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January 22, 2010

Pat Robertson witnesses history, offers comment

By Adam Smith The North Jefferson News

COMMENTARY — In times of great tragedy, religious leaders can soothe souls and lift spirits.

Whether it be a personal tragedy or global tragedies along the lines of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina or the recent earthquake in Haiti, we look to our personal faith and to religious practitioners for answers and healing.

In a similar vein, it’s a real shame that some of these so-called practitioners have a way to broadcast idiotic rhetoric across the nation’s airwaves.

Pat Robertson, head honcho of the “700 Club,” unleashed a couple of real doozies following Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti.

He basically said the earthquake was retribution from God. The small island country revolted against the French in 1804 to gain their independence because natives no longer wanted to be slaves to French landowners. Here’s exactly what Pat said:

“They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or 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, okay it’s a deal.”

He later referred to the earthquake as a “blessing in disguise.”

I mean, really?

Pat speaks as if he were there when Haiti made a “pact to the devil.” Perhaps he took a trip in a magic time machine and witnessed the deal go down?

I’d like to be rich and powerful enough to buy my own magic Pat Robertson time machine. If I did, I’d go back in time seven days to Robertson’s studio and kick him in the pants after he made such a ridiculous comment.

Here are some facts about the earthquake itself:

• as many as 100,000 people, possibly many more, could have died in the earthquake. Hundreds of thousands more are unaccounted for, including Americans.

• dead bodies line the sidewalks and roads of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The lack of a working sanitation system means disease may also spread through the country.

• damaged roads and communications systems are making it difficult to impossible to deliver food and water to survivors.

• the destruction of senior citizen facilities and hospitals means hundreds of thousands of seniors and/or critically ill people will die.

• all of these factors, combined with the overwhelming poverty of the country’s citizens, are causing frustrations to boil over. Aid workers have been attacked and some have been killed. The earthquake has crippled the nation’s police forces, so looting and violence are growing concerns.

Sounds like a bleak picture, huh? It IS a bleak picture and things aren’t going to turn around overnight. It will take years, possibly decades, for Haiti to rebound from such a catastrophic disaster.

Consider, for a moment, 78 percent of Haiti’s population lives on less than $2 per day. Now, consider Pat Robertson: He’s old, white and rich. He’s got power and fame.

Pat may be a man of God, but who is he to speak for God? I’m no theological genius, but I would think that God would, could and should be the only person to speak for God.

Shame on you, Pat Robertson. If you really wanted to make amends, you’d go to Haiti yourself and help with relief efforts. The good you would do there might help undo the damage you’ve done here.

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