I am a born-again, practicing Christian who has the distinct and awesome honor of having a relationship with the very Creator of the Universe.Yeah, that's a bold statement, but it is my statement and I'm sticking with it.
One-time presidential candidate and TV "evangelist," Pat Robertson has spoken out on the earthquake that struck Haiti.
Pat Robertson has long been a thorn in my theological side, ever since he proclaimed in his 1988 run for the presidency that God had told him he would be the next president of the United States.
Trust me. Pat Robertson is not a reliable source of theological dogma.
In 1998, Robertson warned after Orlando city officials voted to fly rainbow flags from city lampposts during an annual Gay Day event at Disney World, “I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you. . . . [A] condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs, it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.”
He also said that: "... on 9/11 God lifted the “curtain” and allowed the enemies of America to give us “probably what we deserve."
Now he has come out with his explanation of why Haiti experienced this horrible earthquake.
Here is what he said: "Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French . . . 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, "OK, it's a deal." . . . Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another, desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti; on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is, is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, et cetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island."
Make no mistake, we live in a sinful, fallen world. Since the fall of mankind we have had exactly what God promised we would have: agony, pain, suffering, hatred, sickness and natural calamity, to name a few. These are not "acts of God," as the insurance industry likes to call them, but a result of our willing failure to follow His principles in every walk of life.
And so we have a general condition of sinfulness and fallenness in the universe, and bad things happen.
To infer from that that all disasters, or some disasters are the direct result of some "curse" placed by God is both logically and theologically untenable.
I am not saying that God never has or never will curse a particular people, but that it is a mistake to attribute every unsavory event to Him. Some of them just happen as a result of this being the kind of world it is.
As it turns out, Haiti sits at the east end of the Ganave fault plate, which runs south of Cuba and north of Jamaica. The east end runs through Haiti and only a couple of miles into the largely uninhabited portion of The Dominican Republic.
The Ganave fault place tends to move in small portions and that is why the quake was largely localized.
Two places you can see information about it are:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/haiti-earthquake-explained-011410
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Scientists-Explain-Haiti-Earthquak%20e-81356387.html
In 1948 the Dominican Republic was rocked by a magnitude 8 quake which was barely noticed in Haiti.
The current quake was caused by a shifting of the eastern edge of the Ganave plate.
The devastation caused by the fact of plate tectonics is a result of the general fall of man which brought the world into a condition of perpetual sin, not by some curse.
The result of Haiti's choice to reject the principles of God's Word has brought about the poverty, the lack of stability in government and the peculiar mix of voodoo and Christianity that is practiced there, not by curse, but by making stupid choices.
It would be a good thing for our country to acquaint itself with the principles God has put before us to avoid becoming what Haiti has become as a nation...or what Germany became as a nation prior to WWII...or what Cuba has become as a nation.
We have the opportunity to prevent our demise, if we will take it.
And let's all pray that we don't choose a really stupid response.
8 comments:
"I am a born-again, practicing Christian who has the distinct and awesome honor of having a relationship with the very Creator of the Universe."
Absolutely, it was by Grace that we have that privilage. I am with you on that. So I am sticking to it, too.
I have a problem with TV evangelists who claim things about God. Like Benny Hinn who said God was going to kill him if he didn't get a million dollars for new cameras. What a boldface lie. And yet, people send him money.
Who are we to say God's punishing someone.
What happened in Haiti was nature, period. They need our prayers not condemnation. Shame on anyone who is pointing their fingers with ridicule to those people.
Great post!
Leticia: We have so many wonderful Hatians as members of our church. They are very distressed about friends and relatives in Haiti. I hate the idea that they might be lumped into some imaginary group of people upon whom God has capriciously placed some eternal curse.
If God always cursed all because of some, we American would be in a lot more trouble than we are already in.
You are quite correct: the earthquake was a result of natural phenomena.
The thing to do now is to pray and help.
Our misguided brother seems to remove one foot from his mouth simply to insert the other.
Robertson has been a one-trick pony for years now. It's really too bad.
Sometimes the things Pat says just leave me baffled. Does he have no common sense? Does he not 'get' that the country is horribly poverty stricken b/c of the greed & corruption of its g'ment? Sure, they've got a lot of flirtation w/ evil going on down there, but don't all of us? And so, he says these things to what end? For what purpose?
Leaves me scratching my head...while I await news of my former pastor's (who married us 17 yrs. ago) wife, who is trying to get home from Port au Prince (was there on mission trip). Please pray for her travel, that she would be able to get out of that country & safely home. Her name is Pam Carter. Thank you.
Thanks Joe. And let's just keep praying.
Joe, Opinions are like axxhoxxx. Everybody has one and who is to judge which is right. I certainly would not presume what God is doing and for what reason. To say it is just a natural thing, I say, Yes but who is making this natural thing. One says they are christain, but who am I to judge???? Some Christians would say if one is drifting from the will of God(as they see it) it is up to them to pull him/her back in and counsel them??? I say,maybe they need some spiritual guidance so I would offer to pray with them If they would accept it...God is the judge and by the way he also said "vengence is mine" Many people have strayed from what I can gather, but I certainly would not be the one casting the first stone, If indeed a pact was made with the Devil, I wouldn't judge whether or not this was God's will or his vengence......Just another opinion.........and God bless even those who combine animal sacrifice with their "Religion"/ correct me if I am wrong but Wasn't Christ our sacrificial lamb????? just saying.......
Sometimes the things that come out of people's mouths astonishes me. At what point did he think the little story he told would benefit the Haitian people, himself, or his ministry?
Maybe God was telling Pat it's time to turn the cameras off and go home.
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