precious gift to us? We are suppose to be learning and growing from every single “bad” or “evil” thing that happens. We should not wait until disasters of this magnitude happen to be kind to others. We should help and love one … See Moreanother at all times. We should keep our hearts open and be thankful for all the blessings we have and shared them with others everyday not only in the midst of disaster. To also remind us that life it’s a gift itself and can be taken away in a blink of and eye. I think evil things happen everyday so can ask ourselves everyday the reason why we are here. Are we living or existing? What are we giving to this world? How are we helping to make it a better place? What are we we doing with our time and talents?