Pat
Robertson has done it again. He has lit a fire under all of the
pundits. Conservative, Liberal, and Christian leaders everywhere have
come out against his statement saying that Haiti has made a pact with
the devil. I am not surprised at the political pundits coming out
against Pat Robertson. But I have been surprised at the Christian
leaders that have come out against him.
First, you can check most legitimate encyclopedias and you will
find a voo-doo priest by the name of Boukman Dutty who conducted a
powerful ceremony and sacrifice that spurred the slave revolt of 1791
which led to the freedom of the slaves of Haiti. Read the History of Haiti
Voo doo is a religion that believes in the Supreme God, but it
believes that the Supreme God is too far away to have any contact with
its Creation and so they follow the lesser gods through rituals very
similar to satanic cults. I guess Pat Robertson did not just come up
with this idea. This ceremony performed by this voo doo priest is
documented to have had a huge impact with the rebellion of the slaves
against their masters.
But let's go a little bit further. We can read throughout the Old
Testament of how God allowed natural disaster after natural disaster in
places where they had disobeyed or rebelled against Him. The most
prominent example of this is the city of Sodom. God allowed a fire to
heaven to fall and consume the city. What was this fire? We don't
know but something fell out of the sky that completely burned this
city. As Christians, we must believe that God is in control of the
weather. When God was preparing to meet with Elijah, God first brought
an earthquake, a great wind, and a great fire before finally revealing
Himself through a gentle whisper. And it was Jesus who spoke to the
storm saying, "Peace, be still." And the storm obeyed. And finally we
read in the book of Revelation that God is going to use many natural
disasters during the Seven Year Tribulation.
With the Biblical accounts of God's wrath, why is it so hard to
believe that God would allow this to happen. The truth is that it is
politically incorrect to say anything negative against anything in this
world except for Christianity it seems. Christian leaders are
attempting to make God politically correct. As a result of this, there
are churches moving away from teaching about things of the Bible such
as sin and Hell. They ignore the very plain Scriptures condemning the
lifestyle of homosexuality. It is taught that God is a loving God and
would never let anyone get hurt. Scripture teaches us that when we
rebel or ignore God, we move away from Him. He does not move away from
us. But as we move away from Him, we get further from His power, His
love, and His protection. When His protection is lifted, it is never
good. So I ask this question: Is it possible that Haiti moved away
from God and lost its protection going back to this voo doo priest who
called upon the 'spirits' as he sacrificed a pig to help them win their
freedom from slavery. There is a popular saying in Haiti: "Haitians
are 70% Catholic, 30% Protestant, and 100% voodoo. (This was reported
by Lynne Warberg, a photographer who has documented
Haitian voodoo for over a decade in a 2004 National Geographic News. (Read here about a voo doo ceremony) )
We must guard ourselves against this spirit of being politically
correct. We must have the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Was it
politically incorrect for Pat Robertson to suggest that Haiti had made
a pact with the Devil and this was why they were suffering now?
Certainly. But could it be true? Yes.
When we are being awakened by God through a crisis, God sends peole
to help us. Now God has allowed a disaster in Haiti and it is time for
us to go to them and help as we are able. God may be exacting justice
on some and waking others up. Either way, our job is simply to love
them and help them. And who can say if God has put Haiti under a curse
or not? Not me. His ways are higher than ours. But we at least have
to look at similar accounts in Scripture and say, "It was good."