Special thanks to @wyldraven and @JaneAnneT for their editing assistance.
I doubt that there is anyone who hasn’t heard about Pat Robertson’s comments following the unbelievable catastrophe that hit Haiti this past week. If you aren’t aware, the link below includes the video clip. While a number of blogs, news sources and others have chastised Roberston for the comment, there has been little real exploration of what he said or the historical record behind it.
I can’t find any positive perspective from which to view his comment, and I’ve thought a lot about this. In some regard, his remarks are the standard evangelical conservative response to everything: “Turn to God.” To homosexuals they say, turn to God. To the confused and hurting youth they say, turn to God. To the victims of one of the worst natural disasters to hit the Western Hemisphere they say, turn to God.
And he harms the people of Haiti, as well as all who listen to him, by trying to shroud his Christian arrogance with a pretend compassion for the people of Haiti. Much like the ex-gay ministries claim to love the men and women who seek guidance there, when in reality the very actions taken are harmful and soul-killing.
Robertson traces the problem of Haiti back to what he calls a true story, yet nothing could be further from the truth. For Robertson, it includes a pact with Satan, an idea meant to inspire fear and titillation. How exotic it sounds. How taboo! Few have tried to unpack this “true story”, except some have claimed it isn’t true. Most have simply expressed outrage that he said it.
And similar to the portrayal of homosexuals, Roberston fails to offer a true context and presentation of the reality for his “true story.” He begins, “They were under the heel of the French.” As if the people were the indigenous people under the control of a foreign power. Robertson fails to acknowledge, that the people being discussed were Africans brought by force to the area, as slaves. This is a critical point as simple as it may seem. The conservative Christian movement uses half-truths like this upon which it builds the judgements and conclusions they cast upon others.
But what of this pact with Satan? Historically, there does appear to be a story that a houngon (vodou priest) named Bookman led a ceremony where the people asked for assistance against the French and this is often labeled as the start of the revolution that ended slavery allowing the slaves to achieve freedom fort themselves.
Missing are a few facts however. First is the fact that Satan doesn’t really play a role in Vodou despite the Hollywood portrayal of the religion. Vodou, like Santaria, is a syncretic faith born from the melding of ancient African practices and belief systems with Catholicism. More likely, Bookman was calling upon the ancestors, not Satan, to make the people strong, and for that strength to allow them to rebuke their French oppressors.
For Robertson, the Catholics may be every bit as Evil as the pagans from which these people’s religion was formed. But it is still ironic that the very faith tradition Robertston slanders, grew out of the forced conversion to Christianity (even if it was Catholicism). Today, he calls on the Haitians to turn to God, but today’s invocation is no less damaging that the forced conversion of that earlier era.
How Religion has failed, or more correctly, how Christianity has failed, when this is all that such a public face of evangelicalism has to offer to a country where 85% of the population are Catholic.
If all of this wasn’t enough, there is a darker and more sinister side to Robertson’s comments. It is almost as if he was suggesting that the people were better off as slaves, than to rise up and cast off their oppressors. For Robertson, that religious ceremony conducted by Bookman was the start of the Haitian peoples’ problems. Many might argue it wasn’t that event but rather it was the forced enslavement of these people, originally from Africa, that could be deemed the start of their problems. The enslavement of these black tribes, at the hands of the rich white Europeans, who did it, with the blessings if their contemporary church. But Robertson urges the people of Haiti to turn to God.
Now, as then, the will ands desires of the people are unimportant. Some white man knows what is best for the black people of Haiti.
Robertson’s “true story”: Haiti “swore a pact to the devil” to get “free from the French” and “ever since, they have been cursed” | Media Matters for America.
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Jun 10
When Religion Fails: Pastor Guilty of Assaulting Young Girl
When the terms “sexual assault” and “Religion” get used in the same sentence, we most often think about the Catholic Church and crimes committed against young boys, but it really goes much farther than that. Truly, there are very many very good and righteous people involved in many Faith traditions, but it is also true that the power differentials developed by the very structure of Religious communities is a fertile environment for an abuse of that power. Even with the Catholic Church, the abuse of children is not limited to young boys, although the stories of young girls haven’t been as prevalent and have been kept under control better. But in all cases, these are crimes against children by pedophiles and not linked to any one sexual orientation or another.
In many environments, where an adult is set up as more powerful than others there is a possibility for abuse. Teachers and students for example, or in a work environment between a boss and subordinates. But Religious organizations provide a different set of factors as well. Much like, with this pastor, the excuse is that the Devil is responsible, not the perpetrator, him or herself.
Not all Faith communities perpetuate a lack of personal responsibility, but as most all mainline denominations come under the attack of far-right extremists, this type of theology seems to be growing in popularity. Christianity, as a whole has failed to keep up in a growing modern world, and therefor, has in many ways stuck to outdated mythologies and attitudes. For example, if the idea of being possessed by Satan is abandoned, will they also have to abandon the idea of being possessed with the Love of God?
What is most revolting about this story is the lack of any basis in reality. Here, the pastor claims the girl was “in heat” and was “asking for it.”
Some claim that the only way to help people is to eliminate Religion. I can’t go that far. I think that for many Religion is a valued and meaningful part of their lives, and works for the good of all. However, if Church leaders fail to take steps to keep these types of things from happening, and fail to make a theological message pertinent to the world we live in today, Religion may cease to be seen as a valuable outlet for spirituality.
Pastor sentenced for sex assault on girl
via Pastor sentenced for sex assault on girl :: Beacon News :: Local News.