Asymmetric Religion and Philosophy

Every time disaster strikes, somebody should drive to Pat Robertson's house and restrain him for two weeks.

He makes religion (which is providing Haiti with spiritual and material aid as we speak) look stupid. And, it isn't because he's exposing some essential point of Christianity; it's because he's foolish.

Robertson's problem is that he takes religious truths, that God interacts with the real world and that there's cosmic justice, and simplifies them to a ridiculous degree, making this earthquake seem like an empirically verifiable cause-and-effect phenomenon.

(Omniscience means God knew it would happen. Omnipotence means He designed the world in such a way that this could happen and could have stopped it. The Devil can't cause earthquakes)

It's essential to know the above tenets. It's dumb to try to make direct connections between a particular attitude or behavior, especially amongst large groups, and a physical, mass event that happens to occur wherever there's a fault in the earth's crust.

Did Haiti's leaders make a pact with the Devil? Probably not. Is it generally not a good idea to invoke the Dark One? Yes. What role does this have in anything? Who knows?

Please Mr. Robinson, be quiet. Besides being theologically simple-minded, your utterances do nothing but give opponents of Christianity legitimate targets.

Statement by 700 club:

CBN.com – VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., January 13, 2010 -- On today’s The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti’s history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed. Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath. If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson’s compassion for the people of Haiti is clear. He called for prayer for them. His humanitarian arm has been working to help thousands of people in Haiti over the last year, and they are currently launching a major relief and recovery effort to help the victims of this disaster. They have sent a shipment of millions of dollars worth of medications that is now in Haiti, and their disaster team leaders are expected to arrive tomorrow and begin operations to ease the suffering.

Chris Roslan

It's our Christian duty to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti. All of us should if we're in a position to do so.

The Anchoress has some ways to help.

If the nation decides to assist, for whatever reason, it's right that we dispatch our national resources to the area. The government has the infrastructure to help. That's a government-private partnership that I can get behind.