Home 
SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States?The 700 Club has long been popular in Manila, but it's stunning to see how the leading figure in the Christian TV program sometimes gives Christianity a bad name.
For while the world has turned its attention and extended a helping hand to the suffering people of Haiti, evangelist Pat Robertson has opted to denigrate them.
?You know...something happened a long time ago in Haiti?They got together and swore a pact to the Devil,? Robertson said on program this week. ?They said, 'We will serve you if you get us free from the French.' True story?And so, the Devil said, 'OK, 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 another.?
Huh?
As expected, his remarks quickly triggered worldwide outrage. How can a preacher who claims to speak for a religion of love and compassion make such an un-Christian statement?
I'm not a big fan of broadcaster Keith Olbermann, but his reaction to Robertson (and Rush Limbaugh who criticized the Obama Administration?s bid to rally support for Haiti) was on target: ?Mr. Robertson, Mr. Limbaugh, your lives are not worth those of the lowest, meanest, poorest of those victims still lying under the rubble in Haiti tonight...You inspire only stupidity and hatred.?
Robertson has long been known for making outrageous, hateful statements. For Filipinos, he will be best remembered for echoing the sentiment of a dictator. For at the height of the historic 1986 snap presidential battle that led to the People Power Revolt, Roberson essentially endorsed Ferdinand Marcos?s twisted view of Cory Aquino.
"I don't think, very frankly, Cory Aquino has the capacity to govern,? he said. ?She's the wife of a man who was shot, essentially a housewife.?
It apparently wasn't personal. Robertson simply doesn?t think much of women, as he made clear in television remarks in 1982. ?Please don't make your husbands think that in order to accept Jesus Christ they have to submit to you because no macho man wants to submit to you?That's scriptural, and that's the way it should be.?
Is Robertson becoming more hateful with age?
For these statements on Cory and women now sound benign and harmless, compared to Robertson?s bizarre, maddeningly insensitive take on Haiti and its history.
Speaking to talk show host Rachel Maddow, Haiti?s US Ambassador Raymond Joseph simply had to respond, saying, ?I would like the whole world to know, America especially, that the independence of Haiti, when the slaves rose up against the French, the US was able to gain the Louisiana territory for $15 million. That?s 3 cents an acre. That?s 13 states west of the Mississippi?What pact the Haitians made with the devil has helped make the United States become what it is.?
He was clearly angry, but as a diplomat, he chose to be diplomatic in tone. For who cares what the United States got out of slaves revolting around French oppression? In the 21st Century, slaves rising up against their masters should be seen as humankind moving forward.
Would Robertson condemn the Katipunan for rising up against Spanish rule?and blame our homeland's own recent struggles with natural calamities on our fight for independence? (Perhaps he?d even argue that the Katipunan?s elaborate initiation ceremony was some kind of Satanic ritual.)
What does Robertson think of as he watches footage of the bodies on the streets of Port Au Prince, of the injured Haitians limping and crawling out of the rubble, dazed and confused? Does he say, ?Oh, serves them right for making a deal with the devil??
Of course, religious intolerance, faith-based hate, racism, and the belief that those who endure natural calamities are likely to be inferior or sinful peoples?these are all still a problem in the world, even among Filipinos.
In the 1990s, a young man in Pampanga showed me the devastation caused by the lahar floods in the wake of the Mount Pinatubo eruption. Pointing to a white patch on a distant mountain, he said more floods are expected, but he said he was glad that the lahar is bound to hit another town where the residents have evil in their hearts??madilim ang budhi nila.?
When a tsunami struck many communities in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, my own relative exclaimed. ?That?s because they?re Muslim???Mga Muslim kasi.?
Then again, these came from individuals who did not have Robertson?s reach, and his ability to influence thousands of followers.
Fortunately, his views are bound to be overwhelmed by a global spirit of compassion and solidarity.
A small, struggling nation is reeling from a tragic disaster. And people all over the world?Christians, Muslims, Jews, non-believers and others?are rallying to their aid.
No time for hate in this time of need.
