Pat Robertson and Other Religious Figures

Well, Pat Robertson has done it again. He asserted that the terrible hurricane which hit Haiti is the result of a pact the Haitians made with the devil long ago and that deal made long ago to sell their souls in return for freedom from the French has now come back to strike them with unimaginable devastation.

This kind of logic and religious belief is not new for Mr. Robertson. He has, of course claimed that Florida hurricanes of 2004-05 were because Disney had Gay Day at its Parks. Katrina was brought down by God in anger over the sins of Bourbon Street. Even 9-11 was essentially self-inflicted and sent by an angry God.

Naturally, I do not lay these disasters at the feet of a vengeful God. Rather the God whom I worship sees people hurting and suffering and weeps and calls us to reach out in compassion and sacrificial care.

Yet there is more. I think this is a time for leading spokespersons of the Christian faith-and especially those with an evangelical leaning to publicly and insistently speak out. They should say, “Pat Robertson does not reflect Biblical (and especially Christian) thinking or dogma. He is wrong.” Authentic Christianity points to a God with a special heart for those who hurt, and who mourns in sympathy with all who suffer loss and pain.

While I ask the Christian leaders to do this in connection with Robertson, I make a similar appeal to leaders in the Muslim world in their response to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. I would hope that every time an Islamic terrorist claims to take or attempts to take innocent life in the name of God and hope for eternal blessing, that leaders in that world should proclaim loud and clear, “This is not what we believe. This is not the Islam which we preach.”

Let us all, if we must speak in the name of God, speak of a God who calls us all to strive for peace, prosperity and a reverence for life.