After an earthquake shook the island of Haiti recently, many global leaders came together to pledge support for the country that had just been destroyed by a natural disaster.
Rush Limbaugh, the infamous outspoken conservative radio host, and Pat Robertson, the TV evangelist, have made names for themselves by saying what others won’t or, in this case, what no else could even think. They have become caricatures for their causes and draw out a shock value reaction from the listening public.
While the rest of the world was responding and reaching out to this country in need, the above mentioned men were making statements that were so atrocious that even those that normally agree with them had to take a step back. Rush Limbaugh has asked his listeners not to donate any money to the cause because he thinks the United States has already done enough for Haitians. Pat Robertson thinks that this is a “blessing in disguise” and said that it is the result of “[Haiti] making a pact with the devil.”
Pat Robertson, by title, is supposed to be a “reverend” and a servant of God. Is this how a reverend is supposed to act? I seriously hope not.
Robertson literally believes that the people of Haiti made a deal with the Devil to get free from the control of the French. Not only does this arrangement not make sense metaphysically, but also this thought insinuates that Haitians are getting what they deserve for this “deal with the man downstairs.”
It seems that because he has the title of a religious man, he can get away with saying anything he pleases. If any serious commentator made such a remark, there would be a firestorm of hate mail and probably shaky prospects regarding their future employment.
Pat Robertson can say what he likes. The problem though is that he is given media time. He is a founder of the 700 Club and preaches this hatred and garbage to an audience of primarily Christian right-viewers. Why, when he makes a statement like this, are all of the major networks giving him air time?
Keith Olbermann put it the best that I have heard it said in a recent segment of “Quick Comment” on his nightly show “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”
“Sir, because of your tone-deafness and delight in human misery and your dripping self-satisfied holier than thou senile crap, I am now likelier to believe you are the devil,” said Olbermann.
Is a reaction like this necessary? I think so. Politics should be put aside in certain situations. We saw it happen on September 11, 2001, and we have seen it for the most part with the current Haiti disaster. Certain men, though, have trouble forgetting politics and embracing human sympathy in a time of need.