PTM E-UPDATE -- MARCH 8, 2010

Thinking like Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson’s comments about the terrible Haitian earthquake shocked many, but not me. That’s because I used to think like him. In case you missed it, here’s some of 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, you know, Napoleon the Third and whatever, 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, 'Okay, it's a deal.' "

Robertson goes on to say that Haiti’s persistent poverty and suffering, including the recent earthquake, are the fruit of a pact they supposedly made with the devil. We’ll overlook the fact that this pact couldn’t have been sworn during the reign of Napoleon III because he didn’t come to power until 1848 – 44 years after the Haitian revolution. Let’s instead focus on the pact itself.

Most agree that on August 14, 1791 slaves in the northern part of Haiti gathered for what has been called the Bois Caiman Ceremony. This event was led by a voodoo priest named Dutty Boukman and is considered by many to have spawned the revolution that eventually expelled the French and established the Republic of Haiti in 1804.

At this point history, legend and myth merge into a murky soup. One tradition says Boukman led his slave followers in a voodoo ritual at which they slaughtered a pig and drank its blood. Robertson claims that’s when they made a pact with the devil. More specifically, if he (the devil) would free their people from the French, they (the Haitians) would serve his spirits on the island for the next 200 years. In researching this tradition I stumbled across the prayer that Boukman allegedly prayed:

Robertson didn’t just pull his perspective out of thin air. There is a shred of substance to his beliefs. Still, there’s an additional theological element that needs to be explained before we can truly understand why Robertson sees the Haiti earthquake as coming from God to punish the Haitians.

“The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our god who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, he orders us to revenge our wrongs. It’s he who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s he who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god, who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts.”

If Boukman indeed prayed this prayer (there are no eyewitness accounts of it) it certainly doesn’t sound like a prayer to the devil to me. If anything, Boukman calls the white’s god the devil. Neither is there any mention of the 200 year pact which Robertson speaks of – a pact that would have expired in 1991, nearly a decade before the recent earthquake.

Interestingly, the exclusionary arguments used by the French to literally demonize Boukman and the leaders of the Haitian uprising are eerily similar to those used by American Christians who demonized those who spoke out against slavery. This “we have God on our side” branch of Christianity has relied upon an excluding dualism (us/them, truth/error, black/white, good/evil) to defend atrocities in God's name throughout history. And, assign natural disasters as judgment from God upon those “who are not on God’s side.” I know Robertson wouldn’t support slavery or the French oppression of the Haitians; however, his theological tradition defended both.

I give this brief history lesson to point out that Robertson is not as whacked as many believe. While his “pact with the devil” theory is just that, theory; Robertson didn’t just pull his perspective out of thin air. There is a shred of substance to his beliefs. Still, there’s an additional theological element that needs to be explained before we can truly understand why Robertson sees the Haiti earthquake as coming from God to punish the Haitians.

I feel particularly qualified to explain this because I used to believe and teach the same thing. In fact, several years ago I sat no more than 50 feet from Pat Robertson as he spoke on this topic to a large national prayer gathering of Evangelicals and Pentecostals. Many, like me, were in the midst of an extended 40 day fast asking God to bring revival to America and spare us from his judgment.

The focus of this gathering (and others like it that I both attended and led) was an Old Testament passage in which God appeared to Solomon and said: “…if my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land”(2 Chronicles 7:11-22).

Later in that same passage God warns Solomon that if they don’t do what he says, he will send great judgment. After this violent judgment, “…all who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them – that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

Natural disasters weren’t natural to us, they were sent by God. Of course, we had been fasting and praying, and turning from our wicked ways (or so we thought) so when a disaster happened it certainly wasn’t our fault. Sinners had angered God to the point that he finally had to send a terrible judgment to punish them and get them to repent and worship Him. In other words, judgment came to help lead “sinners” to become like us.

Greg Albrecht, in his response to Robertson’s post-Haiti Earthquake comments, summarizes such thinking this way: 1) Something bad happens. 2) The bad thing happened because God is not happy - God is bringing or allowing a curse, 3) Send out the religious police to find out who is to blame. 4) After determining those responsible for the curse, warn them to shape up and tell the world about them so others will ‘hear and fear.’ 5) Threaten the people who are out of control -- get them under control, so that God will be happy again. 6) When people stop doing bad things God will remove the curse. When the hell is scared out of them sufficiently their lives come under control.”

That’s a very accurate portrayal of Robertson’s worldview and the millions who think like him. This is why Robertson made similar controversial comments following 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, and other tragedies. As I’ve said, I believed and taught the same doctrine for years. I honestly believed we were simply following what God clearly says in the Bible. Of course, by virtue of our narrowly focused interpretation of the Bible, we were. However, we wore thick religious blinders that severely limited our vision. Not only did we refuse to consider other points of view but ridiculed and cast eternal judgment upon all who disagreed with us.

I now view my former “Christianity” as a hyper-religious, oppressive, legalistic, fundamentalist worldview that has drifted far from where its namesake, Jesus, ever intended. The repenting I do these days is from that fact that at one time in my life I would have said an enthusiastic “Amen” to Pat Robertson. I now see the Bible in general, and Jesus in particular, painting a broader and infinitely more gracious and inclusive portrait of God.

Do I think God caused the Haiti earthquake to punishing the Haitians? God forbid! I’m no expert but if I had to guess I’d say this terrible quake was the result of the earth’s crust shifting like it does along fault lines. I can’t even imagine a God who would kill over 200,000 people because of a so-called pact made with the devil by a few oppressed, freedom starved voodoo priests some 200 years ago. All of this raises a couple of questions I would like to ask Pat Robertson. If this earthquake is God's response to the Haitians' pact with the devil, is it not working against God to intervene with aid and effort to soften the effects of his judgment? Also, in the Old Testament, God made a pact with the Assyrians (notorious pagan idolaters) to destroy the northern tribes of Israel (the chosen people). Does that mean that Heaven should be expecting a catastrophic earthquake for its pact with the devil?

Finally, do I think Pat Robertson is a bad person? No, but his theology certainly is. Robertson would no doubt say he’s simply following the Bible’s clear teaching about God and judgment, but I’m afraid it is he who is in danger of being the one who is listening to the devil.

Glen Moyer

Glen Moyer was a pastor for 25 years. He often writes under the penname of Clothman.

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