The 700 Club had a special show dedicated to the awareness, prayer for, and contributions to the Haitians suffering in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. The tragedy leveled the Capital, Port-au-Prince, claiming tens of thousands of lives, with thousands more to come through disease, homelessness, and extreme poverty. They were already an impoverished people with 80% of the population below the poverty level. Yet, in the middle of his show, Pat Robertson made this statement:
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti," Robertson said. "People might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever . . . and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you, if you get us free from the Prince.' True story. And so the Devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal.' . . . Ever since they have been cursed."
What? Seriously…come on Pat, a contract with the Devil? Did the slaves gather around an ouiji board at the crossroads, sign a contract with a blood ink pen, pick up their guitars and start their march against the French? Are you not a mature and seasoned media minister, a televangelist who’s been around the block a few times? You’ve been broadcasting since I can remember, and wasn’t one of your first guests, Howdy Doody? Are you not aware of the damage ill-timed and foolish statements can be to yourself and in representing Christians world wide? You dangled a juicy sound bite fish-head that the piranha of national news media couldn’t resist. In one statement you dumped a tanker load of gasoline on the fire of those perceiving Christians as condemning, ignorant, and heartless hours after a wide-spread human tragedy to an impoverished people. Your words also leave the impression that this event is God’s justice, a Sodom and Gomorrah event, except that it’s 200+ years late. Thanks a lot.
Yes, Haitian’s history is steeped in voodoo especially during the 1700’s, and that spiritual warfare is very real, but now is not the time to make foolish judgmental comments, but to fall to our knees, pray and weep for the children who walk the streets without any family, for those still buried beneath the rubble suffocating under tons of concrete, for those mourning over loved ones covered by sheets laying on the streets, and for those injured, to weak to cry, waiting outside hospitals (if you could call them that), and for their future as a people and a nation. Now is the time for the Christians around this world to unite in compassion (love in action), to pray and provide resources as the Body of Christ. The world’s greatest expression of God’s love and compassion is not nations, the U.N., or humanitarian agencies, but us. Now, that’s what the world needs to see from us, a true representation of a loving, compassionate, and responding Savior.
Jesus wept. - John 11:35
Pray and make a difference today and donate at: http://ag.org/top/haiti.cfm
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