Haiti’s Pact with the Devil, According to Pat Robertson

In the midst of widespread emotion caused by the earthquake and the humanitarian disaster in Haiti, the American TV-evangelist Pat Robertson horned in. His comments, which were broadcast by the Christian Broadcasting Network, were the following: that the horrors lived over and over and for so long by the Haitian people are a poisonous fruit resulting from a pact made with the devil at the end of the eighteenth century.

“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’ll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ … But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.”

Commentaries made by people who are outraged are multiplying. “Go to hell, Pat Robertson – and the sooner the better,” says Reverend Paul Raushenbush, who is in charge of the religious section at the Huffington Post. He is only one among hundreds. The White House also deemed it necessary to criticize his comments.

As revolting as his words may be to many, it remains that Pat Robertson – who is no stranger to controversy – is insistently asking everyone to contribute and help Haitians recover from the earthquake; one can in fact hear him say that at the end of the video. The famous American TV-evangelist, who created, among other things, various charitable organizations, is an evangelist Christian, part of a religious movement with a strong inclination toward missionary work. This of course entails the conversion of souls and the “making of followers across nations,” as they say, but also entails helping your neighbor, pure and simple.

Christian Assistance in Haiti

In fact, of all the assistance Haiti will receive in the days and even the years to come, a considerable amount will come from missionaries and members of Christian churches from all over the world. In the United States anyhow, where there is a significant number of evangelical churches, it is already mentioned here and there that aid missions are being put in place. Not all are evangelical, but many.

Contrary to government aid, which is always backed up by figures, assistance from religious organizations isn’t. It is nonetheless significant. One must add that the evangelical movement in Haiti is growing, which can explain the eagerness of outside evangelists to offer their assistance. Almost all Haitians are Christian, with the majority claiming affiliation with the Catholic church – in addition to persistent “Voodoo oriented” practices – but evangelists are gaining more ground: Today, between 10 and 15 percent of the population in Haiti claims to be of that obedience.