Theology and Haiti
by Theologists are struggling to find an explanation that will satisfy their flocks concerning the earthquake in Haiti. But Pat Robertson the TV preacher claims he knows the answer. On the Christian Broadcasting Network he claimed God is punishing the people for practicing voodoo. He was referring to the events leading to the Haitian Revolution of 1791 and the successful slave revolt. Nearly all Haitians are now christians but some also practive voodoo which is their African ancestors’ native religion.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries. Their infant mortality rate is worse than any other. The people live on less than a dollar a day and 98 percent of the forests have been cut down for fire wood. Disease is rampant. Hardships are overwhelming, not to speak of “Papa Doc” who tortured and killed more than 30,000 of the inhabitants in the 1960s.
Now comes the earthquake which killed more than 100,000, people. Religious scholars may well ask, Why does God make the innocent suffer? Pat Robertson, the TV preacher says he knows. He claims, God is punishing Haitians for practicing voodoo, although nearly all Haitians are Christian, some also practice voodoo which is their African ancestor’s native religion. In his narrow little mind Robertson argues that when the God of Israel shouts from his mountaintop “you shall have no other Gods before me” he means it. Of course Robertson is a fundamentalist. He is also unkind, self righteous and ignorant to theological thinkers, you could easily call him backwards, and be right on the money.
“Every Western religion teaches that mortals have no way of weighing or counting another’s sins.” said Bart Ehrman, a Bible scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rabbi Harold Kushner stated, ” Its supreme hubris to think you can read God’s mind. Sensible clergy will struggle to find a reasonable explanation that will satisfy their flock during the next weeks. And of course there is none. Earthquakes, floods, tornado, and disasters happen. We live on a planet that experiences upheaval and regrouping.
Some clergy will say it’s Gods punishment for sins, others that it’s all the devil’s work. Some will teach it’s a lesson to the faithful to remain faithful in the face of disaster. Many believers have turned away from religion over the suffering of the innocent. Some get to the point of saying truthfully they just don’t know and can’t explain it. In truth We live in a changing world and we have no choice but to accept the fact that disasters happen.
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Post CommentMushtaq
On January 30, 2010 at 7:20 am
Pat Robertson might be right. thanks for sharing
Christine Ramsay
On January 30, 2010 at 8:31 am
Food for thought there, Ruby. I haven’t any answers. Good work.
Christine
deep blue
On January 30, 2010 at 8:57 am
In the face of tragedy, one couldn’t simpy guess out the consequence in favor of some personal interest. I don’t see any exemplary diference from Pat Robertson to show that he had earned some higher intuition to pinpoint the root of the catastrophe. The movement of tectonic plates knows no religion.
mkd1788
On January 30, 2010 at 9:01 am
that was very bad incidents about them…so crucial for them
ken bultman
On January 30, 2010 at 9:41 am
Earthquakes are the result of seismic disturbances. God doesn’t look upon voodoo any differently than he does on any other religion than excludes Him.
joyhyena29
On January 30, 2010 at 9:44 am
great share^^
Jenny Heart
On January 30, 2010 at 9:48 am
Faith in God’s is the only answer.
Guy Hogan
On January 30, 2010 at 10:11 am
Disasters happen no matter what religion a society has. The sad thing about Robertson is that so many people pay attention to what he has to say.
CRYSTAL EVANS
On January 30, 2010 at 10:18 am
well in my counrty that is whta they are saying that haitians are wicked people with their practice of voodoo an dbalck magic and that god is punishing them for their wicked ways. according to some people the debauchery and wicked ness of the government in corrupting the system is the reason why god has placed his wrath on them…
thaks for sharing ruby..
cobaltinee
On January 30, 2010 at 10:24 am
Good and nice post.
csramma
On January 30, 2010 at 10:41 am
great post !
chitragopi
On January 30, 2010 at 10:42 am
Good article. None can predict God’s ways
Buma
On January 30, 2010 at 10:43 am
Possibly, but he should be more sensitive towards people in other religions. Who knows what god thinks? And this is directed to him not you, so no harm done right? God may want to send a message that the world is coming to an end, or maybe that they should learn from something, but what god thinks, no one knows. dot. full stop. period.
Gijo George
On January 30, 2010 at 10:58 am
Until it happens to us, we can go on creating theories by simply making GOD responsible for earthquakes and calamities.
Judy Kaelin
On January 30, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Ruby, you have a good article here. I say, read the bible. It clearly states that “there will be earthquakes in diverse places” (Mark 13:8). Earthquakes have been occuring since the begining of time. We, being human, cannot guess the acts of God.
bailieman
On January 30, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Preachers like Mr.Robertson are seldom very charitable or Christian in their outlook on life.
fishfry aka Elizabeth Figueroa
On January 30, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Whatever the reason, one has to have his faith and believe that this is not the work of God.
God gives us options and the devil plays games, then it is our choice to do and deal with what ever tragedies come our way.
