I was positively appalled to hear Pat Robertson respond to the Haiti earthquake by saying that they brought it on themselves because they made a bargain with the Devil to free themselves from French rule 200 years ago. Why doesn't that guy just keep his mouth shut at times like this? Of course, he was one of the ones who said that we Americans brought 9/11 on ourselves because of gays, the ACLU, pagans, abortionists, liberals and the like, so of course, nothing this guy says has any semblance of credibility whatsoever, but still, it is, in my opinion, an outrage to blame the Haiti earthquake on some sort of angry retribution from God for liberating themselves from colonial rule. If that holds true, then America is cursed by the Devil because we overthrew our British colonial masters and any country that has freed itself from such things is thereby cursed as well. That sort of pro-colonial response has no place in our modern discourse and should be shunned by everyone. Colonialism has not been beneficial to most of the cultures on which it has been imposed, and ultimately, most countries under that sort of rule have eventually revolted and ovethrown their colonial masters in order to gain their independence as a nation. Remarks like the ones made by Robertson this week are an outrage - yes, we have freedom of speech, but to blame the misery in Haiti on some sort of Faustian bargain is beyond the pale and should merit an apology from Robertson for blaming Haitians for bringing on a natural disaster of this sort. Of course, there are those who still believe that all and every natural disaster is some sort of heavenly judgement on those to whom it is inflicted. These are the same folk who vehemently deny science in favor of Biblical explanations for everything. While they may be in the distinct minority of Americans, still, whenever they open their mouths, they make the news, are discussed in the blogosphere (OK, so maybe I am guilty of doing the same!) and are on everyone's lips, but mostly in the form of outrage and anger at what they say. I'm glad that most people have the good common sense not to believe what these kinds of folk are talking about, but they sure seem to hold sway over a lot of people who want to find easy answers to every question that life poses by using the Bible to explain away everything that happens instead of trying to logically explain it in terms of common sense. I'm not slamming the Bible here, just saying that you can't rely on it to explain away everything that happens in this life. It's a book, written by fallible human beings who lacked scientific inquiry into what was going on in their world and wanted explanations for things they failed to understand. It just surprises me that in this 21st century when things have advanced so far and we can explain things like earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters, that there are still people who think that such things are the result of some angry God who has to show vengeance upon the people who are afflicted by a natural disaster. Well, if there is a God, I prefer to think of it as a benevolent and loving spirit, not one who despoils the land by inflicting disaster upon a people because of some heavenly vengeance. I just wish that these people who purport to be Christians would go back and read their Bible and see how many times it quotes a loving God as being there for people in good times and in bad and how God loves everyone unconditionally. It's in there, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. All you have to do is to crack open the book and find it in there. Yes, it may have been written by fallible human beings, but they had a vision of a loving God who was benevolent and loving. Pat Robertson seems to have forgotten that fact. Maybe he's been cursed by the Devil with an inability to see that. And on this Martin Luther King Day, he ought to go back and read the words of that great man to find an example of a minister who preached of God's mercy and love. Robertson might learn a thing or two by reading the words of the great Nobel Peace Laureate, minister and civil rights leader.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Devil's Curse
I was positively appalled to hear Pat Robertson respond to the Haiti earthquake by saying that they brought it on themselves because they made a bargain with the Devil to free themselves from French rule 200 years ago. Why doesn't that guy just keep his mouth shut at times like this? Of course, he was one of the ones who said that we Americans brought 9/11 on ourselves because of gays, the ACLU, pagans, abortionists, liberals and the like, so of course, nothing this guy says has any semblance of credibility whatsoever, but still, it is, in my opinion, an outrage to blame the Haiti earthquake on some sort of angry retribution from God for liberating themselves from colonial rule. If that holds true, then America is cursed by the Devil because we overthrew our British colonial masters and any country that has freed itself from such things is thereby cursed as well. That sort of pro-colonial response has no place in our modern discourse and should be shunned by everyone. Colonialism has not been beneficial to most of the cultures on which it has been imposed, and ultimately, most countries under that sort of rule have eventually revolted and ovethrown their colonial masters in order to gain their independence as a nation. Remarks like the ones made by Robertson this week are an outrage - yes, we have freedom of speech, but to blame the misery in Haiti on some sort of Faustian bargain is beyond the pale and should merit an apology from Robertson for blaming Haitians for bringing on a natural disaster of this sort. Of course, there are those who still believe that all and every natural disaster is some sort of heavenly judgement on those to whom it is inflicted. These are the same folk who vehemently deny science in favor of Biblical explanations for everything. While they may be in the distinct minority of Americans, still, whenever they open their mouths, they make the news, are discussed in the blogosphere (OK, so maybe I am guilty of doing the same!) and are on everyone's lips, but mostly in the form of outrage and anger at what they say. I'm glad that most people have the good common sense not to believe what these kinds of folk are talking about, but they sure seem to hold sway over a lot of people who want to find easy answers to every question that life poses by using the Bible to explain away everything that happens instead of trying to logically explain it in terms of common sense. I'm not slamming the Bible here, just saying that you can't rely on it to explain away everything that happens in this life. It's a book, written by fallible human beings who lacked scientific inquiry into what was going on in their world and wanted explanations for things they failed to understand. It just surprises me that in this 21st century when things have advanced so far and we can explain things like earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes and other natural disasters, that there are still people who think that such things are the result of some angry God who has to show vengeance upon the people who are afflicted by a natural disaster. Well, if there is a God, I prefer to think of it as a benevolent and loving spirit, not one who despoils the land by inflicting disaster upon a people because of some heavenly vengeance. I just wish that these people who purport to be Christians would go back and read their Bible and see how many times it quotes a loving God as being there for people in good times and in bad and how God loves everyone unconditionally. It's in there, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. All you have to do is to crack open the book and find it in there. Yes, it may have been written by fallible human beings, but they had a vision of a loving God who was benevolent and loving. Pat Robertson seems to have forgotten that fact. Maybe he's been cursed by the Devil with an inability to see that. And on this Martin Luther King Day, he ought to go back and read the words of that great man to find an example of a minister who preached of God's mercy and love. Robertson might learn a thing or two by reading the words of the great Nobel Peace Laureate, minister and civil rights leader.
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1 comment:
Right On, Sis!
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