Pat Robertson Blames Haiti Earthquake on Pact with the Devil

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

There's nothing like unspeakable human tragedy to bring out the crazy. And few people better embody the crazy than religious comedian Pat Robertson. So it should not come as a surprise that he's incorporated the Haiti earthquake--which may have left a half-million dead--into his weird, classless act. Speaking on his television show today, historian Robertson spouted this gem: 

Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French--uhh, you know, Napoleon III or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, "We will serve you if you'll 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 the other—desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etcetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have---and we need to pray for them—a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come. But right now we're helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.

Also unimaginable is coming up with this kind of hateful nonsense at a time like this. But this is from the fellow whose past hits included saying 9/11 was God's punishment for civil liberties.

CNN has collected information on how individuals can help with the Haiti relief efforts, check it out here.

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