Pat Robertson: Haiti cursed since pact with Satan.

[Dr.Phool]

I see old Pat is still batshit crazy. You'd think this fool would learn to keep his big mouth shut.
----------------------------------

The Rev. Pat Robertson, on his CBN broadcast today, offered his own explanation of the earthquake in Haiti:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said. "They were under the heel of the French ... 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 the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal,'" Robertson said. "Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

His words, which refer to a piece of Haitian folklore about the country's founders, come around the 6:00 mark in the report above, which also includes interviews with missionary groups active in the country.

(via Political Carnival)

UPDATE: Via Tapper, a Haitian minister has some of the background to the legend.

The minister, Jean Gelin, writes:

Everywhere you go, from your television screen to the Internet, what you are most likely to find is a reference to a spiritual pact that the fathers of the nation supposedly made with the devil to help them win their freedom from France. As a result of that satanic alliance, as they put it, God has placed a curse on the country some time around its birth3, and that divine burden has made it virtually impossible for the vast majority of Haitians to live in peace and prosperity in their land. Surprising, right?

The satanic pact allegedly took place at Bois-Caïman near Cap-Haïtien on August 14, 1791 during a meeting organized by several slave leaders, under Boukman’s leadership, before launching what would become Haiti’s Independence War. This brutal period lasted 13 years until the last survivors of the French expeditionary forces, dispatched to Saint-Domingue with the sole purpose to re-establish slavery, were allowed by Dessalines to leave the island and return to Napoleon. Those who made it safely to France wrote and reported about the utmost bravery and supreme courage of Haiti’s indigenous army.

Gelin writes, rather seriously, that he sees no evidence for the pact.


Video at link
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/Robertson_Haiti_cursed_since_Satanic_pact.html?showall

[AspenRose]

1. I have no words.

:nuke:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

5. I have a couple

"Friggin' Nutjob" comes to mind...

[AspenRose]

9. Well, if anyone could recognize Satan, it'd be Pat Robertson.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

12. I think they went to college together (nt)

[dhill926]

2. World cursed with presence of Pat Robertson......n/t

[totodeinhere]

3. Hey Pat, if that sort of thing were possible you would have been struck down by the hand of God a...

long time ago.

[cali]

4. dear god, please smite pat robertson and send him to hell. thank you.

[doc03]

6. Gee CNN reports the country is 80% Roman Catholic n/t

[Dr.Phool]

10. Pat thinks they're the Devil

Really.

[madinmaryland]

7. I was thinking about posting this also, but considering the vile and disgusting

nature of his rantings, I was not sure I wanted to give any more area to that jerk.

I am beside myself with anger towards that human being.

:mad:

[StarfarerBill]

8. There *is* evil in the world: Robertson sees it every time he looks in the mirror.

Filthy theofascist.

[immoderate]

11. Insanity abounds!

--imm

[azmouse]

13. What a miserable disgusting sack of shit he is.

[sui generis]

14. So let me parse the logic here:

Haiti made a pact with the devil. The devil got them free from the French. Now the devil is giving them the bill in the form of an earthquake. To punish them. For making a deal with the devil.

What kind of simpleton is this man? What kind of simpletons are his followers?

And about Thuh Devull. What the fuck were you doing all this time? Did you go on vacation? Were you too busy stomping baby ducks and you just remembered, hey, I gotta go fuck me up that dirt poor island.

Jesus preserve us from your followers, and your wannabe followers, and other assorted exploitative fucktards claiming to be your followers.

[Quasimodem]

15. It appears that poverty and shoddy construction, not Robertson's Devil, are the problems.

Haiti devastation exposes shoddy construction
BBC

Tens of thousands are feared dead after being crushed by buildings that collapsed. Scores more remain trapped under the rubble.

"It's sub-standard construction," says London-based architect John McAslan, who has been working on a project linked to the Clinton Global Initiative in the country.

"There aren't any building codes as we would recognise them," he added.

Mr McAslan says most buildings are made of masonry - bricks or construction blocks - which tend to perform badly in an earthquake.

(snip)

. . . Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, was not used to dealing with earthquakes of this magnitude.

"Most buildings are like a house of cards," he said. "They can stand up to the forces of gravity, but if you have a sideways movement, it all comes tumbling down."

(snip)

According to the US Geological Survey, the loss of life from earthquakes is typically 10 times higher in developing countries than the West and the damage can be up to 100 times worse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460042.stm

[Shallah Kali]

16. If so why hasn't Robertson exorcismed 'em or something or their operation blessing tems done so?

http://community.ob.org/site/PageServer that is one relief org that will never get a penny from me!