As many people know by now, fundie TV evangelist Pat Robertson has claimed that the terrible earthquake in Haiti is their own fault. All because they allegedly made a pact with The Devil 200 years ago.
The “pact with the devil” is a reference to the Voodoun [1] ceremony at Bois Caïman in 1791 which is widely accepted as the starting point of the Haitian revolution.
He’s got past form as a disaster ghoul; Hurricane Katrina was divine retribution for New Orlean’s Mardi Gras, and of course 9/11 was punishment for American not being a totalitarian theocracy that persecutes those icky gays and pagans. It shouldn’t need to be said that Robertson’s beliefs are far removed from orthodox Christianity. It’s a sort of syncretism of bronze-age Judaism (his Bible stops at the book of Judges) and the Manichean heresy. But you can’t dismiss Pat Robertson as a fringe figure with no influence, like the infamous Fred Phelps. He’s still a major player in America’s conservative movement.
It’s time for all Christians, especially those who self-identify as conservatives, not just to distance themselves from individual statements of his, but to publically disown him, and condemn him in the most robust and undiplomatic language possible. He’s the west’s answer to The Taliban.
[1] As you ought to know, Haitian Voodoun is really syncretism of tradition west African religion with bits of Roman Catholicism – any associations with devil worship[2] comes from a combination of fundies believing all other religions are ‘of the devil’ and watching too many bad B-movie horror films. Yes, as the Wikipedia article says, there are corrupt practitioners, but their method of operation seems remarkably similar to those of TV preachers like Pat Robertson.
[2] Satanism is basically Ayn Rand’s sociopathic Objectivism with a parody of Roman Catholic ritual sellotaped onto the front for flavouring. It’s really all about teenage rebellion and really bad taste in music. [3]
[3] OK, so this post has managed to insult fundies, Randroids, Satanists and Venom fans. I’d probably better stop here.