Pat Robertson's ability to use any natural disaster as the springboard for a provocative and deeply ignorant remark that expresses his own blinkered and bigoted worldview of "morality" is so commonplace and predictable by this point that it usually seems unworthy of noting. His comment yesterday about Haiti having caused its own massive tragedy by making "a pact with the devil" falls well within this category, and ordinarily I'd ignore it, but this response by Haitian ambassador Raymond Joseph is so perfect-direct, intelligent, filled with more history in one minute than pretty much anything you see on most news programs all evening-that it deserves as much currency as it can get. It's a shame that we live in a world where something like this is both necessary and remarkable, but there you are.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
36
If I woke up in Heaven next to Pat Robertson I'd ask for my money back from the collection plate.
So that explains Katrina!
Except that the Quarter barely even got wet...
Let this be a lesson to us all; when negotiating a pact with the devil, be sure and attach an earthquake loss-damage waiver to the $.03/acre purchasing price.
I just talked to the devil last night, you know? And he told me that he had nothing to do with Haiti, and if I could tell his messenger Pat Robertson to cool it, 'cause he's overplaying his hand some.
Not crazy about Rachel's tone in intro, which seems more suited to Jay vs. Conan than poor Haiti vs. Nature/American asshat.
Pat Robertson's pact with the devil got him some diamond mines in Liberia.
The big mistake was that the Haitians forgot to put anything in their pact about keeping the 11:35 p.m. time slot.
An ethical dilemma:
1. Would you stab a pregnant woman in the womb?
2. What about Pat Robertson mom, when she was pregnant with him?
DECISIONS, DECISIONS.
Its curious. I looked into this "pact with the devil".
Apparently, this Voudou service that Pat Robinson slaps the "devil card" on was something that some historians would like to forget. Meanwhile, most Haitians and historians believe it's true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bois_Ca%C3%AFman
So basically, you ask your god to give you what you want, they ask their god, etc. etc. In this case it kinda sounds like the gods sat down for a beer with Barack and drew up some agreements.
I know a few Haitians and interact with Haitian community. This "Pact With The Devil" has been a common refrain over the years. After I heard of the earthquake I saw and spoke with a Haitian lady that's been in the states close to 30 years and almost the first words out her mouth was "the pact with the devil."
Uh...just to clarify....most historians believe that there was a Voodoo ceremony, not that the Haitians made a "pact with the devil." It was more a political rally than a religious ceremony.
While most think of "black magic" and voodoo dolls when they think of voodoo, that is pretty much Hollywood fiction. The fact that many Christians call it devil worship has more to do with ignorance and bigotry then truth.
I'm not suggesting that there was a pact with the devil. I'm just saying that this nonsense wasn't created by Pat Robertson. And unfortunately lot's of Haitians believe their misery is a result of said deal.
I doubt many historians would believe there was a pact with the devil any more than they would ascribe the ascendancy of a particular people to the bounty of God.
Apparently it's safe to play golf with Pat during an electrical storm.
How come San Francisco isn't a lake of fire, eh, Pat Robertson?
DON'T JINX IT!!!!
I keep waiting for Denzel Washington to star as Toussaint Louverture in the major motion picture. That dude was THE BOMB.
http://thelouvertureproject.org/index.php?title=Toussaint_Louverture
I think the comment has been made that Robertson's worldview suggests that the Devil frees slaves and God commits mass murder.
Explains why Pat hasn't freed his.
or it could be said that his devil is more powerful than his god.
Don't Haiti the player, Haiti the game.
It's sad that a man of his stature would need to rebuke comments made by some lousy Blood diamond peddling, bible banging, false prophet especially in light of the situation. But damn did he lay it down.
Pat Robertson himself made a pact with known war criminal and child-soldier-maker Charles Taylor to rape Liberia of its gold for the profit of a CBN holding. This should be mentioned at every reference to Pat Robertson. It should be in the God Damn AP Style Book.
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2nded.
Even the New Testament commands that slaves obey their masters, "as to the Lord, and not to men," so, cleary, freeing slaves in a violent way is the work of the devil.
If the god of the Bible, of the currently recognized Old and New Testaments, exists, then Robertson may be right!
I'm not even going to speculate on the number of things that have to change to make that "if" a reality.
Well if that god exists then I'll happily go to hell with the rest of the decent human beings, Anyone who accepts the bible as fact is a fool and even more so if they are a person of color. The bible has been a tool of oppression for a very, very, very long time and those days are not behind us. pat has shown us where his head is at...
who has seen MOLOCH TROPICAL
I made no such deal.
Apparently the latest disaster here was actually in response to the CHRISTIANS in Haiti, assuming Robertson was correct in his statements regarding the original contract, of course... looks like the country was 'reclaimed' nearly 6 years ago: http://www.americandaily.com/article/95 - be sure to read the paragraph 4th from the bottom.
Another source commenting on "the re-taking" of Haiti by Christians before the earthquake: http://www.jesus.org.uk/dawn/1998/dawn9802.html
We just want y'all to we glad Pat's not from Texas
The sad thing about the ambassador's response was that he NEVER refuted Pat Robertson. He goes into irrelevant tangents about the Louisiana Purchase and Simon Bolivar leading the revolutions against Spain.
Wow! This is my first response in one of these forums. I am astounded by the ignorance of many of the responders, which fits very well with both the Reverend and the Ambassador. Haiti unfortunately sits directly on a fault line where two tectonic plates meet; there are many other areas in the world where similar conditions exist, including of course California. As a Christian, I am embarrased and ashamed of the ignorant, self serving comments made by Pat Robertson, albeit there are historical backings to this story which are perpetuated by the Haitians themselves.
Did a writer actually say that the bible forbids slaves to rise up against their masters? What happened to common sense?
The Haitian Ambassador to the US is even less informed than Pat. The US bought the Louisiana Territory from Napolean in 1803, long after the Haitian revolt against the French. This guy has no clue about history, yet one writer praised his defense of Haiti. Ignorance should not be rewarded.
Study science, and you will discover that the earth is a relatively young, geologically active planet which will go through many convolutions in its evolutionary lifetime. Ideology and ignorance will come and go, but the earth will remain active and somewhat unpredictable.
Let's put our energy into helping the suffering people, and hopefully raising their level of education and standards in building. If there is an Anti-Nobel Prize, it should be shared between the Ambassador and the Evangelist.