Most of the time, I and the vast majority of the Christian world just ignore Pat Robertson. He has said some amazingly bizarre and ignorant things over the years, and generally we just hope that no one is paying any attention. There are times, however, when I wish someone would yank the microphone out of his hand, gag him, and put him on a plane to one of the uninhabited Solomon Islands. Make him comfortable, but don’t ever, EVER, EVER let him near any form of broadcasting, recording, or writing equipment more sophisticated than a crayon for the rest of his life. This has to be seen to be believed:
To anyone within the sound of my blog: Pat Robertson DOES NOT REPRESENT THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!
Now go to one of the sites I linked to in the previous post, and help this suffering people.
January 13, 2010 at 9:17 pm
“To anyone within the wound of my blog: Pat Robertson DOES NOT REPRESENT THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!”
Amen and Amen!!!
January 13, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Yes, amen, David, amen-go away Pat
January 13, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Without totally agreeing with Dr. Robertson,
It is not a coincidence that major disasters have befallen Haiti and New Orleans both of which are very much centers of Occult practices such as Voodoo and “Obea.”
It is not beyond my understanding that Haiti may very well be “cursed” and we do need to pray for the demonic forces to be removed.
We in the “Western Church” often downplay the “darker side” of things but if one plays with fire (i.e. Occult practices, Voodoo, etc) one may get burned (or flooded, or earthquaked.) Our Holy and Just God remains a God of Wrath!!
January 14, 2010 at 8:28 am
@Chip
So why doesn’t your “Holy and Just God” just kill all the devil worshippers in Haiti once and for all?
Your post says more about your hatred of poor minorities than it says about God. My God is not responsible for the devastation in Haiti. He is mourning along with the millions of Haitians who are suffering!
January 14, 2010 at 9:26 am
Chip: Is your god so powerless and unfeeling that he is incapable of just punishing the guilty?
January 14, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Question: Is someone a minority if they are the majority in their own country?
But seriously it is amazing to me how small some peoples God’s are that He has no control over Creation and is as helpless as we are to stop it or control it.
Hosea 3:6, “If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?”
While I disagree with Pat the Idiot let us not think for one second God did not foreordain this event for His own glory.
January 14, 2010 at 1:48 pm
The calamity in Haiti raises unavoidable theological questions, which I am happy to see writers at this site are grappling with. Let me join you.
Haiti sits atop a major fault line. Take a look at Google earth. That’s the reason for the earthquake. God may be unhappy with the Haitians but the earthquake provides no evidence for or against it. Pat Robertson is out of line to suggest so.
God, whose knowledge is infinite, knew the earthquake would happen. He did not predestine it. Nor would God intervene to stop it, even if he could.
Rather than worrying about whether the earthquake was a divine judgment on Haitians, we should be more concerning about the judgment that will come upon us if we do not respond generously and wisely to the suffering of the Haitian people.
If a spiritual revival begins in Haiti as a consequence of this calamity, it would be an appropriate and godly response. As Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13.3).
January 14, 2010 at 2:12 pm
At the risk of throwing ‘the cat among the pigeons’- Chip is not incorrect.
Pat Robertson needs a muzzle, Amen.
But what he does get right, is that perhaps, there is an unseen spiritual dimension to this- one in which the consequences of choices leaders have made have brought down curses upon the people they lead.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243016/ANDREW-MALONE-Rape-murder-voodoo-island-damned.html
January 14, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Contrary to what many have implied, I did not hear Pat Robertson say the earthquake was caused by Haitians selling their souls to the devil in the 1700′s.
Instead what I heard Pat Robertson say is that Haiti has suffered one misfortune after another while its island neighbor, Dominican Republic is relatively prosperous.
Pat is praying that out of this current disaster the Haitians can have a bright future.
Only by reading between Pat Robertson’s lines can one condemn him as he is being condemned.
January 14, 2010 at 5:23 pm
This is what Robertson said:
That may be a series of disconnected factoids, which is to say that he wasn’t suggesting any connection between the “pact with devil” and the series of terrible things that have happened to Haiti, including Tuesday’s earthquake and there not being any resorts. He may have just brought up the “pact” because he knew there were history buffs listening in who might find that piece of trivia interesting. But he really didn’t mean to suggest that there was any connection between the “pact” and anything that happened on Tuesday, or any other unfortunate events that may have stricken Haiti in the last 200 years.
Or maybe he was just speaking in tongues, and the rest of us thought we heard him put these two things together in one statement.
January 14, 2010 at 8:51 pm
It’s a situation where Robertson’s comment was made too close to the tragic event itself. I don’t think that anything Robertson said is untrue. But Robertson clearly infers that this is God’s judgment, which is why people are making the leap.
January 14, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Having said that, there’s plenty of evidence that the widely circulated story of the vodou ceremony handing Haiti to the devil in exchange for freedom from the French isn’t true. I’ve heard it in many missionary circles, but I don’t know that it’s a verifiable event.
January 14, 2010 at 10:02 pm
This entire discussion brings up a lot of difficult questions which we’re all skirting and in some ways avoiding.
Does God still judge nations in such ways post Cross and Resurrection?
If so, why would God choose to judge Haiti over other “sinful nations”? Are there not many nations who are just as guilty? Since 1973 our nation has legally aborted over 40,000,000 humans…are we not sinful and guilty, and deserving such punishment?
Are there not unseen “evil forces” at work in all nations in multiple ways?
I believe that Robertson is guilty of the mistakes of Job’s friends, trying to pinpoint “fault” and moral causes, where it would be best to remain silent. What is the point of fingerpointing and blame-games anyhow? All nations are guilty and are in need of repentance and a return to Christ, ours at the top of the list. Rather this is a time for compassion, much prayer, giving, and rebuilding.
January 21, 2010 at 4:38 am
I have read your comments and I would like to know who made you or any one a judge over other people? The things that you said about Pat and other people is so wrong. We are told to love our neighbor but I do not see it in you or in anyone else that is verbally persecuting Pat Robertson or anybody else for that matter. Calling people stupid or “stoopid” is not what Jesus taught us to do. How many mistakes have you made? The Bible does tell us that “all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God”; Jesus even said “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”, when He was questioned about the prostitute by the religious leaders. Since Haiti had that second earthquake yesterday of a magnitude of 6.5 again, I am beginning to agree with what Pat Robertson did say. How can anyone preach or teach about the love of Jesus if they cannot show it towards their own brothers and sisters in Christ? Also, nor should we show a difference of heart towards those who are not saved. We are to love all, not just some.
January 21, 2010 at 11:01 am
Thank you David, for clearly articulating what I, and I think many like me, feel and thing when Robertson goes on one of his mush headed mutterings. It is unfortunate that he has such a large microphone. May I borrow your view on this for a response on my facebook page?
January 21, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Garry: You absolutely may. Hope all is going well with you.
January 21, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Oh, please. On the left we’ve got people saying you can’t judge moral behavior. Now, apparently, we’ve got some on the other side saying we can’t judge words. Please repeat after me, Dwayne: we aren’t to judge people’s salvation. That’s God’s job. But when people do something that is wrong, or teach something that is wrong (or, like Robertson’s comments, theologically nonsensical and pastorally insensitive) we are absolutely supposed to judge those actions or words and repudiate them, lest the world think that our God cares nothing for what is right and true. If you don’t believe me, just read Paul’s epistles, and learn the meaning of the word “anathema.”