It’s fine to make a living sharing your religious opinions. But when a humanitarian disaster the size of Haiti’s strikes, putting a on temporary muzzle and helping relief efforts is probably the best option. Case in point: televangelist Pat Robertson. Here’s what he said on today’s Christian Broadcast Networks’ 700 Club:
…something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heal of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or 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, okay 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. Desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle on the one side is Haiti the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we meed to pray for them a great turning to god and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.
So Haitians are suffering because they made a pact with the devil? Pat, you’re not renowned for keeping your mouth shut, but for Christianity’s sake, stop here.
Rush Limbaugh comes in at a close second for instantly politicizing the Haiti quake, saying “Obama will use Haiti to boost credibility with ‘light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.’”
From an economic standpoint, Robertson and Limbaugh make their money by imparting opinions. Clearly, gaining detractors is a tried-and-true part of their publicity machine. People hate them for their lack of civility, and they thrive from the recognition.
It’s a cheap trick. I’m sorry it happened so soon after such a serious disaster.
Wouldn’t a better strategy be to ignore publicity junkies like this instead of blog about them?
And folks wonder why the pews are emptying out and people are looking elsewhere for spiritual comfort & insight? The religion business was incredibly toxic to Truth during the Dark Ages, torturing & murdering people for saying things that we now know to be true, and to keep their marketshare from dwindling to near zero their salespeople continue to market ideas that require a two digit IQ to contemplate for more than a millisecond. Oh well! The 21st century is bumping along as best it can, given the global toxic brew of religious fundamentalism, unrestrained corporate greed, ecological degradation, climate change and economic recession. Thanks to Pat Robertson for reminding us that the way forward is not the way back, and that we must somehow overcome the worst in ourselves in order to evolve into something we can be proud of.
David: That crossed my mind, too. I rationalize it by saying that I’m calling out PR for his PR, not arguing with his demented take on things and stoking the controversy.
Alan: Good point. When leaders like Pat Robertson go too far, they risk alienating some of the people they attracted, and they prevent themselves from attracting new followers. I wonder, though, where the extremists that follow guys like him draw the line. Are they so loyal that even the most ridiculous remark, made in the name of the lord, won’t budge them?
*sigh* People like Pat Robertson would be figures of fun if it weren’t for the fact that a sizeable number of people take what he says seriously. The only comfort I can draw is that he’s old, and will be off to meet his maker sooner rather than later.