Pat Robertson Needs a Big Glass of Shut the Hell Up

In the aftermath of an earthquake in Haiti that killed over a 100,000 people, Pat Robertson went on The 700 Club and declared to his audience that the quake and aftermath were God's judgment on the Haitian people for a deal with the devil made in the time of Napoleon.

An ancient Haitian leader, he intoned, brought this curse upon the people in hopes of throwing off colonial rule. They escaped the emperor's oppression to bring on one far worse. The earthquake, all the damage and devastating injuries, were a direct result of that awful bargain. Apparently God waits a long time before lowering the boom.

Robertson gives Christians a bad name. Six-month-old babies are buried under rubble and he's claiming to speak for God about what it means. Only a handful of people in the history of the world were able to do that creditably, and in spite of his empire Robertson has no standing to put himself among them. Elijah, Noah, John the Baptist--that's presumptuous company for a televangelist with a penchant for stupid remarks.

The worst part is how he misrepresents Christianity. The Jesus who walked the earth was a God of compassion, mercy and sacrifice, one who saved his harshest criticism for the religious elite and the rigid ritualistic moralists who passed cruel judgment on the ordinary people who came to the temple in faithful worship. The real Christians are the ones who pray and comfort, not the bombastic oafs who condemn the innocent for the obscure sins of the past.

Haiti has profound chronic problems of its own. But Robertson's blast was ill-timed and ill-considered, and typical for him. He shoots from the lip, preaching chiefly to the narrow-minded chorus of voices like his own. His conservative fan base eats up every word. I hardly am in a position to know, but I hope there is a special place in hell for people like this, who take such delight in suffering and assign it a holy purpose.