Its a balance of good and bad, besides the earth is constantly moving, and these things are going to happen. Look back over time, and one will see how the continents have changed.
alensmith
On January 30, 2010 at 1:48 pm
my comment for you good and well mannered written.really very very good.and thanks for ur reply also which i will find in my post.
alensmith
On January 30, 2010 at 1:55 pm
great thanks for sharing
Jimmy Shilaho
On January 30, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Sometimes preachers make insensitive statements, perhaps knowingly, perhaps unknowingly, but some of the calamities that happen upon us have no answers, at least not when we remain mere mortals! Great article!
martie
On January 30, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I was also taught that no sin is worse than any other, that being the case then Robertson should well be quaking in his boots over his arrogant pride. It is so sad, that we can not just feel for people is such situations but, have to look for reasons why it couldn’t happen to us.
PR Mace
On January 30, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I was at work the day Pat Robertson came on TV with his views. I was in a patient room and we all listened with disbelieve. I don’t see how he can call himself a Christian. Good read here, Ruby.
alensmith
On January 30, 2010 at 10:04 pm
great i love the comment here
AlmaG
On January 30, 2010 at 10:29 pm
For me, who are we to say that God is punishing them. I don’t think that it’s a good thing to speak of something when God only knows the reason why it happened.
Judy Sheldon
On January 30, 2010 at 11:02 pm
It is not for us to say who needs judgment/punishment any more than it is for a minister to. We are all mortal.
Shirley Shuler
On January 31, 2010 at 12:33 am
I agree with Judy Kaelin, Ruby.
Daisy Peasblossom
On January 31, 2010 at 3:20 am
I like the”just don’t know” answer. I heard this story a few days ago; can\\\’t say that it raises my estimation of tv preachers.
pattiann
On January 31, 2010 at 3:31 am
I really like this article! I can’t believe Pat Robertson calls himself a preacher. He is cruel to people who don’t have the same belief as him. Why they let him stay on TV is beyond me.
Inna Tysoe
On January 31, 2010 at 4:23 am
Well done.
Inna
Trakiya
On January 31, 2010 at 5:41 am
I really like this article! I Excellet information.
albert1jemi
On January 31, 2010 at 7:22 am
its a great article tnx sharing
sambhafusia
On January 31, 2010 at 8:03 am
great job done…tnx frnd.
Snooky
On January 31, 2010 at 2:51 pm
People forget; Satan is the trickster and Lucifer is the great deciever. It is tragedies like this that present them with thier greatest stages upon which to perform. And our minds are very attentive audiences.
CA Johnson
On January 31, 2010 at 7:25 pm
This is very interesting. I can’t believe that Pat Robertson would say something so cruel. There are no answers for why tragedy strikes and he should know that by now.
Paul Roberts
On January 31, 2010 at 7:29 pm
The article was well written. My opinion will stay mine. Friend, fan, smile
Remmyramesh
On February 1, 2010 at 12:34 am
yet another theory in the name of God!! Well composed!!
LOVELYHONEY
On February 1, 2010 at 2:04 pm
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Mona
On February 1, 2010 at 7:01 pm
How can a theologian claim he knows why God does something? The essence of believing in God is our LACK OF KNOWLEDGE about the Supreme being and why He permits certain things to happen. Could it not be that God just saved all of those 100,000 people from hell fire by taking their lives in a violent earthquake, that they may enter paradise for their suffering on earth? God is not an irrational violent power. People shouldn’t “study” or try to “understand” why the earthquake happened. Scientifically, we know, but from a theologian’s standpoint, one can never, ever know the nature of God.
fishfry aka Elizabeth Figueroa
On February 1, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Having faith is the only way to pull through difficult times, when all else fails it is the lord who helps us.
Great post
qasimdharamsy
On February 2, 2010 at 10:55 am
the destruction of haiti was by nature…no one can stop that…
duromus
On February 2, 2010 at 11:50 am
Nice article! People of different religions sometimes have outlandish fundamentalist views that seem biased and distorted. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Shintoists, Buddhists, Doaists, and Confucianists tend to fall in the dark path of being too fundamentalist to achieve evil motives, leading to extremist actions, like the 9/11 disaster (Islam/Muslim), Hitler’s conquest of Europe (Christianity), Japan’s conquest of Asia in World War 2 (Shintoism), and Chairman Mao’s dictatorship of China and Tibet (Daoism and Confucianism). The bottom line is that disasters happen to both good and bad people equally. You just need faith in a supreme divine intelligence called God to help us people help ourselves to help each other! The above-mentioned religions/philosophies all believe in one God. Put aside hate, pride, notions, prejudices, and other differences and reconcile and help.
Kevin Petersen
On February 2, 2010 at 12:53 pm
great sharing
Leonardo da Vinci E.
On February 4, 2010 at 3:04 pm
The true diaster is the narrowness of some mindsets in humanity.
David De Jesus
On February 4, 2010 at 11:59 pm
God Knows and man wants to know!
I applaud your write. Great Article.
J J Neuman
On February 6, 2010 at 9:48 am
Simply put, Robertson just needs to go away….I cannot believe he would try to answer such a complex question with such a shallow response. But then again, I do believe it because he’s said crap like this before.