And liberals are angry that anyone would dare to suggest that God exists, that Satan exists, or that human suffering might be caused by S-I-N. Robertson is under fire for having said this about the spiritual history of Haiti:
And it should be noted that Robertson spoke while in the midst of raising money for relief work in Haiti. He and CBN ministries have invested a good deal of esources in Haiti over the years, so he is not as lacking in credibility here as liberals might lead one to believe.
Search the net and you'll find lots of references to what Robertson describes. According to Operation World:
Evangelical Christians have increasingly and openly stood against voodooism and the Satanic dedication of the country in 1791 by the slaves plotting revolt against the French. Satan was seen to be opposed to the Christian religion of their oppressors.Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the US, responded on MSNBC with these interesting remarks:
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So the Haitian slave revolt benefitted the United States, not Haiti. Note that Joseph does not deny that his ancestors entered into some kind of agreement with Satan. He speaks English well enough that we would have expected a plain denial, if Robertson were incorrect.Haiti is the least prosperous country in the Western Hemisphere, materially and otherwise. Haitians have been plagued by hurricanes and other natural disasters for centuries. Their government is run by people so corrupt they make Dan Rostenkowski and Duke Cunningham blush. Infrastructure in Haiti was so sub-standard that the January 2010 earthquake destroyed just about all of it.
Although the Roman Catholic Church has been present for generations, voodoo (literally, "spirit") is the dominant religion in Haiti today. National Geographic documents this well:
In April 2003 an executive decree by then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide sanctioned voodoo as an officially recognized religion.Voodoo priests - witch doctors - call daily on demonic powers to cast spells and wield influence in Haiti. Every Christian worker who has served there for a time will tell you that Haitians believe evil spirits have dominion over their people and territory.
Should we help? Of course! These people are suffering in the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis in our lifetime. While we won't presume to offer an exhaustive list here, there are many reputable US charities through which you can help Haitians with both physical and spiritual assistance, including Samaritan's Purse.
America is fast becoming a bastion of spiritual desolation and ignorance. Don't allow religious illiterates to say there is no such thing as spiritual oppression. The God of the Bible loves Haitians just as he loves all people. Only Satan could be such a cruel master.
How have you helped Haiti?
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Although I agree with Pat's (and your) assessment, it seems to me that Pat needs to learn a little tact. It's not so much *what* he said as *when* he said it. If I remember correctly, he also blamed the 911 attacks on the fact that the US (as a society) had turned its back on God like a day or two after the attack. Again, not *what* he said, *when* he said it. Many people are never receptive to such comments, but even fewer are receptive during such times of extreme tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting dmoyeroh. Timing is so important! It's pretty clear from the original clip that Robertson is only offering historical context - perspective, if you will. We certainly agree with your observations. In the hours and days immediately following a natural disaster, the appropriate response would seem to be, "How can I/we help?"
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Pat Robertson has greatly helped the people of Haiti so I think it deserves a good dose of buy viagra
ReplyDelete