Haiti

What a terrible disaster in Haiti this week. Absolutely unimaginable devastation on a massive scale. Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, poor Haiti did not need an earthquake to add to its misery. Thank goodness God-fearing Christians like Pat Robertson are around to send aid with one hand while blaming the victims with the other:

And, you know, Kristi, 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 III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you will get us free from the French." True story. And so, the devil said, "OK, it's a deal." And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.

How truly reprehensible and evil is this? First, the entire notion of pacts with the devil is pre-Enlightenment, Dark Ages, superstitious nonsense. The fact that a Christian preacher in 2010 America is discussing--seriously--a pact with Satan--underscores precisely how out of the mainstream Robertson's particular brand of Christianity really is. The fact that he is discussing it with the intent of demonstrating how Haitians have brought this destruction upon themselves ought to underscore precisely how Non-Christian Robertson really is. He is a disgrace to Christianity, to Christians and to the teachings of Jesus himself, who I'm certain would have wasted no time on the devil blame game and would have waded in to the mire to help people, allowing his actions to speak for him.

Robertson is a train wreck, and obviously good for a few derisive laughs, but what truly sets my teeth on edge about him and his ilk is the desperate need, the unholy desire, that every tragedy must have A Cause, and that Cause must be People With Whom He Disagrees. 9/11? "The pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians." (Jerry Falwell's words, with which Robertson "totally concur[red]." Hurricane Katrina? Abortion. Ariel Sharon's stroke? "Dividing God's land." His prediction for Florida after Disney held Gay Days? "It'll bring about terrorist bombs, it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor."

Please, folks, can't we finally and at long last see this man and his movement for what they are? Morally bankrupt, criminally insane, and unsuitable for association by any political candidate or party.